In my not at all humble opinion, a tiny car with huge pipes that puts out an exhaust tone like a runaway weed-whacker is twice as ridiculous as one with a two foot spoiler or seven tone paint job.

On the other side of the coin, big V-8s, no matter what their performance, are music to my ears.
With that in mind, I have two idle questions.

1. Does ANYBODY think it's cool when someone soups up a Civic or Neon and puts big exhausts on it? Everyone I know laughs at it. Any defenders?

2. From the few sports cars I've been around, the Mustang GT (and Cobra) has the nicest bass exhaust note. Anyone know any other cars that have particularly sweet mustic from the pipes?

Mazda's 787B.

Originally posted by cueball1029
Mazda's 787B.

Wonderful sound... :eek: one of my favorites!

Ferrari V8 or V12. Any of them. I think 50% of Ferrari's development budget is spent on aural pleasure.

Originally posted by FamilyGuy
In my not at all humble opinion, a tiny car with huge pipes that puts out an exhaust tone like a runaway weed-whacker is twice as ridiculous as one with a two foot spoiler or seven tone paint job.

i'm with ya there... but certainly my favourite sound is the rotary... with mad porting, OMFG, it burbles like a race car... soooooo sexeh...

anyhoo, i'll dig up that 787B link from scuderia ciranni... :)

[edit]

okay, got 'em... they're a continuous movie of the 787B idling and blipping at the last Seven Stock... freakin' awesome :D it's both a wankel AND big displacement :D :D :D not to mention a P-Port motor...

http://www.scuderiaciriani.com/rx7/movies/4-rotor_Le_Mans.mpeg
http://www.scuderiaciriani.com/rx7/movies/4-rotor_Le_Mans.mov
http://www.scuderiaciriani.com/rx7/movies/4-rotor_Le_Mans2.mov

btw, i'm a proponent of loud exhaust systems (if they're necessary for making power), but i think overly large tips (+90mm) or a farty, "deep" sound from a small engine is freakin' stupid... if it's small and revvy, it should sound like a nest of hornets (duh)... :)

Anyone know any other cars that have particularly sweet mustic from the pipes

I've got a '64 Corvette Stingray Convertible with 340 HP 327 Small Block -- I get goosebumps every time I fire her up!

787 B sounds sweet??? Thing gurgles 2 much, and roars like a lion 2. I guess some people like that terrifying sound.



I heard a tuned up nsx and I think that sounds sweet, it got a sweet low rumble.

Yeah, I'm not to sure about that 787B sounds more like a motorcycle engine than a car ;) ....but I have the best sounding engine on the planet right here:


http://www.star-techno.com/images/davem1.wav


You gotta love those finely tuned Yugos.... ;)


Actually here is my REAL nomination: (I agree with you Familyguy!)


http://www.mustangexhaust.com/sounds/03Cobrastock,stock,stock.mp3

Guess the file name gives it away.... :D

I'm 95% certain I want the RX-8, but everytime I hear that Cobra.........mmmmm Cooobrrraaa (Homer Simpson voice) ;)

Originally posted by DTECH-RX
that 787B sounds more like a motorcycle engine than a car ;)

*scoff* you guys are terrible... ahahaha... it sounds like a Ferrari flat 12 F1 engine of yore, so nyah nyah...
besides, what motorcycle has that kind of VOLUME at just a blip??? that car has balls, burbling at the low rpms, a freakin' banchee at WOT nearing 8k rpm... whooo!! nothin' much else gets me that worked up... ;)

but yeah, i do like the rumble of the ol' 427 Boss... the real one, not the lame-ass early 90's Boss ripoff...

I have a question for you experts. Why are all the high performance tuned car seems to have a really really rough engine idle sound. Like the clips of the 787B for example, the engine sounds rough as hell but SWEEEET as the guys crank it to a higher RPM.

I know very little about exhaust systems and just wanted to learn how to tell tales with just the sound of the engine and the exhaust.

Thanks.

(my vote is on the RX-7 FB, and the Ferrari F355. out of all the ones that I've heard up close and personal ).

I would have to say the Porsche 911 Turbo. I was at Audi/Porsche the other day and they were road testing one in the huge parking lot. Damn it sounded nice...

