Are noisy ICE cars becoming embarrassing?

[anonymous-user]

aeropilot said:

Grahamdub said:

One of my abiding memories is of Germans in the campsite bouncing their brand new bikes off the rev limiters until the engines glowed in the dark

Just what you needed if you had to be up for practice at stupid o'clock the next day !

[phil4]

I find it amusing the OP used a Golf R as an example of a loud petrol car... compared to it's competition (eg. M140i, A45 AMG etc) it's pretty quiet.

Back to Noisey cars though... provided it's not "all show and no go" or "all mouth but no trousers"... then yes, I love a tuneful car, whether it's a I4 or V12. There's something in each that makes it sounds good to me. Oddly the same goes for motorbikes. There's nothing better in my head than hearing a superbike scream down the local bypass in the distance at 10pm.

Do I want to wake my neighbours at 6am... no, I'm not that sort of antisocial.

Thing is, I think the EV makers are missing a trick when it comes to petrol heads. Why not sell the car with "sounds packs", that generate the artificial sound of well known cars? They could even change the power delivery map to match if they really wanted too. So you too could have a car that sounded like a Mazda 787B, or a V10 F1 car.... and oddly if it's a Tesla P100D, the 0-60 performence wouldn't be too far out either. And all this inside the car, so nothing antisocial about it.

Edited by phil4 on Monday 15th April 11:01

[Killboy]

Eeeer. I'm just entertained that people seem to think only engines with 8 cylinders or more sound good. What a shame.

[Conscript]

Turn7 said:

RobDickinson said:

Turn7 said:

Another reason to ban them lol....

Very shortly they (ie all ev's) in Europe will have to make a low speed noise so people can hear them.

the ev taxis in Florence already drive round beeping ffs

Why the "ffs"? I was in Florence a couple of weeks ago and noticed a lot of EVs making bleeping at slow speed, but it wasn't intrusive it wasn't like the loud bleeping you get from a reversing truck, for instance. Seemed like a good idea, especially in a town like Florence, given the huge amounts of narrow streets and pavements, and open plazas shared by both cars and pedestrians alike. Saved me from stepping in front of a taxi a couple of times when I wouldn't have otherwise heard it.

[Durzel]

I think it's the juxtaposition that makes it seem worse. Hearing a car engine trying to match a car that is just pulling away silently, and beating it comprehensively, is always going to have the effect of making the ICE car look really anachronistic, even if it is a new car.

[Rawwr]

Gameface said:

grumbledoak said:

Anything with less than eight cylinders sounds dull.

That's simply not the case is it.

There many fantastic sounding 6 cylinder engines.

And triples.

And twins.

And singles.

And fours.

[aeropilot]

Conscript said:

Turn7 said:

RobDickinson said:

Turn7 said:

Another reason to ban them lol....

Very shortly they (ie all ev's) in Europe will have to make a low speed noise so people can hear them.

the ev taxis in Florence already drive round beeping ffs

Why the "ffs"? I was in Florence a couple of weeks ago and noticed a lot of EVs making bleeping at slow speed, but it wasn't intrusive it wasn't like the loud bleeping you get from a reversing truck, for instance. Seemed like a good idea, especially in a town like Florence, given the huge amounts of narrow streets and pavements, and open plazas shared by both cars and pedestrians alike. Saved me from stepping in front of a taxi a couple of times when I wouldn't have otherwise heard it.

Agreed.

I've managed to survive for well over 50 years not being run over by a car as a pedestrian, however, twice now in past 12-18 months in multi-story carparks I've been bumped into by a silent hybrid/EV reversing out of a parking space while walking past.
The sooner EV's and hybrids are fitted with external sound systems the better.

[RemyMartin81D]

aeropilot said:

RemyMartin81D said:

No. Depends entirely on engine.

3 cylinder bikes, well triumphs sound lovely. My old Daytona 675 was wonderful.

Even better, a 3 cyl MV 500 GP bike at full chat going over the mountain on the island...............

Classic TT ftw

[RemyMartin81D]

Rawwr said:

Gameface said:

grumbledoak said:

Anything with less than eight cylinders sounds dull.

That's simply not the case is it.

There many fantastic sounding 6 cylinder engines.

And triples.

And twins.

And singles.

And fours.

Lancia Fulvia V4 for cars Aprilia and Ducati for bike V4 the list goes on and on

[baconsarney]

My Volvo sounds nice, all standard, with 5 cylinders and a turbo.... no farts and bangs........ luvly jubbly

[anonymous-user]

I bet the old boys with their traction engines love the noises they make as much as we enjoy the sound from a decent ICE, and we'll be as anachronistic as them in 20 years or so.

If you drive any EV it makes even the most sophisticated ICE powertrain, including V12s, feel as sophisticated as that traction engine. The fact they are so fking fast is a nice bonus too!

Back on topic though, yes I find the number of mainstream cars that make unpleasant farting noises embarrassing. I’d feel at utter tt in a lot of them. The worst are the turbo’d 4 pots of course, if some chav made his corsa sound like that we’d laugh in his face.

Edited by dme123 on Monday 15th April 11:31

[nonsequitur]

and there's me thinking that ICE is In Car Entertainment.

[ghost83]

nonsequitur said:

and there's me thinking that ICE is In Car Entertainment.

That’s what it stood for for those of us 30-35 and over

What does ice stand for?

I’ve only ever heard that term since formula 1 went to these hybrid engines

[Ultrafunkula]

As soon as an EV manufacturer finds a way of making a component sound good when the car is being driven, you can bet they will all do it. I'd prefer an ascensing whine or hum to no sound at all when I'm driving, and I bet manufacturers could make it sound appealing.

I'm very careful with my flat 6 + Remus, I know it would be irritating to provoke it in built up areas but I can drive sensibly until I'm away from houses. The sound is an integral part of the experience of driving for fun IMO.

[anonymous-user]

ghost83 said:

That’s what it stood for for those of us 30-35 and over

What does ice stand for?

I’ve only ever heard that term since formula 1 went to these hybrid engines

Internal Combustion Engine. Or am I due a Norweigan Blue ..

[Durzel]

Ultrafunkula said:

As soon as an EV manufacturer finds a way of making a component sound good when the car is being driven, you can bet they will all do it. I'd prefer an ascensing whine or hum to no sound at all when I'm driving, and I bet manufacturers could make it sound appealing.

Isn't no sound (except tyre noise) part of the USP of an electric car?

[baconsarney]

When I were a lad ice was something you fell over on

[Ultrafunkula]

Durzel said:

Ultrafunkula said:

As soon as an EV manufacturer finds a way of making a component sound good when the car is being driven, you can bet they will all do it. I'd prefer an ascensing whine or hum to no sound at all when I'm driving, and I bet manufacturers could make it sound appealing.

Isn't no sound (except tyre noise) part of the USP of an electric car?

Probably for most people, but it would help sell the sportier models. Plus, it would be much easier to dial out with electronics than an ICE so it could be switchable!

[Mandalore]

Downward said:

Saw a gorgeous Impreza 22RB with a big exhaust which just sounded awful.
Such a waste

I have seen a 22B and an RB5 before, but never one of those.

[T-195]

I couldn't really care less about 0-60 times as I'm not 5 years old.

Or new cars.