Are noisy ICE cars becoming embarrassing?
Discussion
I saw a Tesla Model S and Golf R have a cheeky race away from some traffic lights today. The Tesla pulled a significant gap while the Golf parped away in the slightly contrived way that all DSG VAGs seem to do. It looked/ sounded embarrassing in some ways; almost a case of all show and no go from the Golf (even though it's a quick car by most normal standards).
In the past Joe public associated noise with speed and power. However with the increasing prevalence of silent, instant torque EVs, I wonder how long it'll be before the loud and comparatively slow ICE cars begin to look old fashioned?
I love a nice sounding engine, but am aware that being a car enthusiast is a minority hobby, and one that is increasingly being frowned upon by certain people.
Will noisy cars always be a thing?
In the past Joe public associated noise with speed and power. However with the increasing prevalence of silent, instant torque EVs, I wonder how long it'll be before the loud and comparatively slow ICE cars begin to look old fashioned?
I love a nice sounding engine, but am aware that being a car enthusiast is a minority hobby, and one that is increasingly being frowned upon by certain people.
Will noisy cars always be a thing?
phil4 said:
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.
I wasn't saying the Golf is a loud car per se, but compared to a EV it's considerably louder.phil4 said:
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.
And there in lies my point; the Golf was louder than the EV (as all ICE cars will be), but was slower. Therefore, the Golf was all show and no go.I'm really conflicted; I've had a few loud cars over the years and some fruity sounding bikes. My last car was a Monaro V8 which sounded sublime to my ears. I really enjoyed driving that car hard when I was on my own, but felt a bit silly in it when starting it early in the morning, or when pootling through down and the car decided to chuck a load of unburnt fuel through the exhaust and cause an almighty pop pop bang (and these were random old school pops and bangs rather than the current electronically controlled ones).
I personally loved the noises it made, but I guess the direction society is going made me more acutely aware that what I did for my personal enjoyment (ie. loud exhaust) was increasingly pissing off the majority.
The fact that a quiet EV or comparatively quiet Golf R could out accelerate me may also have been a factor that started to diminish the enjoyment of my snarling V8. Oddly, I now drive a slower quieter car, and feel a lot more discreet and happier to drive quickly
Ultrafunkula said:
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.
Totally agree with this. The sounds, smells, and the non-linear nature of power and torque delivery is what I love about internal combustion engines. Just need to enjoy them responsibly, which is where the noise question comes in. People are now starting to get used to the idea that cars don't have to be loud to be fast.Matthew Poxon said:
An interesting topic and very similar to the conversation I was having with one of my friends not so long ago.
We were discussing the embarrassment of getting a TVR started and off the driveway for an early morning meet. It can be an issue with the neighbours now but I suspect this will become more of an issue if EV becomes mainstream. As time goes on combustion engines have become much quieter I remember one of my neighbours had a Mk3 Transit Van with a horrendously loud diesel engine, probably not much quieter than the TVR. Most cars now are very quiet which once people acclimatise to the reduced noise it results in performance cars looking more anti social.
I worry that people will look at loud ICE cars in the future in the same way people look at smokers now.
Interesting comparing car noise with smoking, but it makes sense in a way. What was once mainstream began to be increasingly frowned upon by society on health and environment grounds, before being banned in many places. Smokers have become social pariahs in some regards, and I can see ICE cars going a similar way We were discussing the embarrassment of getting a TVR started and off the driveway for an early morning meet. It can be an issue with the neighbours now but I suspect this will become more of an issue if EV becomes mainstream. As time goes on combustion engines have become much quieter I remember one of my neighbours had a Mk3 Transit Van with a horrendously loud diesel engine, probably not much quieter than the TVR. Most cars now are very quiet which once people acclimatise to the reduced noise it results in performance cars looking more anti social.
I worry that people will look at loud ICE cars in the future in the same way people look at smokers now.
Good point about acclimatisation; as EVs become more common, a loud car (irrespective of cylinder count) will stick out more and piss of normies (ie. the majority of people who aren't petrolheads) more and more.
Shame, as I did like the sound of my modified V8 and 5 pot cars in the past. Still do, just the socially responsible part of me finds it harder to enjoy the noise now than before.
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