On a completely different side, I have ALWAYS love the sound of a nice Mustang V8. A friend of mine has an 03 Cobra with a Borla custom cat-back on it... [HOMER voice] hhmm... supercharged goodness... *drool* [/HOMER voice]

I've got Flowmaster 40 series mufflers on my Mustang GT...not obnoxiously louder, but deeper.

My other favorite was a friends 1958 Chevy pickup truck with a 454 engine and "race" cam. Pretty lumpy sounding at idle since the cam lift and duration was set up for higher RPM power production.

Originally posted by Smoker
I have a question for you experts. Why are all the high performance tuned car seems to have a really really rough engine idle sound. Like the clips of the 787B for example, the engine sounds rough as hell but SWEEEET as the guys crank it to a higher RPM.

it's 'cause of the huge timing overlap between the intake and exhaust cycles, and the very very large ports (and valves too, duh) that are necessary for really high power (NA) breathing: at low rpms, these things really kill volumetric efficiency, and the motor has a little trouble keeping itself running... i actually really like this sound, kinda like it's trying (and failing miserably) to hide its true intentions (like a huge, terrible beast stalking in tall grass, pretending like it's not going to eat you for lunch)...

the reason they sound sweet at full song is 'cause of that huge amount of revs (high frequency equals the higher pitch), the large volume of fuel being combusted (adds to the audible volume, obviously), and the shape of the valves/heads, the short length of the exhaust (for optimal breathing at high rpm), they all come together to create that unique sound of an engine blasting away down a straight... :D like the Porsche flat-6 layout necessitates that the heads are of a certain design so the exhaust manifolds can feed into the turbos: this strongly influences the sound, which is strong, flat, and "blatty" when you compare it with that husky, heavily muffled grunt of the all-american 90degree undersquare (long stroke) V8... all unique, all beautiful in their own way... kinda like women, no?? :D

Originally posted by FamilyGuy
Anyone know any other cars that have particularly sweet mustic from the pipes?

Alfa 156 GTA, not available in the USA. Souds like a Ferrari.

Originally posted by wakeech


when you compare it with that husky, heavily muffled grunt of the all-american 90degree undersquare (long stroke) V8... all unique, all beautiful in their own way... kinda like women, no?? :D

Those American V8's almost universally have smaller strokes than the bores, therefore they are oversquare. I will forgive you since you are canadian.:p

Oh, and I do not care too much for husky women. Muffled is okay but I prefer smaller displacement types.

Originally posted by babylou
American V8's almost universally have smaller strokes than the bores, therefore they are oversquare.\

oh, i meant those ones (like a Ford 4.6L) with those sick stroker kits (stroked out to 5.*L)... they seem (to me) to have a rumblier sound. :)

...i happen to like engines of all sizes... small displacement, or big, all that matters is how quick you get from A to B ;) ahahaha...

Originally posted by Smoker
I have a question for you experts. Why are all the high performance tuned car seems to have a really really rough engine idle sound.

I beleive that sound is called the "lobe". It happenes when you have big horsepower and a big cam (usually)...

1989 Ford Taurus SHO with the Borla kit. With the right pipes that Yamaha V6 sounds just like a Porsche flat 6. (well, there may be one or two discrepancies)

Originally posted by wakeech
this strongly influences the sound, which is strong, flat, and "blatty" when you compare it with that husky, heavily muffled grunt of the all-american 90degree undersquare (long stroke) V8... all unique, all beautiful in their own way... kinda like women, no?? :D


I'll agree with that..... :D

You sure they aren't just squeezing the trigger on an impact gun behind that 787B? ;) J/K wakeech....couldn't help but bust your chops one more time. It actually does sound kewl in a very unique sort of way and the comparison to a motorcycle that also revs very high (at least the sport bikes do) was in no way derogatory, just an interesting parallel. :)

Mustang Cobra (http://www.strages.homestead.com/files/COBRA90GTMagnaflow.mpeg) mpeg.
Still can't beat it. :D

ferrari 355/360. i agree that the porsche flat 6 sounds "blatty". i drove my friends dad's '02 911 Cabrio, and it sounds neat, but it doesn't sound powerful. The Ferrari on the other hand, is utterly unique and identifiable as a Ferrari V8. The 787 sounds pretty damn sick imo.... :) The only other one i can think of is the E46 M3 motor. It sounds like a real throaty I-6 up to around 3500, and then it turns into this high pitched scream that is more akin to a Honda 4 cylinder. Big V8's are nice, and sound pretty cool, but it just doesn't do it for me as much as a high-revver. Eh.

