Top 10s: Best Sounding New Cars

[svgallery name="Top_10_Sounding_pics"] By John LeBlanc Eye-grabbing styling, gut-punching acceleration, track-ready handling - these are all qualities that can make or break a driving enthusiast's new car purchase decision. Yet like a gorgeous supermodel that eventually opens their mouth with less-than-stellar acoustical results, how a car sounds can help you pick your next set of wheels as well. With your aural delights in mind, alphabetically, here, alphabetically, are my top 10 best-sounding new cars. 2010 Aston Martin DBS Coupe & Volante Save for the ultra-rare (only 77 examples will ever me made) and mega-expensive (at over $1.2 million) carbon fibre-bodied One-77 super car, the $290,000-plus DBS sits atop Aston Martin's range. Compared to the run-of-the-mill V12s found in (relatively) lesser of the marque's GTs, the DBS's 5.9-litre unit receives a new inlet manifold and cylinder heads with better inlet-port design, enabling it to produce 510 hp -- 60 more than the DB9's similar mill. Fast? Oh yeah, baby! But the sound that comes out at the other end of the DBS is like a symphony orchestra. At low revs, the V12 sounds like a bass cello. At mid-range, the horn section kicks in. And in full-on attack mode, the string section takes over with a high-pitched shrill. 2010 Audi TT-RS Powered by an inline five-cylinder, Audi's most serious attempt at making its TT a real sports car, the new RS model (est. $75,000), resembles the original '80s quattro Coupe's formula. This time, though, with the aid of variable valve timing and a large turbocharger, to the tune of 340 hp. The 2.5-litre warbles in a way that only an engine with one-less-than-six cylinders can make, and there's an adjustable exhaust tailpipe flap enhances the sound further. Out back, the fastest-TT-ever's exhaust snorts like an angry warthog on down shifts when you release the throttle. Time it right, and you can "pop" your way down through all seven gears of its rev-matching dual-clutch autobox. 2011 BMW 335is Coupe For less than $5,000, BMW will add a lower-case "s" to your BMW 335i. What do you get for your cash? More power (the twin-turbo 3.0-litre inline-six numbers are up 20 horses to 320), and a bunch of suspension enhancements for what the German automaker is calling the sportiest 3 Series Coupe this side of a $71,300 M3. Aside from the additional performance attributes, perhaps the best quality of the new 335is is the baritone noise that comes out of its black-chrome tailpipes. There's no doubt you'll hear the 335is coming. Its sport exhaust system emits a deliciously rich burble that builds to an operatic wail that only a straight-six can produce. 2010 Cadillac CTS-V In the recent past, the only exciting sound coming from any Cadillac was the whistling from aging owners as they drove past graveyards. But the brand's injection of some youthful performance with its V Series cars -- specifically to its German sedan-fighting CTS -- is changing all that. Whether in sedan, wagon or forthcoming coupe format, the CTS-V's 556 hp, supercharged 6.2-litre detuned Corvette V8 will change your tune about how you feel about Cadillac. At low-speed idle, the CTS-V burbles like a French pea soup on the stove. 2010 Ferrari 458 Italia Replacing the F430 as the Italian automaker's "entry-level" sports car, the estimated $275,000 458 Italia gets a new 570 hp 4.5-litre V8. With a flat-crank, dry-sump lubrication, and a heavenly 9,000-rpm limit, impressively, the 458's mill boasts the highest specific horsepower and torque of any naturally aspirated production engine -- 125 hp and 113 lb.-ft. per litre. The result? It's quicker than the legendary Enzo (less than 3.4 seconds to 96 km/h), and tops out at 325 km/h. Belissimo! But then there's the way the 458 sounds. Anyone with any knowledge of cars would expect no less, but a lovelorn wolf howling at the moon would sound anemic compared to the Italia's V8 wail at full tilt. 2011 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 American muscle car fans will argue until the last drop of oil is sucked from the ground: Nothing sounds like a big displacement V8. The proof? For 2011 Ford has upped the power and aural delights ante on its top-line $58,999 Shelby GT500 coupe and $63,699 convertible. The GT500's 5.4-litre V8 gets a twin-screw type supercharger that delivers low-end torque earlier. Last year's iron block is now all-new aluminum, dropping overall weight. Power is up by 10, now at 550 hp, most of that attributed to a wider exhaust pipe, that also makes the Shelby sound like canned machismo. Rolling by at street level, it burbles like bubblin' crude. Oil that is. 2010 Mazda RX-8 R3 Yes Virginia, Mazda still makes the RX-8. And the "must have" version is the $41,995 R3. It adds enthusiast goodies like Recaros, a stiffened front suspension cross-member, higher spring rates, firmer shocks, and 19-inch aluminum alloy wheels wearing super-sticky Bridgestone Potenza tires, and like, other stuff. What hasn't changed is the RX-8's unique Wankel engine, a 1.3-litre, two-rotor that loves to rev. It still drinks fuel and oil like a sailor on leave. And you don't want to be racing against the Camaro SS for pink slips with the RX-8's teensy-weensy rotary. But when every one of the Mazda's 232 horses are unleashed at its peak 9,000 rpm rev limit, it's still amazingly turbine-smooth, mimicking an Airbus on takeoff. 2010 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG The $198,000 SLS AMG is replacing the old SLR McLaren as the German automaker's top-line performance car. Like the old SLR, the SLS AMG sports a front/mid-mounted engine design and depends on displacement, and lots of it, to make its presence known. Instead of the SLR's supercharged V8, there's AMG's hand built 6.2-litre V8 under its hood, producing 563 hp and 479 lb.-ft. of torque. While the new 'Benz Gullwing's performance is SLR-like (0-to-100 km/h in less than four seconds) the sound emanating from its twin exhausts at idle is a gut wrenching wumpa-wumpa that would wake a bear from a long winter's nap, yet cause the ground shake and neighbourhood dogs yelp on full boil. 2010 Porsche Boxster Spyder The big feature on this special lightweight performance Spyder edition $72,900 Boxster can be seen from 10 metres away. Its traditional, power convertible-top mechanism has been replaced with a lighter, manually operated, two-piece bikini-like cover that when removed, showcases two aero humps like those found on the Carrera GT super sports car. The Spyder's 3.4-litre flat-six (now 320 hp), suspension (now hardcore), and have been tweaked for the enthusiast as well. Now the sweet sound of the automaker's flat-six has sold plenty of Porsches. But as the spiritual successor to the 356 Speedster and 550 Spyder from the 1950s and '60s - some of Porsche's most successful race cars - the modern Spyder's racecar-like exhaust note will have you looking for chequered flags and Pit Now sign. Like the Loud button on old stereos, there's even an internal switch that turn up the exhaust nose to 11. 2010 Toyota Prius In direct opposition to the first nine of our top sounding new cars, some may say that the most golden sound of all is silence. And one of the few cars on the road today that can be driven in near-silence is Toyota's $27,800 Prius. Among its three configurable driving modes, the Prius's EV-Drive allows motoring on battery power alone under 40 km/h for about a kilometer or so. There's also the silence of not hearing the sound of gas pumps or cash registers. The Toyota hybrid's 1.8-litre gas and electric motor combo's fuel economy estimates of 3.7 L/100km city and 4.0 on the highway see to that.

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