RE: Enough exhaust noise already: Tell Me I'm Wrong
Discussion
Yes I could see how that would be annoying in modern car all the time I have thought much the same of the F type as unsubtle. My triumph GTR4 would drown the porky but somehow people still love to see and hear it as do I but it spits real flame when angry which delights most and scares the C**p out of the rest. However it can be subtle when required for small children and animals. Can be seen on pro drive circuit TR event overtaking camera car TR7.
Oddball RS said:
But what proof have you got that this is anything to do with maps or ECU, because it was rumoured by another post, again its an exhaust design flaw or improvement depending how you see it, yet again I will say it 911's and Boxster's have a short exhaust path, Porsche make them convoluted and complicated to try and quieten the cooking ones down, you simplify them or make them flow better then they get vocal and pop and bang without much effort, in the video he is driving to make it do it....
What proof?2 foot flames, horrible throttle progression, no cold idle a big hole in the midrange.
A set of verniers and a few hours later produced about 5hp less at the very top 500rpm but a pretty much linear curve between 3 and 7K and a car which could be put at any angle you felt like. It idled properly and didn't set fire to hedges on the over-run. To a point the exhaust won't see bends and there are a shedload of Porsches running exhausts and making power without sounding like a refugee from the local McDonalds meet. Noise is not power.
BoxsterEtype said:
A bit of snap. crackle and pop is one thing. But wet farting your way down the high street is plain rude. As for faking it inside with speakers. That would defo stop me from buying the car unless I could turn it off.
I want it to sound like I'm caning it when I am but not when I'm not. People might think you were driving a baseball capped ass about Face Corsa or Lupo till they look around, see a decent motor and then they will think you are right knob ponce git.
+ 1I want it to sound like I'm caning it when I am but not when I'm not. People might think you were driving a baseball capped ass about Face Corsa or Lupo till they look around, see a decent motor and then they will think you are right knob ponce git.
Harry3099 said:
I love cars that sound like this, however I only like it when I think the car is worthy of a sound like that. For example, the Boxster is a sportscar - not a supercar, it almost seems like its trying to 'play with the big kids'. I won't lie, pretty much the whole way through that video, I had goosebumps - but when I remembered that it was a Boxster, it just didn't seem cool. Another example is cars like the BMW M3 and Merc C63 AMG have huge engines, and sound great - but they aren't supercars, look at them, they are executive saloon cars! It really bugs me when people think that this entitles them to take their Audi RS6 Avant to a supercar meet, I'm sorry, its just not in the same league as a Ferrari or Lamborghini. Same with the Boxster, again, it rivals Audi TTs and Mercedes SLKs, not supercars. I think its time some of these car brands focused on their market rather than trying to make the car make pops and bangs, and leave that to the true rebels like TVRs and Lamborghinis. It just doesn't suit them.
I know of one particular E34 M5 3.8 with an Eisenmann Sport exhaust that would take it as a personal affront when told you don't approve of the noise it was making. I suspect it would then go off and try and find some supercars to kick the crap out of! 
It's all very childish, but if "supersaloons" aren't meant to be fun then what are they?
voted 10 out of 10, only to find the average is 6!
As someone who used to START work at 6:30AM I've long been sensitive to the issue of the amount of noise emanating from my vehicle of choice for the day, often a moto. As much as I love the sound of a well tuned engine at work(especially V12s!), I accept that not all of society is quite as keen as I am. Imagine living where the yob up the road rides a Ducati with open pipes past your place a dozen times a day. There IS a reason we have sound limits on exhausts, and if the mfgrs. continue to work around the regs you're going to see much harsher restrictions on this.
Perhaps, if the sound you hear must reflect the mechanical activity taking place, you might want to remove a bit of the sound deadening. Both my TR4 & 330 have relatively restrained OEM exhaust systems but sound just right on the inside.
The automotive media decry the presence of "road noise" and then babble like 8 year olds over the sounds the Jag F-type, Boxster S, ect. make.
