V8 Noise variants

[Rich_W]

Now I'm going to get ridiculed for it. But I've never been a fan of the traditional V8 rumble. The sort of thing you get with American Muscle cars. And of late from something like a C63.

https://youtu.be/5mWn1INavx4?t=13s
C63

The E92 M3 is slightly better. There are times when one of these giving it some can sound a bit 6 pot.
https://youtu.be/X_Gv9yaqEho?t=23s

But for me the best is something Ferrari (or as today the Maserati Quattroporte I saw)
https://youtu.be/OjbtWn5fvZE?t=28s

Obviously the "ultimate" is F1. No silencers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpvuu5MfaSk


A high pitched howl rather than a bassy rumble.

Is it purely an exhaust thing? Could you make a C63 into a howler? Or is that certain bore to stroke ratio's create the higher pitched sound? Is it induction/air filter related?

[Rich_W]

lostkiwi said:

Flat plane crank V8s howl or scream.
Cross plane V8s rumble.
The cross plane can be made to sound like a flat plane by redesigning the exhaust.
On a cross plane V8 the firing pulses go LRLLRLRRL. The typical V8 burble being caused by the double firing pulses on each bank.
On a flat plane V8 the exhaust pulses are LRLRLRLR.
Redesigning the exhaust to split the double pulses down opposite exhaust manifolds can be done and changes the exhaust note accordingly but it's complex manifolds work and not generally worth it.
Flat plane V8s are generally more responsive than cross plane V8s but suffer more from harmonic vibration as they are effectively two 4 cylinder engines on a common crankshaft.

Thanks for the explanation. YouTube videos weren't helping!