Your Race Car Needs This F1-Inspired Billet V10

Aftermarket competition engines are often based on production designs, but Noonan Race Engines started with an almost completely clean sheet of paper for its newest mill. Sharing a bellhousing (and little else) with the engine found in a Lamborghini Huracán, Noonan’s all-billet 5.8-liter V10 can sit at its 8,500-rpm rev limit all day long, making it perfect for endurance racing. The Noonan V10 combines many of the company’s areas of expertise – it’s better known for Hemi-style billet engines and has dabbled in K-Series Honda motors – into one single product, and once the motor has undergone final testing and tweaks, it’ll be ready for competition.

Inspired By Vintage Formula 1

The Noonan 5.8-liter V10 breaks from the company’s typical pushrod designs with a dual-overhead-cam setup that was designed in-house. The company builds the engine block, cylinder heads, and intake manifold from billet aluminum for strength and light weight, and with four valves per cylinder letting it breathe deep, the V10 can rev to an estimated 8,500-rpm redline. Noonan also water-jacketed the block and heads for more precise thermal control, and the dry-sump oil system improves durability and performance in sustained high-performance driving. To the home-grown long block, Noonan adds Mahle pistons, CP-Carrillo connecting rods, and Exceldyne valves, as well as a set of Jason Schmuck 5-to-1 headers.

Speaking to Engine Builders, company spokesperson Barry Pettit said the V10 was a kitchen-sink kind of project, representing everything the company had ever wanted to do with a mill. The design and layout were inspired by the Formula 1 V10s that delighted spectators (and their eardrums) in the 1990s and 2000s, and the Noonan motor’s trumpeted intake runners promise the same level of aural delight. With around 850 naturally aspirated horsepower and that screaming rev limit, Noonan is looking to find around 200 buyers for its newest design.

What Car Would You Put This V10 Engine In?

The racing-inspired layout would make the engine perfect for throwback-style race cars, and Noonan itself markets the mill as an endurance engine. However, it’s also possible the V10 could show up under the hood of a low-volume production vehicle or hot rod. Like America’s answer to the Rhino Racing RR01, the Noonan engine could be a perfect companion to a kit car or retro-styled replica. That said, Noonan specifically called out 1980s and 1990s sports car racing as an ideal application for its new mill.

Related

This Used V10 Is Cheap And Risky, But It Will Blow Your Mind

Despite the used market being awash with cheap sports cars, this V10-powered weapon demands your attetnion, though it can bite if you’re not careful.

Still, we’ve heard of some bizarre engine swaps over the years, and a 40-valve, twin-cam 5.8-liter V10 sounds like it would be perfect for just about anything, regardless of era or vehicle class.

Source: Engine Builder Magazine, via The Drive