Comments on: Question of the Day: Is This the World’s Best Sounding Passenger Car Engine?

By: capeplates

capeplates — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 08:14:14 +0000

The best sound is the one you can’t hear!

By: esldude

esldude — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 02:28:22 +0000

Well, don’t know where you can here them now. But a straight eight is the best in my opinion. V-8’s might be my second choice. After that inline sixes. Never heard a V6 I like though. 12’s sound powerful, but somehow not satisfying to me. V10’s just sound wrong.

By: Andy D

Andy D — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 00:39:18 +0000

One bone chilling winter’s morning in ‘67, just around cock crow, I heard my brother’s ‘62 Chrysler 300G start up where it had been parked at a bar 2 miles away. Modern day 300C, I fart in your general direction

By: Martin B

Martin B — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 21:26:00 +0000

One evening I watched a nervous driver reverse a Ferrari roadster up a ramp into the showroom after a photoshoot. I’m not sure what model it was, but Oh Man, what a sound. This Ferrari in reverse sounded like a superbike doing 100 mph down the highway.

By: DrBiggly

DrBiggly — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 21:04:57 +0000

Robert,
I understand the visceral appeal of the truly exotic sounding engine. I also appreciate the lumpy sound of a boxer, or the deep burble of a smooth V8, or the whacking rumble of a heavy cam on a V8.

The Porsche GT V10 has a fantastically exotic scream to it, though I tend to lean more towards the Ferrari F355 sound myself for genuine exotic sound. That clip is accurate in tone, but is missing a lot. I remember vividly hearing an F355 some years ago in person and it made quite an impression. :)

-Biggly

By: CarnotCycle

CarnotCycle — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 19:00:46 +0000

Ferrari flat-plane 8’s do sound pretty good, and they do rev really high. I was in Brussels, Belgium a year ago for business and was stashed in this little apartment by a main drag there (Rue de Progress).

I was sleeping a hangover off during the weekend and heard this crazy revving sound echoing off all the old and new building crammed together in that neck of the city, and it was just such a high RPM I thought it was some guy on a crotch-rocket. The revs were so high and loud, and the vehicle making them wasn’t going anywhere, I got curious enough to get up and have a look out the window. Low and behold there was a wedding procession going by and the bride and groom were in a silver F355 convertible. The groom was driving and I wanted to scream to him to stop it, because he was just beating the crap out of that gorgeous car revving it like that and not even in gear…sure did sound good though!

For ultimate mechanical sounds though, nothing beats big-budget aerospace widgets. If any of you have ever been to a Space Shuttle launch…the sound those SSME’s make during startup when the pre-burners light and the turbopumps spool up…an utter masterpiece of mechanical sounds before they’re drowned out by all that power.

By: racer_41

racer_41 — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 17:49:40 +0000

Good one Usta Bee

During one of numerous trips to R/A, I remember crossing over the old Bill Mitchell bridge and hearing many race cars go by, thinking nothing of it. But when one of those 3 rotor Mazdas went by, whoa nellie!!!!! Certainly not the best sounding but it has to be the loudest race car known to man.

By: AJ

AJ — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 17:17:09 +0000

A rotary engine at about 8,000 RPM (like a hive of angry bees!)

By: boosterseat

boosterseat — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 17:00:59 +0000

It hardly counts as a passenger car, but a relative has a Ferrari f-40 and was kind enough to take me for a 10 minute mountain burnout one day. I was nearly sick from the forces of good that were pounding me around.

That sound is absolutely brilliant and insane. Just pulling it out into the parking lot, it was easily the most thrilling sounding engine I’d ever heard.

I laughed my ass off the entire drive. Stupendous.

By: RetardedSparks

RetardedSparks — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 15:45:32 +0000

Well, obviously THIS music is like any other – everyone has their own tastes, and luckily, there are enough great engines out there to keep everyone happy!
The modern Ferrari V8 is very nice, and having once heard a Jag D-type I can appreciate that as well.
My vote for the worst is the stock E46 BMW M3 – wheezy and anemic. It is even MORE disappointing in the context of the car it’s coming from. Had it been a Camry making that noise, nobody would even notice..

By: volvo

volvo — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 14:38:05 +0000

For today maybe the F355. For all time it has to be the 1963 Chrysler turbine cars. 55 were made and loaned (leased?) to everyday drivers. I had one pull up next to me at a stoplight in 1965. Nothing quite like having a F16 idling next to you.

