Opinions on loud exhausts

[ddom]

bigothunter said:

You are so repetitive and tedious

So make the distinction and stop painting everyone with the same brush. Or can you not admit you’re wrong?

[pti]

Depends.

[Leon R]

Countdown said:

Leon R said:

None of those cars would make a list of great sounding cars.

I agree they do sound good for what they are (except the 350Z IMO) but you would be hard pressed to argue that they sound better than their big brother CLS55 / CLS63 for example, I know that is getting into opinion territory but I suspect most would hold that opinion.

I have no interest in ridiculous exhausts on most 4 cylinder hatchbacks (Abarth 500 is the exception) and driving round built up areas popping and banging but I don't agree that a nice sound needs to be quiet.

All of the best sounding cars I have heard are also rather loud.

Nobody thinks the sound of an exhaust that "they" like is ridiculous, especially if it's on their own car. However, IMHO and genuinely not trying to be offensive, non-PHers tend to think that cars with noisy exhausts are driven by attention seeking dicks (the level of dickery being directly proportional to the noise of the exhaust).

Yes people who don't like something tend to think that people who do are 'dicks' as you say but this is a motoring forum and we are PHers.

The general public also thinks we are idiots for buying cars that are expensive to run but we all know why we do it and for me at least it has nothing to do with showing off or attention seeking and everything to do with it being something I enjoy.

[recaroroadster_oli]

To people saying “noise is not a product of performance” etc, it doesn’t matter one bit, maybe it’s just for fun and they enjoy the noise? Lots of other hobbies are noisy and are purely for fun, unless they’re parked outside your house bouncing it off the limiter all day then just live and let live.

God knows what some of the serial whiners on here would do if their neighbours decided to take up playing the drums, If you constantly worried what everyone else thought of you then life would be extremely unenjoyable.

[Pit Pony]

Coatesy351 said:

ddom said:

Pit Pony said:

To me loud = lack of engineering talent
Loud does not = more power / torque

What I was thinking...

Imagine if they had to meet noise limits.
They'd have to think about the science of noise reduction rather than have an open pipe. I'm sure that there's plenty of engineering talent gone into the rest of the engine, but not alot of that skill was wasted in the understanding of behind the science of noise reduction.

In any case I meant in road cars.

[ddom]

Which road cars? Are you like the other chap who cannot comprehend the difference between multi cylinder engines and fart cans on Clio’s?

There’s not many exhausts that make big gains and are quieter than stock.

[recaroroadster_oli]

[/quote]
More binary thinking.

So a 355 with a Larini etc is no different to a Clio with a fart can? Maybe those of us with great sounding cars want to enjoy them, rather than impressing ‘young girlies’ ‘on the street’




[/quote]

Well as a “great sound” is totally subjective, it’s not really any different tbh no.

355 Larini -

• Makes owner smile/they enjoy it
• Increase in performance
• Attracts more attention
• Some people find it irritating

Straight piped Clio -

• Makes owner smile/they enjoy it
• Increase in performance
• Attracts more attention
• Some people find it irritating

For the record I love loud pipes and don’t give a damn what car it is. Some noises aren’t to my taste but as long as they’re not parked outside my house limiter bashing then let them get on with it

[PH User]

Pit Pony said:

Coatesy351 said:

ddom said:

Pit Pony said:

To me loud = lack of engineering talent
Loud does not = more power / torque

What I was thinking...

Imagine if they had to meet noise limits.
They'd have to think about the science of noise reduction rather than have an open pipe. I'm sure that there's plenty of engineering talent gone into the rest of the engine, but not alot of that skill was wasted in the understanding of behind the science of noise reduction.

In any case I meant in road cars.

So what you mean is

loud can = lack of engineering talent

noise does not always = more power/torque

[Pit Pony]

recaroroadster_oli said:

To people saying “noise is not a product of performance” etc, it doesn’t matter one bit, maybe it’s just for fun and they enjoy the noise? Lots of other hobbies are noisy and are purely for fun, unless they’re parked outside your house bouncing it off the limiter all day then just live and let live.

