Charismatic engines - your nominations please

[dartissimus]

Gojira said:

spyder dryver said:

Gojira said:

AAGR said:

Am I allowed to mention a Concorde on take-off ?

Only if you shout very loudly....

A supersonic passenger plane with afterburners, whats not to like?

On this side of the pond we refer to it as "reheat" old chap.

It's a fair cop, but society is to blame....

Many years ago, I was driving around the Heathrow perimeter road, when an enormous noise actually rattled the windows on my Hillman Hunter Estate.
I was right under Concorde's take off path.
It bore a strong resemblance to modern fantasy films with dragons, filling the sky and belching fumes

[HealeyV8]

dartissimus said:

Many years ago, I was driving around the Heathrow perimeter road, when an enormous noise actually rattled the windows on my Hillman Hunter Estate.
I was right under Concorde's take off path.
It bore a strong resemblance to modern fantasy films with dragons, filling the sky and belching fumes

But surely not from their rear end??

[dartissimus]

HealeyV8 said:

dartissimus said:

Many years ago, I was driving around the Heathrow perimeter road, when an enormous noise actually rattled the windows on my Hillman Hunter Estate.
I was right under Concorde's take off path.
It bore a strong resemblance to modern fantasy films with dragons, filling the sky and belching fumes

But surely not from their rear end??

No, but it was me that nearly st myself

[Mr Tidy]

LOTUS110 said:

Not a car engine, but Rolls Royce Merlin / Griffin from a Spifire.

But it has been!

https://www.classicdriver.com/en/article/cars/john...

[lowdrag]

The one engine that stays in my head - I talk of this century - was when the Vulcan flew over Goodwood and then put the afterburners on. A sound never to be heard again, but once heard, never forgotten. The Mazda rotary down the Mulsanne straight in 1991 would be another.

[tdm34]

lowdrag said:

The one engine that stays in my head - I talk of this century - was when the Vulcan flew over Goodwood and then put the afterburners on. A sound never to be heard again, but once heard, never forgotten. The Mazda rotary down the Mulsanne straight in 1991 would be another.

Sadly the Vulcans Olympus engines didn't have afterburners, but she certainly made a fantastic racket,
and she could dance a bit for a big girl..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXh3tZT-Pfk&fe...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sh-9uZjg1Tg&t=...

Edited by tdm34 on Sunday 23 February 16:10

[biggbn]

I love the noise of a flat four beetle. It's got that how can I help you, happy to be here vibe that just counters along.

Loved the five pots in.my old Audi 90 and coupe fiat turbo, and I do love the thrum of a triple!!

[a8hex]

irocfan said:

epicfail said:

I am sure someone with more knowledge than me can explain why the Triumph v8 makes "that" noise and the Rover V8 never does. It's interesting that in standard 1970's tune the Triumph produced more power than the Rover.

produced more power but lunched itself more regularly too....

Wasn't part of the problem with them lunching themselves was that they still sounded great well after the red line.
Plus all the problems of people not putting anti-freeze in them, coz it's not winter.

[a8hex]

4321go said:

As the burners lit, the wall of sound was crushing. Just absolutely devastating. For a while afterwards, both of us were left giggling. Neither of us would admit it at the time, but we were laughing because we were FRIGHTENED; it was that visceral!

It seemed like a good idea at the time. But I doubt that either of us felt the need to repeat the exercise........

It was exciting enough from the passenger seats when you're on a baby 737 behind Concorde as it lit up, I'm sure it was even more spectacular from your chair with the windows open.

[anonymous-user]

a8hex said:

Plus all the problems of people not putting anti-freeze in them, coz it's not winter.

The biggest problem that got them a bad rep was sand left in the block waterways from the foundry resulting in poor coolant flow which caused h/g failure. When the h/g was replaced, the same thing happened. That one thing caused the problem.

[austin]

lowdrag said:

The one engine that stays in my head - I talk of this century - was when the Vulcan flew over Goodwood and then put the afterburners on. A sound never to be heard again, but once heard, never forgotten. The Mazda rotary down the Mulsanne straight in 1991 would be another.