It's 1992. I am a kid walking along Oxford Street (London) one sunny Sunday with no traffic around (rare event). I hear a menacing, growly sound behind me that literally scares me. I turn around to see rolling thunder drift past at 5mph. Its the first TVR Griffith I have ever seen (before it was on sale). I will never forget it, especially in a land where a large engine was a 1.6 in those days and V6s were rare.

Here is a quote from a review of the Griffith 4.3 V8 in 1992:

Settle back into the low slung seat, push the pleasantly meaty clutch to the floor, and turn the key. After a few seconds churning, ignition. And any lingering thoughts that the svelte new look heralds a softening of the TVR spirit are chased away the instant the V8 catches. The Griffith hollers its intent down twin industrial size exhausts, filling the air with a rich and heady din. This is the sound of heavily muscled metal. A sound to set schoolboys' knees trembling, to frighten old ladies and bring mothers running from their homes to carry small children inside. The lumpy tickover betrays the raw potency of this engine - far removed from the friendly, woofly lump that's propelled two generations of Range Rovers.

For the rest of the review: http://www.steve-p.com/tvr/roadtests/pc9206.html

Mustang Cobra mpeg. Still can't beat it.

Toadman, what is pictured at the end of your mpeg? Almost looks like a female leg flash, but at 2nd glance it appears to be wishful thinking on my part;)

F1 cars (current ones)......
Totally amazing/deafening when they go past you.....

Not to mention the misfires when they're going around a corner...
Sounds so freaky, popping and crackling....I love it....

If you've never heard one live, you're missing out.....
TV sounds do it no justice whatsoever....

Originally posted by threeputtwash
F1 cars (current ones)......
Totally amazing/deafening when they go past you.....Amen. The Belgian Grand Prix last year was the first time my wife had attended an F1 race. We had grandstand seats on pit straight, and while the F1 cars were warming up in the pits and the F3000's were practicing, she didn't believe she was going to need the earmuffs that I had insisted she take along. Of course, as soon as the first F1 went past on a flying lap, she was reaching for the muffs quick smart! :) And the sound of all 20 cars launching at the start of the race is always awesome.

However, for sheer sensory overload, I'd have to say that nothing beats a Top Fuel dragster. The fact that you can actually feel the sound pounding your chest when two of those bad boys make a pass, makes them my top pick for loud!

I was in Miami on business yesterday and today, and in South Beach last night I saw what I assumed at first to be a Modena. I'm not a Ferrari expert, so I wouldn't know if it was a kit car by looking at it, but the guys in it were cruising up and down that strip between the beach and all the restaurants and pulled up to the curb to show off. When the driver revved the engine, it was the weeniest noise I've ever heard come out of an exotic. I can only assume that it was a kit car based off a Fiero or some such.

I took a picture, and if I can get it developed and scanned in I'll post it. Maybe one of you guys with more car experience than me can look and tell if it's a kit car, or really a Modena and I just don't know what I'm talking about.

no modena, by any stretch of the imagination sounds "weeny"...

Hmmm...

On the british side... I'm gonna have to record the sound of my Triumph 2L I6 engine (The rebuild of the rolling chasis is complete, but I've got a lot of work to put it back on the road... The engine however (I rebuilt it myself) sounds so unbelieveably good that it keeps me going on the rebuild... otherwise I'd have given up ages ago!.. .

It's really not an engine, I'm sure it was concieved as a musical instrument.... I love the burble of a V8, (Who doesn't)... but I think it gets really vulgar at higher revs.

My cousin came down once and we got the Triumph out and started it up... he's into cars, but he just couldn't get over it... Where's that minidisk recorder!... I'll do it sometime in the summer I promise!..

Originally posted by rxeightr


Toadman, what is pictured at the end of your mpeg? Almost looks like a female leg flash, but at 2nd glance it appears to be wishful thinking on my part;)

You must be watching in NTSC... looks like the grey leather of the seat in the car.