With the rise of the EVs, we are losing some of the best-sounding naturally aspirated cars that the world has ever seen, for example, this year Lamborghini has completely pulled the plug on one of the cult classic naturally aspirated supercars the Aventador, Audi has pulled the plug on the R8, and the last naturally aspirated non-hybrid Aston Martin was the Rapide. And now the naturally aspirated engine era of performance cars is slowly moving towards extinction, but here are the 5 performance cars with naturally aspirated engines tackling the growing population of EVs, before they reach the verge of extinction.
Porsche 718 RS Twins
Porsche is one of those few brands that has every powertrain in its line-up, from naturally aspirated to turbocharged to hybrid to the electric powertrain, as we are talking about naturally aspirated engines here, Porsche has one of the greatest naturally aspirated engines of all time the motorsport derived 4.0L Fltat-6, first got fitted in the 911 GT3 and the GT3 RS, but recently Porsche fitted that engine in their entry-level sports car the 718 Cayman and its convertible sibling the Boxster, and named them the GT4 RS and the Spyder RS, both cars are got the Flat-6 in the middle for the first time, with the RS badge they get all the bells and whistles, like carbon fibre all over, severe weight reduction and the option of the Weissach package, and they generate 493hp and 450Nm of peak torque, and we all know how good it sounds when it hit the redline at 9000rpm paired with a 7-speed PDK and both can do 0-100km in 3.4 seconds.
Porsche 992 GT3
From smaller sibling to bigger, the GT3 no doubt is what a 911 should be, you got the same powertrain and with the 7-speed PDK shared with the GT4 RS, but GT3 has 10 more horses and 10Nm more torque than the GT4 RS, with the GT3 you also get an option of a 6-speed manual gearbox, which uplifts the driving experience when you are exploring some B-roads in the middle of a scenic view, and to enhance the pure 3-paddle GT driving experience Porsche also offers the 911 GT3 Touring, which is basically a GT3 with the automatic spoiler instead of a big swan-neck wing. And if you want the most hardcore of them all, go for the GT3 RS, which is a proper race car that can also be driven on public roads with a semi-digital driver’s display and an infotainment system, and this is probably the last era of ICE 911s.
Chevrolet C8 Corvette Z06
Ferrari 458’s flat-plane crank F136 F V8 is an awarded engine, and nothing got closer to it, until Chevy bought it from eBay, and started doing research to create their in-house flat-plane crank V8, and in 2022 they revealed the C8 Z06 Corvette with an LT6 5.5L flat plane crank naturally aspirated V8 inspired from the Ferrari’s F136 F V8, the C8 generation Z06 then became the first ever Corvette to be powered by a Flat plane crank V8, which is able to generate 661hp @8400rpm and 623Nm @6300rpm paired with an 8-speed dual-clutch gearbox, by pumping out this much power from naturally aspirated V8, the C8 Corvette Z06 became the supercar to be fitted with the world’s most powerful flat plane crank naturally aspirated V8.
Lamborghini Huracan Series
After pulling the plug over the behemoth 6.5L naturally aspirated V12 Aventador, Lamborghini still has their second best naturally aspirated car on sale, the Huracan with the Audi developed 5.2L naturally aspirated V10, which can rev till 8500rpm, the Huracan line-up is currently the longest Lamborghini line-up starting from the entry-level Evo RWD all the way till all-terrain Sterrato, but sadly Lamborghini will keep Huracan in their line-up probably until mid-2024, after that, they will launch the hybrid replacement of the Huracan like they revealed the Revulto as a replacement to the Aventador.
Ferrari 812 GTS
Yes, even after announcing the last V12 Ferraris the 812 Competizione and Competizione A, Ferrari are still selling their glorious 6.5L naturally aspirated V12 spider 812 GTS, which is one of the best Ferrari roadsters ever made, powered by a 6.5L front-mid engine V12, pumping out 789hp @8500rpm and 718Nm of peak torque @7000rpm paired with a 7-speed dual-clutch gearbox, well Ferrari won’t keep it in their line-up for a longer duration, but don’t worry recently Ferrari revealed their first ever crossover SUV Purosangue with the same 6.5L naturally aspirated V12, and it probably stick for a while in the line-up, so if you want you can get your hands on the one.
