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The bread and butter of any performance car is how fast both needles move to the right side of the rev and speed dials.
Turbocharged cars go like stink off of the line because of the on-tap boost available but eventually runs out of steam as the revs peak to the higher echelons.
When screaming is good
Naturally aspirated engines, however, are a different kettle of fish. You get the best of both worlds with performance and the ability to rev much higher.
What is your all-time favourite naturally-aspirated vehicle, and why? Or do you own one? Please Email us , we'd love to share your story.
Naturally aspirated engines allow more freedom when it comes to tuning. In contrast, with forced induction, you can only fit bigger components like the turbo, for example, and that can lead to boost lag.
Even though forced induction has become the new method of attaining power, there are several NA engines that push out mighty impressive numbers.READ | 'Keep your revs below 3000rpm and avoid speeding' - Masterdrive
Here are some of the noisiest naturally aspirated engines that just love hitting the rev limiter:
1. Ariel Atom 500
Image: Flickr/Nathan Burtenshaw
The Ariel Atom is the closest thing you'll get to a road-legal Formula 1 car. This particular one is the Atom 500 that houses a 3.0-litre, V8 engine that makes 373kW, and all of this in a tube chassis weighing 550kg.If that is not impressive enough, it revs to 10500rpm.
2. Lexus LFA
Image: Motorpress
Lexus was always known as a full-blown luxury car but they made the world sit up and take note when they released the high-performance LFA in 2011.The mid-mounted naturally aspirated 4.8-litre V10 engine made as much as 420kW and screamed to the 9000rpm redline that shows a bright red on the digital dash.
3. Honda S2000 AP1
Image: Net Car Show
Honda has always been the pioneers of extracting ludicrous amounts of power from their revvy, small capacity engines, and the S2000 was their pinning glory.The S2000 was released in AP1 and AP2 spec, but the AP1 was more powerful, producing as much as 184kW. It's greatest asset was how high it could climb the rev range with 1999 to 2003 models able to happily hit the limiter at 9000rpm.
4. Porsche 911 GT3
Image: Net Car Show
Porsche is well-known for producing some of the sweetest performance cars on four wheels, and the 911 GT3 is one of the iconic models to come from the German automaker.
Its 4.0-litre engine ran all the way to a redline of 9000rpm.
