Does it matter what a car sounds like (erm, yes)

[teadazed]

http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2014/09/doe...r-sounds-like/

Tiefighter, obviously.

[Foxy100]

I think there's a difference here between engine and exhaust. With F1 cars I suspect spectators wouldn't hear the engines of the cars passing even if they had silent exhausts. Modern cars have such good insulation you can no longer hear the exhaust and engine noises so well so some manufacturers have started playing engine noises through the speakers. Exhaust noise has been tweaked for years: Ferrari, Aston, Audi and especially AMG long ago established the kind of noises that attract other men and play it at volume out of their cars' exhausts.

[ralphy]

As a joke(y) gift I’ve bought my brother a V8 replicator: it plugs into the cigar lighter and picks up the engines revs from the alternator, you tune your car radio to a given frequency and hey presto you get the sound of a V8. Tried it out in a friends Aygo and the looks we got driving around with the radio on loud were priceless.

R

[Foxy100]

As a joke(y) gift I’ve bought my brother a V8 replicator: it plugs into the cigar lighter and picks up the engines revs from the alternator, you tune your car radio to a given frequency and hey presto you get the sound of a V8. Tried it out in a friends Aygo and the looks we got driving around with the radio on loud were priceless.

R

I think you can get something similar for your exhaust too, with a choice of noises.

[fishman307]

My V8 Jeep sounds just like a V8! With its American straight through exhaust it sounds Absolutly stunning, If truth be know it was a factor in buying it, If I were to nit pick at a very limited engine speed it can drone a little through the car, It's a case of drive nice and sedate and it's quiet, OR give it some gun and it makes the hairs on your neck stand up, Some engines just HAVE to be loud and fit sounding, it's the law

[Gruntfuttock]

I think there's a difference here between engine and exhaust. With F1 cars I suspect spectators wouldn't hear the engines of the cars passing ....

Remember all the fuss over engine noise when the season started? Not heard a peep about it since the first race!

[SimonH]

Modern cars have such good insulation you can no longer hear the exhaust and engine noises so well so some manufacturers have started playing engine noises through the speakers.

Ah the dreaded sound symposer...

Recently been testing hot hatches and all have this - the purists detest it but I like it, the noise in the car sounds good but you avoid the chav factor outside of the car.

The Renault Clio 200 Turbo even lets you choose various different sounds including Clio V6, Alpines and bizarrely a Nissan GT-R among others.

I ended up choosing the M135i and synthesised or not the sound in the cabin is awesome

[jaytip]

Always loved the induction and engine noise in my NSX's, Awesome sound.

[ASK3L]

Remember all the fuss over engine noise when the season started? Not heard a peep about it since the first race!

I've not heard an engine to this date worth listening to, You must be listening in all the wrong places.
Mercedes tried megaphone exhausts and admitted they failed.

[Rodriguez]

Engine noise for me is one of the most important aspects of a car. The most exciting car I've personally owned was an M3 CSL and the engine/induction noise played a very big part in that.

[TBKBABAB]

I've not heard an engine to this date worth listening to, You must be listening in all the wrong places.
Mercedes tried megaphone exhausts and admitted they failed.

They are poop, at Silverstone this year felt it was very sad after watching GP2 and the parade of older F1 cars to then hear how
rubbish the F1 cars now sound. Not sure there is too much they can do though.

Very much same trend on road cars with smaller engines/turbos energy regeneration or whatever you want to call it but made worse by increased sound insulation.

[chrisparker]

Not the least bit interested in how a car sounds.

I'd prefer a car that went like stink but quiet as a mouse over a noisy lump that was all show and no go.

[Seiko7A38]

Nothing quite like the induction roar of a brace of Weber triples gurgling away inches behind your head and barely silenced exhausts popping and banging on the over-run.

[java]

I must have got old. It matters massively to me what my car sounds like, or more importantly doesn't sound like. It pleases me a great deal that I sometimes forget to press the engine off button because my V8 is so quiet I am unaware it is running.

[markc]

I must have got old. It matters massively to me what my car sounds like, or more importantly doesn't sound like. It pleases me a great deal that I sometimes forget to press the engine off button because my V8 is so quiet I am unaware it is running.

This!

Don't get me wrong, I like a good engine note but there is something "special" about a quiet car. Anyway, get used to it everyone - electric cars will be taking over before long and our petrol engined dinosaurs will be things of the past.

Cheers,

Mark C

[Velorum]

My VW Polo sound a bit like my Bosch washing machine

I quite like it

[oiljam]

It's not just the engine sound that matters, its the horn aswell. Nothing more embarrassing that a piddly beep .

[Caruso]

An old video, but this is the best sounding car I ever owned.

[teadazed]

Not the least bit interested in how a car sounds.

I'd prefer a car that went like stink but quiet as a mouse over a noisy lump that was all show and no go.

I'm not a fan of noise or all-show-and-no-go either, but give me a growling, roaring, howling V8 and I grin like a fool.

There's something about a nice sounding car that can turn even an ordinary journey like a grocery run into an event.

[ASK3L]

Sounds good Caruso, at least a few of have soul and not into things that sound like an electric toothbrush needing recharged.
And all sound and no go is a waste but go with sound is a ++
I need to rig a mike and go for a run in the S4 :-)

[Andyg]

barely silenced exhausts popping and banging on the over-run.

This, with hopefully a few flames coming out the back.

[NJH]

That is Lamborghini in a nutshell, watched a bog stock Gallardo going round Silverstone this year it did that before every corner and sounded properly rude.

M3 CSL sound is in a word Epic. Its the closest I have heard a production car sound to a proper race car.