If, in today's closed car the "music" you hear sounds just right, you car's too loud.
I will now retire to my fire-proof office...
As someone who used to START work at 6:30AM I've long been sensitive to the issue of the amount of noise emanating from my vehicle of choice for the day, often a moto. As much as I love the sound of a well tuned engine at work(especially V12s!), I accept that not all of society is quite as keen as I am. Imagine living where the yob up the road rides a Ducati with open pipes past your place a dozen times a day. There IS a reason we have sound limits on exhausts, and if the mfgrs. continue to work around the regs you're going to see much harsher restrictions on this.
Perhaps, if the sound you hear must reflect the mechanical activity taking place, you might want to remove a bit of the sound deadening. Both my TR4 & 330 have relatively restrained OEM exhaust systems but sound just right on the inside.
The automotive media decry the presence of "road noise" and then babble like 8 year olds over the sounds the Jag F-type, Boxster S, ect. make.
If, in today's closed car the "music" you hear sounds just right, you car's too loud.
I will now retire to my fire-proof office...
Edited by 3304hl on Thursday 30th October 17:21
Edited by 3304hl on Thursday 30th October 17:25
Leins said:
Harry3099 said:
I love cars that sound like this, however I only like it when I think the car is worthy of a sound like that. For example, the Boxster is a sportscar - not a supercar, it almost seems like its trying to 'play with the big kids'. I won't lie, pretty much the whole way through that video, I had goosebumps - but when I remembered that it was a Boxster, it just didn't seem cool. Another example is cars like the BMW M3 and Merc C63 AMG have huge engines, and sound great - but they aren't supercars, look at them, they are executive saloon cars! It really bugs me when people think that this entitles them to take their Audi RS6 Avant to a supercar meet, I'm sorry, its just not in the same league as a Ferrari or Lamborghini. Same with the Boxster, again, it rivals Audi TTs and Mercedes SLKs, not supercars. I think its time some of these car brands focused on their market rather than trying to make the car make pops and bangs, and leave that to the true rebels like TVRs and Lamborghinis. It just doesn't suit them.
I know of one particular E34 M5 3.8 with an Eisenmann Sport exhaust that would take it as a personal affront when told you don't approve of the noise it was making. I suspect it would then go off and try and find some supercars to kick the crap out of! It's all very childish, but if "supersaloons" aren't meant to be fun then what are they?
Unless you have a serious Group B rally car or something then popping and banging is just a bit MaxPower for me.
The car in the video sounds like there is something wrong with it.
Also, I don't understand why you are driving around town (in the video) with the hood down on a dull day? Are you vain? In which case I fail to see how the exhaust system spoils your driving experience..."LOOK AT ME EVERYONE! LOOK AT ME!"
GALLARDOGUY said:
As the owner of a Larini Clubsport equipped LP-560 spyder, a decatted TVR Tuscan, a PPP C63 AMG and an HKS single turbo RX-7, you are wrong.
Bring the noise!!
???Bring the noise!!
He's not complaining about noise, just artificially created noise.
The sound of a performance car should be essentially a byproduct, maybe finessed a little, but programmed in to the ecu to dump in extra fuel just for the noise or even worse produced by the audio system is lame in the extreme.
The Boxster in the article sounds s
te, like a chavved up stbox driven by a Burberry cap aficionado flat out in first everywhere.
I'd actually be embarrassed to drive around in it sounding like that, as well as tiring of constantly answering the "Is your car broke, mate?" question.
Surprising that a: people spec it with that kind of exhaust, and b: Porsche put their name on it and let it out of the factory sounding like that.
Where's the subtlety gone these days? It used to be the case that cars with power had low, bassy exhaust notes until they were opened right up. Now it seems like in order to be seen as a sports car, it has to sound like something that's been created by an engineer who has been doused in "Eau du Chav avec Halfords".
te, like a chavved up stbox driven by a Burberry cap aficionado flat out in first everywhere.I'd actually be embarrassed to drive around in it sounding like that, as well as tiring of constantly answering the "Is your car broke, mate?" question.
