An Impressive End for Audi’s Venerable 611 Horsepower V10

The R8's successor will be all-electric, but for now the melodic V10 goes out in style.

2023 Audi R8 Coupé V10 GT

The time has come for another famous Volkswagen Group engine to bow out of the public eye. Audi’s naturally-aspirated V10 is nearing the end of its life in production cars and is getting sent out in a limited run of just 333 Audi R8 Coupé V10 GT RWDs. With 612 horses on tap and rear-wheel-drive, this engine and the car it’s bolted to are going out with a bang.

Back in 2021 Audi officially announced the end of the Audi R8 as we know it, signaling the likely end of its venerable V10. Having first graced the world way back in 2007, the German supercar was, and honestly still is, a mix of futuristic design flourishes and practical performance pedigree. It’s a car that looks like it could have been built in 2002 or 2022, particularly the iconic first-generation. The R8 launched with a 4.2-liter V8 making 414 horsepower, but in 2008, the automaker announced that the R8 would instead go upstream and fire on ten cylinders. The Audi R8 V10 was born, and its 5.2-liter V10 performed a 525-horsepower symphony.