God knows what some of the serial whiners on here would do if their neighbours decided to take up playing the drums, If you constantly worried what everyone else thought of you then life would be extremely unenjoyable.

I may have mentioned before the noise of the exhaust on a mk1 mx5 I part own. I may get around to putting the standard exhaust back on one-day.

[baconsarney]

Sorry......... Not on topic but whilst searching for some of my induction/exhaust mod photos I found one of my favourite pics

[recaroroadster_oli]

Pit Pony said:

recaroroadster_oli said:

To people saying “noise is not a product of performance” etc, it doesn’t matter one bit, maybe it’s just for fun and they enjoy the noise? Lots of other hobbies are noisy and are purely for fun, unless they’re parked outside your house bouncing it off the limiter all day then just live and let live.

God knows what some of the serial whiners on here would do if their neighbours decided to take up playing the drums, If you constantly worried what everyone else thought of you then life would be extremely unenjoyable.

I may have mentioned before the noise of the exhaust on a mk1 mx5 I part own. I may get around to putting the standard exhaust back on one-day.

I’ve had two Mk1 mx5’s and I love the decatted sound on them. A friend had his decatted with an absolutely ridiculous jap can on, on the overrun it used to gargle and spit like crazy. Made mine with the cobalt system sound so boring

[bigothunter]

recaroroadster_oli said:

I’ve had two Mk1 mx5’s and I love the decatted sound on them. A friend had his decatted with an absolutely ridiculous jap can on, on the overrun it used to gargle and spit like crazy. Made mine with the cobalt system sound so boring

Friend has an MX5 which had a BBR can which was not especially noisy. But it induced an awful body boom right in the middle of the rev range which was dreadful for road use.

[bigothunter]

Why is this thread focussed purely on exterior noise when only interior sound quality matters to the driver?

[baconsarney]

bigothunter said:

Why is this thread focussed purely on exterior noise when only interior sound quality matters to the driver?

Hmm, not so sure about that

I drive almost everywhere with the drivers window down so I can hear whats happening outside

Even in the old flying brick

[bigothunter]

baconsarney said:

bigothunter said:

Why is this thread focussed purely on exterior noise when only interior sound quality matters to the driver?

Hmm, not so sure about that

I drive almost everywhere with the drivers window down so I can hear whats happening outside

Even in the old flying brick

Even with the window down you're still perceiving interior sound quality, just the noise paths have changed.

[baconsarney]

bigothunter said:

Even with the window down you're still perceiving interior sound quality, just the noise paths have changed.

Yes but only through my left ear

[irocfan]

If you can't hear the car what's the point in having anything more than a 3 or 4 pot (soon to be electric)? Let's be honest a 2ltr 4 will get you a reliable 400bhp that's more than you *need*

[Countdown]

irocfan said:

If you can't hear the car what's the point in having anything more than a 3 or 4 pot (soon to be electric)? Let's be honest a 2ltr 4 will get you a reliable 400bhp that's more than you *need*

Because the power/torque characteristics for a larger engine are quite different......

Not sure if I'm missing a parrot but are you suggesting the main difference between an I4 and a V8/10/12 is mainly the sounds they make?

[PH User]

Countdown said:

irocfan said:

If you can't hear the car what's the point in having anything more than a 3 or 4 pot (soon to be electric)? Let's be honest a 2ltr 4 will get you a reliable 400bhp that's more than you *need*

Because the power/torque characteristics for a larger engine are quite different......

Not sure if I'm missing a parrot but are you suggesting the main difference between an I4 and a V8/10/12 is mainly the sounds they make?

They weigh more, so that's another difference.

[bigothunter]

irocfan said:

If you can't hear the car what's the point in having anything more than a 3 or 4 pot (soon to be electric)? Let's be honest a 2ltr 4 will get you a reliable 400bhp that's more than you *need*

If you can't hear the engine, you are probably deaf