I was lucky enough to hear both of those as well. The sound of that Vulcan was incredible, really did think the sky was going to be torn open!

[eccles]

austin said:

lowdrag said:

The one engine that stays in my head - I talk of this century - was when the Vulcan flew over Goodwood and then put the afterburners on. A sound never to be heard again, but once heard, never forgotten. The Mazda rotary down the Mulsanne straight in 1991 would be another.

I was lucky enough to hear both of those as well. The sound of that Vulcan was incredible, really did think the sky was going to be torn open!

I was at Le Mans in 91 and the Mazdas engine were indeed a sound to behold.
The Vulcans 'howl' is made by the air in the intakes, but even the engine noise itself is awesome.

[Touring442]

Triumph Stag
BMW M30
Ford BDA
Jaguar V12
Ferrari Flat 12
Alfa Romeo V6 (Busso)
Ford 3.0 V6
Porsche air cooled flat 6

[Touring442]

epicfail said:

I am sure someone with more knowledge than me can explain why the Triumph v8 makes "that" noise and the Rover V8 never does. It's interesting that in standard 1970's tune the Triumph produced more power than the Rover.

It was the firing order. The Stag was 12784563, a rare firing order shared with something American like the Northstar V8 and a fifties Buick. That and the exhaust design gave it that burble.

[irocfan]

eccles said:

austin said:

lowdrag said:

The one engine that stays in my head - I talk of this century - was when the Vulcan flew over Goodwood and then put the afterburners on. A sound never to be heard again, but once heard, never forgotten. The Mazda rotary down the Mulsanne straight in 1991 would be another.

I was lucky enough to hear both of those as well. The sound of that Vulcan was incredible, really did think the sky was going to be torn open!

I was at Le Mans in 91 and the Mazdas engine were indeed a sound to behold.
The Vulcans 'howl' is made by the air in the intakes, but even the engine noise itself is awesome.

I remember seeing a Tornado heading out to sea over Southend one bank holiday - the noise was quite impressive

[HealeyV8]

F111's out of Mildenhall I'm sure they had re-heat , afterburners. You'd feel it in your chest rather than hear it.

[Yertis]

I know it’s been mentioned before (by me probably) but I was driving a 1988 Audi i5 (MB for the Audi people) over the weekend and the sound really is sublime.

[lowdrag]

tdm34 said:

Sadly the Vulcans Olympus engines didn't have afterburners, but she certainly made a fantastic racket,
and she could dance a bit for a big girl..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXh3tZT-Pfk&fe...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sh-9uZjg1Tg&t=...

Edited by tdm34 on Sunday 23 February 16:10

Apologies then, but it sure sounded like it as she went nearly vertical to an ungodly roar. It was like looking into a fiery furnace. I now believe it was the Vulcan that made the walls of Jericho fall

[lowdrag]

a8hex said:

irocfan said:

epicfail said:

I am sure someone with more knowledge than me can explain why the Triumph v8 makes "that" noise and the Rover V8 never does. It's interesting that in standard 1970's tune the Triumph produced more power than the Rover.

produced more power but lunched itself more regularly too....

Wasn't part of the problem with them lunching themselves was that they still sounded great well after the red line.
Plus all the problems of people not putting anti-freeze in them, coz it's not winter.

What is sad is the demise of the Daimler 2.5 V8. Bill Heynes, director of Jaguar when Daimler was acquired, and designer of the XK engine, decided to prove it wasn't reliable and should be dropped. So, his son Jonathan, who also worked at Jaguar, was detailed to drive the Daimler Mk 2 from Coventry to stratford and back - in second gear. The engine survived, so Jonathan was instructed to do the run again - in first gear. The engine failed, and the XK won out. But today, the Daimler engine in drag racing is producing up to 1,000 bhp. A sad story. Anyone fancy a 1,000 bhp Daimler SP250?

[eccles]

HealeyV8 said:

F111's out of Mildenhall I'm sure they had re-heat , afterburners. You'd feel it in your chest rather than hear it.

They were out of Lakenheath and the end of the runway is very near the road. You can get a similar experience today with various versions of Eagles taking off.