1 2 3 4 ... 7
euro_fam
euro_fam New Reader
10/19/20 4:02 p.m.

I'm a big fan of the maserati exhaust note. I don't think i'd ever actually buy one of them given how many (arguably better) alternatives there are but something about their high-rev exhaust hits me good. 

solfly
solfly Dork
10/19/20 4:15 p.m.

Any of them running after a rebuild or swap

Colin Wood
Colin Wood Associate Editor
10/19/20 4:15 p.m.

It has to be a 4AGE with ITBs (though I think most engines sound better with ITBs):

 

wvumtnbkr
wvumtnbkr GRM+ Memberand PowerDork
10/19/20 4:29 p.m.

Couple of points...

 

Alfa v6 is the best sounding engine ever.

 

4age, I list as one of the worst sounding engines on track.  They just drone and have this weird constructive and destructive interference with almost all other engines that makes a painful wah wah sound.

Streetwiseguy
Streetwiseguy MegaDork
10/19/20 4:57 p.m.

From my point of view, the best sounding engine is one that has an expensive sounding rattle, that is in a car valuable enough for the owner to pay me to fix it.

Or the supercharged 350 in my Camaro.

RobertElder
RobertElder New Reader
10/19/20 5:10 p.m.
Curtis73 (Forum Supporter)
Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
10/19/20 7:06 p.m.

Hard to beat a cammed-up V8 with Borlas or Flowmasters.

Also hard to beat a Ferrari V12

But my hands-down, campy, fun favorite is this:

 

akylekoz
akylekoz SuperDork
10/19/20 7:08 p.m.

Honestly my 4.6 three valve Ford with long tubes, x pipe, 3” axle back and straight through “mufflers”,  If anything a bit rural pickup at low rpm but absolutely screamed from 4500-6500.   I have since added mufflers but it was awesome while it lasted.

frenchyd
frenchyd PowerDork
10/19/20 7:28 p.m.

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

For air cooled I like the BSA 441 Victor sound. Followed by a knuckle head Harley. 

This. This thing shows up at CMP fairly regularly. It is lovely to listen to. Not to mention fast as stink. 

 

 

Pete. (l33t FS)
Pete. (l33t FS) GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
10/19/20 8:07 p.m.

As someone who played DOOM way too much as a youf, and especially the chainsaw (doesn't suck), I got enamored of two-stroke sounding engines that skipped a lot at idle.

 

And then I saw this video about two decades ago.

 

 

Pete. (l33t FS)
Pete. (l33t FS) GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
10/19/20 8:21 p.m.
Streetwiseguy said:

From my point of view, the best sounding engine is one that has an expensive sounding rattle, that is in a car valuable enough for the owner to pay me to fix it.

 

On that note, the noise that a triple-K K24-7400 turbo makes when it starts to spool up, and then seizes because the engine has no oil pressure, is the most heartbreaking sound ever.

drock25too
drock25too GRM+ Memberand Reader
10/19/20 9:47 p.m.

I loved the sound of my Buick Nailhead 401 with the 36 inch glasspak mufflers.  

Anything I'm strapped into as I roll out on the track.

A field of 24 dirt late models coming to the green flag.

vwcorvette (Forum Supporter)
vwcorvette (Forum Supporter) GRM+ Memberand UltraDork
10/19/20 9:53 p.m.

Small block chevy at full song on side pipes.

 

Anything not a rotary. Hate that sound.

gearheadE30
gearheadE30 Dork
10/19/20 10:08 p.m.

I'm not a ford guy, but man do their V8s sound good when they are uncorked. They seem to have a much mellower/deeper sound than other domestic V8s.

I'm a sucker for anything that revs, and I'm a sucker for inline sixes, but the best sounding engine I have ever owned is the LC8 in my KTM 950 Adventure. I know it isn't a car, but that 75 degree V twin just sounds incredible. It never gets old, and it's one of those engines that is happy all the way up to the 9800ish rpm limiter, all day long.

If it doesn't do it automatically, go to 7:45 when I'm riding across the lake bed to hear it wide open (and to ignore my monotonous voiceover voice...). Even through the crappy gopro mic it sounds good.

 

Justjim75
Justjim75 Dork
10/19/20 10:09 p.m.

Straight 6s with ITBs or side draft carbs.

Think stroked Datsun 240z or BMW "M" siexes

Floating Doc (Forum Supporter)
Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) GRM+ Memberand UberDork
10/19/20 10:14 p.m.

I didn't think to mention that there's nothing like the sound of a top fuel engine. I won't say it's a favorite, it's just so berkeleying intense.

I was at the Gatornationals and saw the air visibly distort when someone blipped the throttle in a fuel dragster a half mile away. 1200 horsepower per cylinder.

Edit: in case it's not clear from the description, I could see the sound wave affect the air overhead before it arrived. That's loud.

300zxfreak
300zxfreak Reader
10/19/20 10:22 p.m.

Two come to mind, a Honda VFR750 at w.f.o., and the old Mazda GTP down the back straight at Mid Ohio, eeriest sound ever, made my brother and me exclaim “what the hell was that?”.

Brotus7
Brotus7 Dork
10/19/20 10:31 p.m.

This made me tingle the first time I heard one in person. 

 

Dieselboss15
Dieselboss15 Reader
10/19/20 11:04 p.m.

can we have planes? if so, a-10 warthog. if not, 12v Cummins at idle, than the smell of a good ford v8 /Cummins i6 diesel.

yupididit
yupididit PowerDork
10/19/20 11:22 p.m.

 

Wringing out the s85 bmw v10.

The fun starts around 40 seconds.... that 8k+ rpm pull from the 54 second mark...whew!

 

 

yupididit
yupididit PowerDork
10/19/20 11:24 p.m.
euro_fam said:

I'm a big fan of the maserati exhaust note. I don't think i'd ever actually buy one of them given how many (arguably better) alternatives there are but something about their high-rev exhaust hits me good. 

 

For about $15k you can find you one of these

 

lateapexer
lateapexer Reader
10/20/20 7:11 a.m.

Megaphone exhausts on 500 cc single cylinder motorcycles. Goldstars, Manx Nortons, Velocettes  and the like!

My Alfetta 2 litre. 

2_3
2_3 New Reader
10/20/20 7:15 a.m.

 

 

The video doesnt do it justice, that atv will hurt your ears if you are close to it, it hits you harder than a v8 with zoomie headers

jharry3
jharry3 GRM+ Memberand HalfDork
10/20/20 7:31 a.m.
Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) said:

 

And then there's the time that my mostly deaf 90-year-old father shot out of his chair and went racing out the front door of my house before I even heard the radial engines coming over the house at treetop level. Four T-6 engines flying below 100 ft make quite a sound.

I'm only 63 but I have done that!  Wife saying WTF?  

1 2 3 4 ... 7

You'll need to log in to post.

Our Preferred Partners
f9KdNdnMqCS6X2iGS7KHfyUCLImIJ5Z00VzhuzTOhg3i9g3a0T540Ig2T0JGFM0R