RX-8s have unique sounds in stock form!
05-18-2007, 12:15 PM
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VRZOOMZOOM
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RX-8s have unique sounds in stock form!
Thought i should post up a good thread here.......so weather been getting warmer lately and have my windows down more than usual.....anyways, there been a couple of times that i've been hearing a nice weird sound from the 8........it is a nice grumble.....i dont know what is causing it but whatever it is, its actually pretty coool. it happens between 2-3K RPM in 4th gear. there this nice ching bing sound.......combined with like a chain/blender sound
It definitely has some metallic tone to it. Anyways, i guess the sound i'm describing is very similar to the Lotus Esprit in Pretty Woman.....where the car in motion and you hear that low metallic grumble making that ching bing sound....
Maybe i'm just experience the rotary sound but its all new to me and i love the fact it sounds different, that it doesn't have a typical piston engine sound.
Hopefully you guys know what that sound is like....its mostly when you're doing low speed cruising around 35-40mph....in 4th gear.
05-18-2007, 12:32 PM
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Thought i should post up a good thread here.......so weather been getting warmer lately and have my windows down more than usual.....anyways, there been a couple of times that i've been hearing a nice weird sound from the 8........it is a nice grumble.....i dont know what is causing it but whatever it is, its actually pretty coool. it happens between 2-3K RPM in 4th gear. there this nice ching bing sound.......combined with like a chain/blender sound
It definitely has some metallic tone to it. Anyways, i guess the sound i'm describing is very similar to the Lotus Esprit in Pretty Woman.....where the car in motion and you hear that low metallic grumble making that ching bing sound....
Maybe i'm just experience the rotary sound but its all new to me and i love the fact it sounds different, that it doesn't have a typical piston engine sound.
Hopefully you guys know what that sound is like....its mostly when you're doing low speed cruising around 35-40mph....in 4th gear.
Intoxicating and borderline exotic ...got to love it! If you have a tunnel in your area , punch it through that ...... total music to the ears!
05-18-2007, 04:45 PM
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05-19-2007, 11:06 AM
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VRZOOMZOOM
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Anyways.........yes i know my car makes sounds.........but i guess the point of my post was, the car keeps suprising me and i've had for 8 months now. I thought i knew the car well, sounds, and everything else. Plus its awesome sound, cause people wonder whats in our cars (if they aren't car savvy) that little rotary humm is awesome! 
Just felt like appreciating the little things in this car that makes it that much more special. Discovering these sounds or whatever may be is like a bonus.
05-20-2007, 03:54 PM
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Are you using the shift-tronic automatic RX8? With the standard shift, it is possible to go much higher than 3-4 thousand rpm.
On my car, the sound you are describing happens in 5th gear at 2 thousand rpm, or 35 mph. It sounds like a loose pipe ratting against the underbody, which I'm pretty sure is what it is. Just the right frequency and amount of vibration will set the rattle off--sometimes just moving from a stop will do it.
Recently I've been surprised at how far the stock engine noise can travel to bystanders. Depending on the acoustics of the venue, people at a considerable distance will even turn their heads if I take the rpm all the way to redline. I thought it was all inside the car, but I guess I was wrong. Now, to increase engine noise even more, I've considered a K&N Typhoon intake. That could possibly be the only sound mod, that would increase noise emission yet maintain a unique signature.
The truth is on exhausts, every junkyard car or budget rice burner has the option of adding a nice sounding exhaust, which many have. Adding an aftermarket exhaust to the RX8 lowers its perceived value. I wish this weren't the case. I wish it could sound more unique and distinct with an exhaust swap. But it doesn't. It blends in with less desirable, less unique vehicles. If I was driving a Miata or Mini Cooper a little exhaust would be fun, but it just doesn't go well on an RX8 that is supposed to sound unique, not like all those other cars.
There are 4 or 5 good sounding exhaust available for the RX8, and they all have their issues and problems and caveats. All those "nice" ones with a "deep tone" is exactly what all those Eclipse etc. drivers have chosen to add to their vehicles.
But, it would be interesting to hear a Larini exhaust on an RX8. They make an MX5 exahaust, why not an RX8?
On my car, the sound you are describing happens in 5th gear at 2 thousand rpm, or 35 mph. It sounds like a loose pipe ratting against the underbody, which I'm pretty sure is what it is. Just the right frequency and amount of vibration will set the rattle off--sometimes just moving from a stop will do it.
Recently I've been surprised at how far the stock engine noise can travel to bystanders. Depending on the acoustics of the venue, people at a considerable distance will even turn their heads if I take the rpm all the way to redline. I thought it was all inside the car, but I guess I was wrong. Now, to increase engine noise even more, I've considered a K&N Typhoon intake. That could possibly be the only sound mod, that would increase noise emission yet maintain a unique signature.
