RE: PH Blog: (em)motive power
Discussion
There's one engine noise that has lasted long in my memory. A Ducati 900SS Mike Hailwood (air cooled bevel drive desmo) I'll never forget how it sounded like a mobile earthquake 
Failing that
RR Merlin (at a squeeze maybe a Griffon)
Mercedes McLaren SLR
My old E21 323i
Any Triumph 6
Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato
Porsche 917
Rover V8 anything
XJ13 V12
I'm sure there's more but that's enough for now.
Failing that
RR Merlin (at a squeeze maybe a Griffon)
Mercedes McLaren SLR
My old E21 323i
Any Triumph 6
Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato
Porsche 917
Rover V8 anything
XJ13 V12
I'm sure there's more but that's enough for now.
This sounds quite peachy for a modern motor. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wElw6VjaLg
XKR-S
My next car if I play my cards right.
XKR-S
My next car if I play my cards right.
ESDavey said:
Rover V8 has been used for soooooo long in soooooo many cars it has to be #1.
Was looking for this and was surprised it took until page 5 to get a mention, its been so widely used in mass produced cars, specialist cars, kits cars. What a great engine, had one in: 1968 Rover, MGB-GT, NG kit car.AER said:
Merlin XX that unfortunately I don't have hidden in the back of the garage... 
Having spent some time working with historical aircraft it is amazing how many Merlins there actually are lurking in the backs of garages and sheds and so on (and how the engineers can keep track of 'em!). It's worth double-checking, just in case... not that it's easy to lose almost 8 feet of block and supercharger, true...The Gnome rotary is one helluvan emotive bit of kit. And it will often go into bad moods. Amazingly crazy though.
Phew! Seems I get to be the first to mention the brilliant Aurelio Lampredi-designed Fiat/Lanca twin-cam which powered (in 8-valve and 16-valve form) a whole raft of sporting Italians from 1967 through to 1995 (tremendous shelf life!) including the Fiat 124 Sports Coupes and Spiders, Mirafiori Sports and 131 Abarths, Lancia Montecarlos, Strada Abarths, Beta Coupes and HPEs, Lancia Delta integrales, Fiat Coupes (early ones), etc etc.
Plus you can easily hide one under the bonnet of a Minor 1000 for that real wolf in sheep's clothing thrill! For a strong and compact power plant it took some beating.
Other than that I'd also add the Busso V6 in both 12V and (especially) 24V forms. Bellissimo!
Plus you can easily hide one under the bonnet of a Minor 1000 for that real wolf in sheep's clothing thrill! For a strong and compact power plant it took some beating.
Other than that I'd also add the Busso V6 in both 12V and (especially) 24V forms. Bellissimo!
PascalBuyens said:
j_s14a said:
As others have said, Rolls Royce Merlin. Nothing else comes close.
If not restricted to car engines, definitely the best sounding yes///
In terms of car engines, it's just about any NA V12 for me, from quiet, silky smooth power of an early Mercedes V12 through to the final variation of that engine in AMG/Pagani form, or BMW's N73 from a Phantom to the S70/2 of the McLaren F1, Aston Martin's gloriously bellicose Vanquish and subsequent derivatives.
Cross-plane crank V8s hold a special place in my affections too, the larger the capacity and more offbeat the exhaust pulses the better. Something like one of Nelson Racing Engines' custom big block NA engines (check youtube) would be sublime.
Hard to argue with any of the ///M Power sixes too, especially the E46 CSL's carbon airboxed S54.
Also, what's "emmotive"?
Purely subjective, best sounding engines I've ever experienced in no particular order:
Chevrolet 327 Corvette V8 - 1960's American muscle car magic.
Ferrari Daytona - It really did sound like ripping canvas!
Porsche 911 flat six - Hard to pick a favourite one. I haven't driven them all, obviously. I sure do love the sounds coming out of the GT3 RS 3.8. I can only imagine that the 4.0 is just as good or better.
There are lots of current engines which are up there with those three. We seem to be at the turning point at which we can now buy but we may lose some of the greatest sounding engines ever. How much longer does the AMG 6.3 have? The Maserati 4.7 is now gone from the Quattroporte -- how much longer in the Gran Turismo? The Jaguar V8 (also used in the Aston) is a fantastic sounding thing. How much longer for that one? There are several others. Current Chevy and Ford muscle sound fantastic. But what does the future hold?
Chevrolet 327 Corvette V8 - 1960's American muscle car magic.
Ferrari Daytona - It really did sound like ripping canvas!
Porsche 911 flat six - Hard to pick a favourite one. I haven't driven them all, obviously. I sure do love the sounds coming out of the GT3 RS 3.8. I can only imagine that the 4.0 is just as good or better.
There are lots of current engines which are up there with those three. We seem to be at the turning point at which we can now buy but we may lose some of the greatest sounding engines ever. How much longer does the AMG 6.3 have? The Maserati 4.7 is now gone from the Quattroporte -- how much longer in the Gran Turismo? The Jaguar V8 (also used in the Aston) is a fantastic sounding thing. How much longer for that one? There are several others. Current Chevy and Ford muscle sound fantastic. But what does the future hold?
Only commenting from personal experience but I did love my WRX once I had a more free flowing exhaust, I chose my Bravo HGT ahead of some better cars at the time for its 5 cylinder engine note and I loved the whine of the Mini Cooper S.
But my faourite of all (of my cars) has to be the Alfa 164 Cloverleaf. With its new stainless exhaust it sounded immense and strangely so much better than the 166 3.0 and the current 156 V6 we own now.
But my faourite of all (of my cars) has to be the Alfa 164 Cloverleaf. With its new stainless exhaust it sounded immense and strangely so much better than the 166 3.0 and the current 156 V6 we own now.
If we're talking Race cars, either the flat 12 in a Porsche 917 or (biased) the Opel V6 from the DTM Calibras back in the 90s. But then I was lucky to be running those on dynos at Cosworth at the time.
For road cars either a Merc V8 or McLaren GTR V12
Planes? Merlin. Enough said :-)
As for bikes, yes V-twins are quite epic but nothing really matches a Honda CBX with a 6-1 exhaust....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQfI6TPbIfg
For road cars either a Merc V8 or McLaren GTR V12
Planes? Merlin. Enough said :-)
As for bikes, yes V-twins are quite epic but nothing really matches a Honda CBX with a 6-1 exhaust....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQfI6TPbIfg
The KV Judd V8 engine is another that sounds sublime.
In a road car, being driven hard on the road (legally) - http://youtu.be/A4ujh-3bDnA?t=1m45s
more
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6lgWiqjeDw
(RIP - Georg Plasa)
In a road car, being driven hard on the road (legally) - http://youtu.be/A4ujh-3bDnA?t=1m45s
more
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6lgWiqjeDw
(RIP - Georg Plasa)
Edited by Sport Coupe on Wednesday 5th December 19:27
Foodhoover said:
my vote would be for the busso V6 that went into Alfa Romeos from the late 70's up until a few years back, the flat 12 from the porshce 917 and the BMW straight six M20 from E21/E30 BMW 3 series and E21 E28 and E34 5 series. Oh and the Lycoming 0-320 flat six aero engine, which has never yet let me down once aloft.
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