The MOTOR Awards 2021: Sweetest Engine Note

Welcome to the MOTOR Awards 2021, where our team offer a tip of the hat to those that displayed automotive excellence in the last 12 months.

Sweetest Engine Note Winner: Gordon Murray T.50

Was there ever going to be anything to rival the GMA T.50’s naturally-aspirated Cosworth-built V12 that revs to 12,100rpm? While the T.50 isn’t the most powerful atmo engine around – heck it’s even eclipsed by the 499kW flat-plane crank V8 that’s wedged into the middle of the new Corvette Z06 – Gordon Murray’s creation was never about the numbers. Well, not those sort of numbers. Instead it’s all about purity and the ability to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end.

While we’d heard the engine at full noise in various mule cars, it wasn’t until October that we got to witness the T.50 on track at a wet Goodwood. While Dario Franchitti still seemed to be soft-pedalling it a bit, the noise was still absolutely astonishing, as pure a recreation of the V12 era of Formula 1 as you could ever hope to hear, with a bit of Brabham fan car genetics thrown into the mix for good measure.

Murray has often been able to identify the qualities that deliver enduring appeal. His McLaren F1 was a car that rewrote speed records, but had that car been only about its performance, it would have long since been relegated to a historical footnote.

Instead it was incredible for its engineering focus, its surprising practicality, and its obsessive weight saving. Shot throughout the F1 were example of Murray’s planet-sized brain at work. The GMA T.50 should be no different.

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What makes the T.50 sound so good? Where do we start? The inconel and titanium exhaust angles upwards, forced in that direction by the steep diffusers. Peer beneath the glazed engine cover and you’re greeted by the headers, exhaust manifolds, intake plenum and trumpets.

The V12’s intake is fed via a roof scoop which amplifies the intake sound using Direct Path Induction Sound tech, operating on the basis of throttle position rather than engine speed, punching bass into the cabin at low revs.

Murray is wedded to the perfect primary and secondary balance of a 65-degree V12, and this 178kg tiny gem of just 3994cc can rev from idle to its redline in just 0.3 seconds, a phenomenal pickup speed. A triple-plate carbon silicon and titanium clutch reduces inertia and the production car will rely on rev-matching software to make driveable.

Even a four-time IndyCar champ can find rev matching with such a rapid decay in engine revs tough. But it sounds sublime and it may well be the case that there will never be a better sounding road car. Shame we have to fork out $4.4m and they’re all sold.

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Honourable mention: Ferrari 812 Competizione

The standard 812 is a thing of magnificence but the Competizione is next level. It revs to 9500rpm and the V12 gets new conrods, pistons, intake manifold, lighter crank, and lower friction engine oil. A quicker transmission also features, along with a crazier exhaust to make up for the particulate filter.

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Honourable mention: Porsche 911 992 GT3

With the first GT3s now onshore here in Australia, it’s good to remind us that an engine with half the usual supercar complement of cylinders can sound utterly transcendent. A deserted track, an early morning and a 992 GT3 is the perfect place to loose off a 9000rpm ode to joy.

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