The truth is on exhausts, every junkyard car or budget rice burner has the option of adding a nice sounding exhaust, which many have. Adding an aftermarket exhaust to the RX8 lowers its perceived value. I wish this weren't the case. I wish it could sound more unique and distinct with an exhaust swap. But it doesn't. It blends in with less desirable, less unique vehicles. If I was driving a Miata or Mini Cooper a little exhaust would be fun, but it just doesn't go well on an RX8 that is supposed to sound unique, not like all those other cars.
There are 4 or 5 good sounding exhaust available for the RX8, and they all have their issues and problems and caveats. All those "nice" ones with a "deep tone" is exactly what all those Eclipse etc. drivers have chosen to add to their vehicles.
But, it would be interesting to hear a Larini exhaust on an RX8. They make an MX5 exahaust, why not an RX8?
Last edited by User24; 05-20-2007 at 04:11 PM.
05-21-2007, 10:15 AM
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VRZOOMZOOM
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Are you using the shift-tronic automatic RX8? With the standard shift, it is possible to go much higher than 3-4 thousand rpm.
On my car, the sound you are describing happens in 5th gear at 2 thousand rpm, or 35 mph. It sounds like a loose pipe ratting against the underbody, which I'm pretty sure is what it is. Just the right frequency and amount of vibration will set the rattle off--sometimes just moving from a stop will do it.
Recently I've been surprised at how far the stock engine noise can travel to bystanders. Depending on the acoustics of the venue, people at a considerable distance will even turn their heads if I take the rpm all the way to redline. I thought it was all inside the car, but I guess I was wrong. Now, to increase engine noise even more, I've considered a K&N Typhoon intake. That could possibly be the only sound mod, that would increase noise emission yet maintain a unique signature.
The truth is on exhausts, every junkyard car or budget rice burner has the option of adding a nice sounding exhaust, which many have. Adding an aftermarket exhaust to the RX8 lowers its perceived value. I wish this weren't the case. I wish it could sound more unique and distinct with an exhaust swap. But it doesn't. It blends in with less desirable, less unique vehicles. If I was driving a Miata or Mini Cooper a little exhaust would be fun, but it just doesn't go well on an RX8 that is supposed to sound unique, not like all those other cars.
There are 4 or 5 good sounding exhaust available for the RX8, and they all have their issues and problems and caveats. All those "nice" ones with a "deep tone" is exactly what all those Eclipse etc. drivers have chosen to add to their vehicles.
But, it would be interesting to hear a Larini exhaust on an RX8. They make an MX5 exahaust, why not an RX8?
On my car, the sound you are describing happens in 5th gear at 2 thousand rpm, or 35 mph. It sounds like a loose pipe ratting against the underbody, which I'm pretty sure is what it is. Just the right frequency and amount of vibration will set the rattle off--sometimes just moving from a stop will do it.
Recently I've been surprised at how far the stock engine noise can travel to bystanders. Depending on the acoustics of the venue, people at a considerable distance will even turn their heads if I take the rpm all the way to redline. I thought it was all inside the car, but I guess I was wrong. Now, to increase engine noise even more, I've considered a K&N Typhoon intake. That could possibly be the only sound mod, that would increase noise emission yet maintain a unique signature.
The truth is on exhausts, every junkyard car or budget rice burner has the option of adding a nice sounding exhaust, which many have. Adding an aftermarket exhaust to the RX8 lowers its perceived value. I wish this weren't the case. I wish it could sound more unique and distinct with an exhaust swap. But it doesn't. It blends in with less desirable, less unique vehicles. If I was driving a Miata or Mini Cooper a little exhaust would be fun, but it just doesn't go well on an RX8 that is supposed to sound unique, not like all those other cars.
There are 4 or 5 good sounding exhaust available for the RX8, and they all have their issues and problems and caveats. All those "nice" ones with a "deep tone" is exactly what all those Eclipse etc. drivers have chosen to add to their vehicles.
But, it would be interesting to hear a Larini exhaust on an RX8. They make an MX5 exahaust, why not an RX8?
05-22-2007, 02:02 PM
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okay guys..... let's not give me the newb pounding... but my 8 makes a blow-off sound around 8200 - 8500 rpm... what the hell is that.... it's a cool sound but is it supposed to be there????
05-22-2007, 04:33 PM
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Sport Compact Car mag described it as intoxicating, which may be to much. Personally, I love it, it's certainly different and I often find myself driving around without the radio. It's more intake than exhaust noise.
But having spent time in a flat engined Ferraris and Porshes, there certainly are more distinctive sounding engines.
But having spent time in a flat engined Ferraris and Porshes, there certainly are more distinctive sounding engines.