The Porsche engine sound - How important is it?
Discussion
Engine sound. How important is it? The wail of a flat six is a thing of spine tingling beauty isnt it? Of course Porsche have built many other great sounding engines too! So, is it important, and if so, how much?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mZISXNoUsVE
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mZISXNoUsVE
To me it's an element - providing it doesn't break the noise regs at circuits. If a stock system on say a GT3 is 'engineered' to be noisy at the expense of being legal on the circuit it's pointless. The conversion of feul into noise without the interference of brake horse power has always been confusing to me - which is why I will probably never have a Harley In my garage. If it's not necessary to make an exhaust system noisy to extract more power from the engine then I'd rather it wasn't done. no doubt an irksome little twerp who sits on a design committee at Porsche will be horrified at that.
It's a subjective thing and no doubt I'll be in the minority on this one
It's a subjective thing and no doubt I'll be in the minority on this one
Steve Rance said:
To me it's an element - providing it doesn't break the noise regs at circuits. If a stock system on say a GT3 is 'engineered' to be noisy at the expense of being legal on the circuit it's pointless. The conversion of feul into noise without the interference of brake horse power has always been confusing to me - which is why I will probably never have a Harley In my garage. If it's not necessary to make an exhaust system noisy to extract more power from the engine then I'd rather it wasn't done. no doubt an irksome little twerp who sits on a design committee at Porsche will be horrified at that.
It's a subjective thing and no doubt I'll be in the minority on this one
As ever Steve, an interesting viewpoint.It's a subjective thing and no doubt I'll be in the minority on this one
Noise, is of course wasted energy and in isolation is of course, fairly ridiculous. A 5" tailpipe on a Corsa being a prime example.
But for me, its part of the draw, the theatre if you like, whether it be from an air cooled six or rattly gearbox!
But, it should not be contrived. I am dead against sound imposiums!
Steve Rance said:
I get that. Being strapped with a DfV 6 inches behind my head for a season gave me severe tinnitus, from that point on, noise has always been an issue to me.
Indeed, I guess thats the brutal truth. But for the rest of us who dream of such things, its part of the romance.The sound of an air cooled 911 is 'the' thing that hooked me to Porsche when I was knee high to a grasshopper. That was it, the sound, the noise, the 6 cylinder symphony, whatever you term it as.
Ok, the later cars have lost that distinctive sound but a well fettled water cooled 911 can sound just as good, but so different to the original it still harks back to the 6 pot wail, nothing else out there comes close to aural nirvana than a 911 (except maybe a proper V12 countach, Diablo soundtrack but that's a whole different level of affordability now) and that's my take on it.
The noise the car returns to the driver is a major element of owning a specific car. That's why I have a 911 and suspect I'm not the only one here who has one for that reason alone - the noise!
Ok, the later cars have lost that distinctive sound but a well fettled water cooled 911 can sound just as good, but so different to the original it still harks back to the 6 pot wail, nothing else out there comes close to aural nirvana than a 911 (except maybe a proper V12 countach, Diablo soundtrack but that's a whole different level of affordability now) and that's my take on it.
The noise the car returns to the driver is a major element of owning a specific car. That's why I have a 911 and suspect I'm not the only one here who has one for that reason alone - the noise!
Very important...if not crucial! That's why many dislike 911 Turbos. Unfortunately, farty and over synthetic exhaust noise with piped cabin induction in the latest Caymans and Coxsters is becoming the norm also being found on other na engines e.g such greats as the V10 Hurracan......why? Depressingly likely to become even more common throughout the whole range as Porsche introduce personality bypass sounding turbos for the next gen 911. Could this cause a backlash against the newer cars similar to that currently seen in the new M3 M4....quite possibly.
Important in so far as it doesn't sound bad but generally the sound thing I find quite overrated although I admit the sound of a CGT for example at full chat is awesome. Exhaust noise is also mostly very tiring (it's the one thing that really lets down the speciale for example, the sound of the car is loud but otherwise really very ordinary), induction noise like the E46 CSL is great though. Somewhat unusually I've always found the Porsche cars sounded far better inside the car than out.
Edited by isaldiri on Monday 15th December 10:11
I'm also much more a fan of induction noise than exhaust noise. I like the general engine noise of the aircooled cars too. The sports exhaust on 996/997s I really don't like at low revs - I only ever hear them around town so they're always at low revs - they're hollow and farty, so PSE is actually a turn-off for me.
Scooty100 said:
Have to say for me personally it's hugely important.
My one disappointment about the 6RS was the lack of noise compared to my 997GT3.
Interesting, I thought I was the lone dissenting voice when it came to the noise the RS made.My one disappointment about the 6RS was the lack of noise compared to my 997GT3.
V8KSN said:
For me, the noise my car makes is one of its defining characteristics.
The fact it sounds rubbish at tickover and low revs appeals to me because I know how it sounds when you wind it out and use all the revs.
A bag of spanners ? Both the examples I owned (one had done less than 7k miles) sounded plain nasty (mechanically) on tickover.The fact it sounds rubbish at tickover and low revs appeals to me because I know how it sounds when you wind it out and use all the revs.
What really grated was the fact that my 70k mile M3 CSL was as sweet as a nut (mechanically silent) despite having been thrashed to within an inch of it's life by myself for the previous 30k miles.
But what really made me think Porsche had lost the plot was being in an indy's workshop when they fired up a Ferrari 430 Challenge car. On tickover, over and above the noise from the exhaust, the engine itself was mechanically whisper quiet, the ONLY noise that could be heard emanating from it was the sound of the injectors clicking.
But I have to say the modern valved systems fitted to a lot of cars these days just irritate me. The 997 GT3 being a point in case. If you want the noise, open the throttle, if you don't, drive it gently/in a higher gear.
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