Can diesels sound good?

[tgx]

The question should be, "Will electric cars ever not sound like a wind-up toy.".
Diesel, Gas theses are all passing technologies. As Tesla's come down in price
and go up in features the end of fossil fuels as a power source will happen. It's
going to take years but it will. While I will miss the sublime raw power noises I
think outright speed won't be an issue. I recall when I started racing Electric RC
cars and the Nitro guys would laugh. Don't see many Nitro cars anymore.

[jagfan2]

My St diesel sounds pretty good, no electronics, but does have symposer on the intake and tuned exhaust, decent burble on startup, bit boomy at times but not bad

TDV8's aren't bad, Ghibli A7 and SQ5 are all speakers in the exhaust like the i8. There are companies that can reprogramme then now, so you can have V8 if you want, though never as good as the real thing

[anonymous-user]

Dad has a L322 4.4 TDV8. Sounds fantastic under load, and wonderfully refined when not. At idle a bit rough, but not bad. I hate most diesels, but once you have eight cylinders and a decent capacity, they're fine.

[jagfan2]

The original Nick the Greek said:

Here you are airbrain. This will help you understand why Mrs Airbrains diesel Cayanne is far slower than a Cayanne Turbo, despite the petrol car having less torque. No charge for you. Nice syrup by the way......

Except your missing where torque limitations are for Transmissions and Driveline, shorter lower gears don't always let you use it or put it down. Diesel cayenne won't be far off in the mid range, obviously not from rest and top end though.

[DS197]

Ken Figenus said:

Please tell me where I can send money/Western Union/kind thoughts! 535d size pipe pleae!

it's a custom exhaust by a company called Martelius. Would be worth contacting them as i'm sure they'll have done a 535d

[neil-935ql]

I always thought a good diesel train sounded ok back in the 70s when I were a lad

[calibrax]

I think that my MG ZT CDTi sounds pretty good for a 2 litre diesel auto...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyXiM_NUNcs

[FRA53R]

I have only ever found one true case of a diesel sounding just as good as a petrol and it is this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2MmAJm_mhw

It's an old clip but still sounds great, the Banks stuff is all very impressive.

[neil-935ql]

I borrowed a Audi A8 4.2 tdi which on tick over sounded ok but not so good when pushing on , for me diesel will never float me boat !

[donaldwh]

I have been to Silverstone in 2011 to see 6 hour Enduro sports car race, the Peugeot 908 & Audi Tdis both sounded good under acceleration, so no problem with high performing diesels

[jamieduff1981]

Limpet said:

Finchingtons said:

The burble of a Range Rover tdv8 is fantastic

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EqyszLVZl2U

A colleague has one. It sounds brilliant, I reckon.

Someone will be along to tell you their 4 pot Renault hatchback petrol engine sounds better shortly.

[Raven Flyer]

I have an A6 BiTDi. It's the same engine as the SQ5.

In Dynamic mode, it sounds the nuts.

The sound is changed using an electronic resonator box attached to the exhaust, but I have yet to work out if it is active to reduce sound in Comfort mode, or active to enhance sound in Dynamic mode. As the exhaust has no silencers, I suspect it is active in Comfort mode.

Either way, it works for me.

[framerateuk]

Merc 450 said:

My 300hp Audi A6 3.0tdi storyline avant with 7speed paddle shift has a volume control on the twin exhausts. On the computer you select car then systems then settings then exhaust note and when turned up if you change about 3 to 4 thousand revs it howls like an F1 car. Pees off the boy racers with their big exhausts also nippy, the book says 0to 60 in 5.0 and 163 mph topend. On and its an Audi so zero emissions: D

I find that really, really hard to believe.

[Fire99]

LankyLegoHead said:

The Alfa 2.4 five pot, most notably in the Brera or 159... that sounds awesome!

Test drove an Alfa 156 2.4 JTD some time ago.... OK I wouldn't say it was amazing sounding, but it certainly had a pretty good muscular soundtrack..

[culpz]

I think they can but they need to be fairly extensively modified. The thing is i don't think you can really get around the unpleasant low speed noise/idle. My old man's '09 535D makes quite a nice roar when it picks up speed and the noise of the turbos kicking in is actually quite nice. Just alot less drama that a petrol though so cannot really be compared.

I know there's a guy on my Instagram that i follow who has a 335D Touring that really does sound amazing. It has had a few mods but its uncanny how similar it sounds to the petrol equivalent, if not better. Not sure how much money was spent to make it that way mind and it doesn't change my opinion on diesels at all.

[veccy208]

Just my type of conversation! I'm a big fan of diesels as where would you gain so much performance for so little fuel consumption! And a wee remap can work wonders.
From outside though 'normal diesels never sound good and I think of the indescribable disappointment when a Souped up x5 comes towards you and you hope against hope, waiting for the roar...but it clatters past in a cloud of disappointment.

Best sounding diesels:
Scania V8
JohnDeere 7530 under load
Someone mentioned trains. How about NIR Class 80 trains (look them up on youtube)
LR Defenders aren't too bad either!

[WinstonWolf]

neil-935ql said:

I borrowed a Audi A8 4.2 tdi which on tick over sounded ok but not so good when pushing on , for me diesel will never float me boat !

Those of us who buy A8s don't buy them for how they sound. Well we do, but it's all about the double glazing and the Bose

[neil-935ql]

WinstonWolf said:

Those of us who buy A8s don't buy them for how they sound. Well we do, but it's all about the double glazing and the Bose

Yes good car really if miles too long it was the long version , borrowed it off my father in law while we waited for our new car to be delivered had it for 5 weeks

[WinstonWolf]

neil-935ql said:

WinstonWolf said:

Those of us who buy A8s don't buy them for how they sound. Well we do, but it's all about the double glazing and the Bose

Yes good car really if miles too long it was the long version , borrowed it off my father in law while we waited for our new car to be delivered had it for 5 weeks

Yeah, let's not mention parking the damn things If you own one, even the SWB, you become exceptionally good at parking

[coetzeeh]

veccy208 said:

Just my type of conversation! I'm a big fan of diesels as where would you gain so much performance for so little fuel consumption! And a wee remap can work wonders.
From outside though 'normal diesels never sound good and I think of the indescribable disappointment when a Souped up x5 comes towards you and you hope against hope, waiting for the roar...but it clatters past in a cloud of disappointment.

Best sounding diesels:
Scania V8
JohnDeere 7530 under load
Someone mentioned trains. How about NIR Class 80 trains (look them up on youtube)
LR Defenders aren't too bad either!

Drove next to a Scania 580 with "sports exhausts" on the M1 today. Holy moly that sounded meaty.