Surprising that a: people spec it with that kind of exhaust, and b: Porsche put their name on it and let it out of the factory sounding like that.
Where's the subtlety gone these days? It used to be the case that cars with power had low, bassy exhaust notes until they were opened right up. Now it seems like in order to be seen as a sports car, it has to sound like something that's been created by an engineer who has been doused in "Eau du Chav avec Halfords".
Leins said:
Exhaust noise is good, induction noise is even better IMO
Agreed! I run a bog standard Alfa Romeo 164 Cloverleaf (24V) which never emits pops, bangs, crackles or farts from its exhaust. Rather it simply sounds smooth, musically V6 and cultured - apparently reminiscent of a Dino V6 according to knowledgeable friends - and rarely turns heads in its wake.However, it's the front end that turns heads when it's gunning or, interestingly, if you're fast down-changing under braking. Open up its Bosch Motronic and the urgency of the sound is what causes people to turn and see where the noise is coming from. It's not even fitted with a K & N (must remember to do that one day!)
The only other car I've had which matched the 164 in this respect was my Fiat Strada Abarth. These cars were notorious for emitting a very penetrating carb whistle from their twins which seemed to come from everywhere around the car. That turned heads up front too!
I always thought that smooth exhaust sounds (ie. no popping, banging, crackling etc) signalled super efficient engine breathing (induction, combustion and exhaust carefully matched all the way through)and thus was A GOOD THING!
zeb said:
kambites said:
zeb said:
Aston, ferrari, lambo etc all spend squillions on the acoustic aspect of how the vehicle sounds
They do, and for me that significantly detracts from the appeal of their cars. you only have to look how people are complaining about F1 now being 'souless' due to the reduction in sound
Each to their own though. If you like hearing your car make the noise that the computer has told it to make, that's fine by me.
Edited by kambites on Thursday 30th October 18:20
It doesn't quite sound "right" though, does it?
To wit: the Porsche in the video at the start of the discussion is making lots of noise but going slowly. It's making noise for the sake of making noise - which could be viewed as vulgar? I've got nothing against noisy cars; but prefer when it's accompanied by some performance gain.
My little, old Mazda has a variable intake thingy. When it opens the engine makes a wonderfully mechanical twin-cam snarling noise entirely at odds with the car's unassuming appearance. It happens only when accelerating harshly. The exhaust broke recently (now fixed) and for a while the poor thing sounded horrid. Nasty bass booming and low frequency aural assault being the order of the day. It did make popping noises when closing the throttle, however.
Similarly club music is great, in a club. A few cocktails, meaningless conversations with strangers, fun with friends. However listening to Kiss FM, alone, on a Saturday night isn't the same thing.
So I'd opine that exhaust noise is part of an holistic experience. In isolation, or faked, it's a bit rubbish really.
To wit: the Porsche in the video at the start of the discussion is making lots of noise but going slowly. It's making noise for the sake of making noise - which could be viewed as vulgar? I've got nothing against noisy cars; but prefer when it's accompanied by some performance gain.
My little, old Mazda has a variable intake thingy. When it opens the engine makes a wonderfully mechanical twin-cam snarling noise entirely at odds with the car's unassuming appearance. It happens only when accelerating harshly. The exhaust broke recently (now fixed) and for a while the poor thing sounded horrid. Nasty bass booming and low frequency aural assault being the order of the day. It did make popping noises when closing the throttle, however.
Similarly club music is great, in a club. A few cocktails, meaningless conversations with strangers, fun with friends. However listening to Kiss FM, alone, on a Saturday night isn't the same thing.
So I'd opine that exhaust noise is part of an holistic experience. In isolation, or faked, it's a bit rubbish really.
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