There is a Wikipedia page

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_Turbine_Car

By: Pig_Iron

Pig_Iron — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 14:35:46 +0000

I heard an old carburated Ford V8 recently, I’d forgotten how good they sound, it was quite stirring (apologies to other NA marques).

My favorite is the Miller/Goosen/Offy; I’d swear I can hear the piston rings scraping on each stroke.

By: David Holzman

David Holzman — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 14:19:54 +0000

way too much NVH. I like the Porsche flat six and the BMW inline six. Also love the Real (old) Beetle.

By: edgett

edgett — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 14:11:10 +0000

a few others come to mind:

Carrera GT
60’s Ferrari V12
ZR1 (at least the YouTube version)
Porsche flat six, in watercooled flavor
AMG C/SL63
Any supercharged Bugatti (original)

The Bug song alone is worth the pilgrimage to Monterey for the Historics

By: 1998S90

1998S90 — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 13:57:34 +0000

Maserati Quattroporte!

Heard one in San Francisco a couple of months ago. Hands down the best exhaust note I’ve ever heard.

By: ethermal

ethermal — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 13:43:18 +0000

Slightly off topic but in the James Bond movie Casino Royale when he jumps in the Astin Martin and starts accelerating away, I think that is one of the best car sounds caught on film. I was in the theatre and when that sound filled the room my girlfriend just start giggling with joy. I guess that sound tickled her in ways I can’t.

By: ethermal

ethermal — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 13:32:21 +0000

Ya that Ferrari is pretty sweet. My old highly tuned H22 running at 9000rpms was simply beautiful. I went to the St.Thomas drag strip one weekend and a guy had a race prepped rotary the noise coming out that thing was simply mind blowing. I haven’t heard anything before or since that was that great.

By: whatdoiknow1

whatdoiknow1 — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 13:07:15 +0000

I have very fond memories of an exotic used car dealership near my home when I was a kid. There was an older 308gts (carb model)with an aftermarket Monza Exhaust that the owner used to start-up and rev the engine for us kiddies, WOW what a sound! Nothing sounds like a flat-crank Ferrari v8 spinning at 7000+ RPMs.

I also have fond memories of a short ride in the backseat of a Mondial Conv. What a wicked feeling! You feel the shriek of the engine down to your bones! It really does give you goose-bumps.

Ferrari v8 IMO have the same type of shriek to them as a nice sportbike engine the difference is that the larger v8 engines have more base in their sound as oppoosed to the higher treble pitch of the bike engines.

By: TRL

TRL — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 13:06:54 +0000

I was walking down a two lane road a while ago when someone in a new Masseratti Quatropore went by with his foot a little in it. Wow! Seats 4 and sounds like that? Who gives a crap if it isn’t reliable or economical, has any resale value, or any other mundane problems like that. If I had the cash I would have to buy one. Think 427 Cobra with a college education.

By: Robstar

Robstar — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 13:02:53 +0000

I have to agree with some of the above posters….
I love the high revving sound of the 600cc sportbikes.

The only thing better, IMHO is the F-1 22,000 rpm V8’s as they get towards the top of their rev range.

It just screams “speed” at you.

If any of you guys have not ever watched F1, try to catch the actual race on a sat/sunday. Occasionally they show a real-time graph of both the g forces, and the tach needle floating around. Holy cow does that tach needle move fast!

By: Redbarchetta

Redbarchetta — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 12:51:45 +0000

Sh*t I am going to have to agree with Robert, that was awesome, I am going to find a way to make that my ringtone. It made tha hair on the back of my neck stand up then it jumped the the Ferrari shreek. Should be no surprise my looking at my name. The only thing that could be better than that would be a classic Ferrari V12, almost makes me want to cry.

By: peoplewatching04

peoplewatching04 — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 12:32:54 +0000

I think my favorite might be the “tin can being kicked around a warehouse” Toyota four-banger, or the frumpy Chrysler minivan engine that makes that special noise every time it comes to a stop. You know what I’m talking about.

By: Morea

Morea — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 12:20:29 +0000

The Alfa Romeo V6 designed by Guiseppe Busso and used in various guises from 1979 to 2005.

By: Morea

Morea — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 12:19:17 +0000

The Alfa Romeo V6 designed by Guiseppe Busso and used in various displacements from 1979 to 2005.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfa_Romeo_V6_engine

By: Alexdi

Alexdi — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 08:06:28 +0000

That is an absolutely wicked engine note. Edmunds posted a set of Youtube video compilations of exhaust sounds a few months ago that would be worth your while. It was fantastic, but I can’t seem to find it for the life of me.