The sound of 2013
Discussion
Are the cars louder this year? I have grown really used to the "lack" of noise, but when I watch something like this it makes me think something is still missing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3mFKjKosbI
Does anyone else miss the noise/theatre or has everyone just accepted it is the way it is and embraced it?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3mFKjKosbI
Does anyone else miss the noise/theatre or has everyone just accepted it is the way it is and embraced it?
In my opinion the V6 turbo hybrid engines sound much more interesting than the V8s and have their own appeal, and the main failing since 2014 has been trackside microphones which do not pick up the now reduced sound.
Steps have been taken since the introduction of the new engine formula to increase the noise. For this season, trackside and on-board microphone locations have been changed
Steps have been taken since the introduction of the new engine formula to increase the noise. For this season, trackside and on-board microphone locations have been changed
My favourites were V10s. I haven't embraced the modern ones but you have to accept this is the current format. Considering how many times engine rules have changed in F1 since 1950, these ones won't be around for ever.
I once attended Goodwood Festival of Speed and, luckily, was stood near Jenson Button doing doughnuts in his F1 V10 Honda. I remember thinking, that if I had been walking through a forest at night and heard the sheer, pure scream that the V10 made, I would be absolutely terrified. That's what I want.............an F1 engine that sounds scary, that grabs my attention and won't let go.Also, I was once stood behind a 90s Lotus F1 powered by a V12 Lamborghini engine, at Cholmondeley Pageant of Speed. They were warming it up, revving it up and down. The mechanics had ear defenders on. Yes, I know I shouldn't have been so close but I figured it would only be 2 minutes of my life. The sound was unforgettable and totally consuming. I didn't realise just how loud it was till it was switched off and I was plugged back in to the real world.
It's just occurred to me that I've taken 5 minutes of my life writing about the old F1 engines. I can't imagine doing that about the current ones..........
I once attended Goodwood Festival of Speed and, luckily, was stood near Jenson Button doing doughnuts in his F1 V10 Honda. I remember thinking, that if I had been walking through a forest at night and heard the sheer, pure scream that the V10 made, I would be absolutely terrified. That's what I want.............an F1 engine that sounds scary, that grabs my attention and won't let go.Also, I was once stood behind a 90s Lotus F1 powered by a V12 Lamborghini engine, at Cholmondeley Pageant of Speed. They were warming it up, revving it up and down. The mechanics had ear defenders on. Yes, I know I shouldn't have been so close but I figured it would only be 2 minutes of my life. The sound was unforgettable and totally consuming. I didn't realise just how loud it was till it was switched off and I was plugged back in to the real world.
It's just occurred to me that I've taken 5 minutes of my life writing about the old F1 engines. I can't imagine doing that about the current ones..........
Best sounding F1 engines in the , Christ , 49 years since I first heard an F1 car live -
- BRM and Matra V12s (71 ish )
- Ferrari Flat 12 312B (etc)
- Alfa V12 79
- Renault V6 turbo - for some reason it sounded best of all in Ligiers
- Ferrari V12 '89
- Lamborghini in Larousse '89
- and probably the best sounding F1 car I've ever heard , the quite extraordinary shriek (and rumble , pop bang and moan ) of the Toyota V10 in 2006
Oldies I have seen and heard , if not in period -
- obviously , the demonic , other wordly scream of the BRM V16
- the lovely straight 8 in the Bugatti T35
- the supercharged straight six of the ERA
- the sublime Ferrari 246 (the1958/60 F1 car , not the road car)
Mind you , for sheer , scary volume nothing comes near a Top Fueller
- BRM and Matra V12s (71 ish )
- Ferrari Flat 12 312B (etc)
- Alfa V12 79
- Renault V6 turbo - for some reason it sounded best of all in Ligiers
- Ferrari V12 '89
- Lamborghini in Larousse '89
- and probably the best sounding F1 car I've ever heard , the quite extraordinary shriek (and rumble , pop bang and moan ) of the Toyota V10 in 2006
Oldies I have seen and heard , if not in period -
- obviously , the demonic , other wordly scream of the BRM V16
- the lovely straight 8 in the Bugatti T35
- the supercharged straight six of the ERA
- the sublime Ferrari 246 (the1958/60 F1 car , not the road car)
Mind you , for sheer , scary volume nothing comes near a Top Fueller
Best sounding car in F1 for years (including the pre-hybrid) is the Mercedes pace car. Loved listening to that every time it did a sighting lap at Silverstone.
The pre-hybrid cars were too frenetic for my tastes. Incredible sound when you first hear it but it's too high pitched for me for long term exposure.
The pre-hybrid cars were too frenetic for my tastes. Incredible sound when you first hear it but it's too high pitched for me for long term exposure.
I went to Friday practice at Silver in 2014, just to hear these hybrid toys for myself. I’ll say they sound much better in real life, and that the tv mikes miss the V6 race engine note. However, 12 cylinders, or DFV, or V10.... we can all list loads of trouser-movement inducing engines that sound far better.
What makes me chuckle is that the powers that be say that these engines are more relevant to today’s road cars. I must remember that when I pop down the shops in my 600kg carbon fibre bodied, be-winged, single-seater.
What makes me chuckle is that the powers that be say that these engines are more relevant to today’s road cars. I must remember that when I pop down the shops in my 600kg carbon fibre bodied, be-winged, single-seater.
Kraken said:
From an engineering point of view the hybrid engines are incredible pieces of technology and I don't doubt that a lot of what has be learned from them will/is being used in the latest generation of road engines.
Or probably not.I think modern road car technology is so well funded by manufacturers that it needs nothing from the field of motor racing regarding research and development. What might have been relevant in 1950 does not apply any more.
The last of the V12s - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SoZiTxdQyw
As a kid watching F1 was as much about the sound as the visual. I may have celebrated after each race by running around the house trying to make the same noises...
For me, engine noise is evocative as you're essentially listening to explosions. Explosions are a thing that makes us alert, we sense power and bottled up fury being released.
The bottom line is that the more capacity is lowered, and forced induction increased, the more muffled that elemental force becomes. We're listening to the same noise at source, it's just.. processed. It's like comparing fresh chicken to processed chicken.
The older turbos sounded mighty still, but they were far more basic. These modern PU's are so efficient they're literally stealing and reusing the energy that would in the past have generated noise out the back.
But.. it's F1, and the new cars lap faster lol. Might not get so many kids excited these days but you can't deny, they drive round in circles very quickly
For me, engine noise is evocative as you're essentially listening to explosions. Explosions are a thing that makes us alert, we sense power and bottled up fury being released.
The bottom line is that the more capacity is lowered, and forced induction increased, the more muffled that elemental force becomes. We're listening to the same noise at source, it's just.. processed. It's like comparing fresh chicken to processed chicken.
The older turbos sounded mighty still, but they were far more basic. These modern PU's are so efficient they're literally stealing and reusing the energy that would in the past have generated noise out the back.
But.. it's F1, and the new cars lap faster lol. Might not get so many kids excited these days but you can't deny, they drive round in circles very quickly
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