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The Car Thread ... !

Reverend Benny

Reverend Benny

macrumors 65816
Apr 28, 2017
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I love engine sounds, and all sorts of them (yea, even a diesel can sound right).
Being a biker I went from a lovely sounding triple (Speed triple) to a parallel twin and now own a V4, all different sounds but the V4 is prob among my favorite.

Same with cars but the latest trend with "virtual" or "enhanced" engine sounds in the coupe isn't really my bag. Had a VW T-Roc version R with 290HP for a week and it was just annoying. Sure, fun car to drive but after a while it just feelt quite annoying.
 
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cyb3rdud3

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Jun 22, 2014
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Reverend Benny said:
I love engine sounds, and all sorts of them (yea, even a diesel can sound right).
Being a biker I went from a lovely sounding triple (Speed triple) to a parallel twin and now own a V4, all different sounds but the V4 is prob among my favorite.

Same with cars but the latest trend with "virtual" or "enhanced" engine sounds in the coupe isn't really my bag. Had a VW T-Roc version R with 290HP for a week and it was just annoying. Sure, fun car to drive but after a while it just feelt quite annoying.
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In my Golf R it was the first thing I disabled using VCDS :)
 
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JT2002TJ

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Nov 7, 2013
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ducknalddon said:
I've never really bought that argument for loud bikes. The whole thing seems antisocial to me.
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Bikes are not that visible because they don‘t have a large footprint. With the HUGE blindspots in cars these days (vs older cars with much larger rear side and rear windows), anything to get you noticed is going to help.

In slow traffic, I have had cars go back into their lane by goosing the throttle, so I 100% believe it has some effect. But yes, it is not going to prevent 100% of accidents.

It it important to remember that because something doesn’t work 100% of the time, doesn’t mean it isn’t worth it. “Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good”

I’ll take a 1% reduced risk of getting hit on my bike.
 
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JT2002TJ

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cyb3rdud3 said:
Yes, and no. Some circuits have sound limits on it. But ultimately making it quieter does mean putting restrictions in it. Now a total free flow is not good either, but there is a lot of science behind it. Take the top of motorsport, F1, those engines do it.

You'll be surprised how many ICE cars can easily outrun them. Even something a simple and cheap like a Golf R can run rings around most. Yes for many people an EV feels, fast, it is fast, and it may be superfast compared to what they had before. But anyone who is used to fast cars, to sports cars, will know, there is always someone faster. I really wouldn't use a generic comment like a lot of noise without much go - you'll be surprised.

Yeah right; for it to be loud it would have to be under load, not quit the safety feature to get people's attention for that reason when you do that.
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Sorry, I wasn’t clear. I mean on the street…. Pops and bangs on regular roads from ICE. Not many ICEs are going to beat EVs between lights…. This is where there’s a lot of noise and very little go with ICEs. On a track (sport mode) I get it, and am all for it.

RE: bike pipes, you should almost always be under load when moving on a bike. We don’t usually coast to a stop in N, most bikes you can’t even get into N when moving (so you would have to ride the clutch to not be under load). In fact, the only time I am out of gear, is when I starting the bike or backing out of a spot. At lights, I am in 1st, in case I have to quickly get out of the way of a car that may not see you. Defensive riding.
 
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Infinity Vortex

macrumors regular
Jun 19, 2024
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I went to Radford racing school out in Phoenix last week. They have a fleet of Hellcats and I got to do some slalom, autocross, lead and follow on the track, as well as some hot laps with instructors driving. During the hot laps they hit 90 or so and I was getting completely tossed around in my seat. The experience was an absolute thrill.

Some of the fleet:
IMG_1501.png


Viper ACR:
IMG_1434.jpeg


Demon 170:
IMG_1435.jpeg


Demon:
IMG_1446.jpeg


We also drove up to Flagstaff the next day to see the Grand Canyon.
IMG_1476.jpeg
 
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avro707

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Dec 13, 2010
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Reverend Benny said:
Same with cars but the latest trend with "virtual" or "enhanced" engine sounds in the coupe isn't really my bag. Had a VW T-Roc version R with 290HP for a week and it was just annoying. Sure, fun car to drive but after a while it just feelt quite annoying.
Click to expand...

That's why I love the old-school performance engines like the BMW S70/2 (6064cc at ~630hp) because there is nothing fake about the sound, no artificial maps to add explosions on overrun - it's just a lovely 12 cylinder music with nothing else to mess it up. For that matter, an old Mercedes 5.4L inline-8 supercharged engine is also music to my ears (ie, from the 540K Spezial Roadster). And then the crazy supercharger noise, haha, lovely. :)

Golf Rs and others all mapped to heck just sound like vacuum cleaners with a machine gun firing non-stop. Sorry, that's not internal combustion music - it's just bland noise.
 
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cyb3rdud3

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Jun 22, 2014
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avro707 said:
That's why I love the old-school performance engines like the BMW S70/2 (6064cc at ~630hp) because there is nothing fake about the sound, no artificial maps to add explosions on overrun - it's just a lovely 12 cylinder music with nothing else to mess it up. For that matter, an old Mercedes 5.4L inline-8 supercharged engine is also music to my ears (ie, from the 540K Spezial Roadster). And then the crazy supercharger noise, haha, lovely. :)

Golf Rs and others all mapped to heck just sound like vacuum cleaners with a machine gun firing non-stop. Sorry, that's not internal combustion music - it's just bland noise.
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You mis-understand what was being discussed. The fake noise is being piped into the cabin; some use speakers, some use devices that are connected to the windscreen. This is to bring the sound back, as it is the opposite of what you say ;) What were actually were discussing was to disable that fake sound inside-the-cabin, so you get the real engine noise.
 
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avro707

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Dec 13, 2010
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cyb3rdud3 said:
You mis-understand what was being discussed. The fake noise is being piped into the cabin; some use speakers, some use devices that are connected to the windscreen. This is to bring the sound back, as it is the opposite of what you say ;) What were actually were discussing was to disable that fake sound inside-the-cabin, so you get the real engine noise.
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I was following on from the earlier conversation.

I dislike the faked mapping to make the machine gun artillery explosions. If a 1285hp Porsche 917/30 tune to within an inch of its life doesn't do machine gun explosion noises on overrun then a ~300hp Golf doesn't need to either.

Give me real engine sounds, the induction noise. Not this fake stuff. This is a real engine sound:

youtu.be/yKxdk8OJqok?si=PY4mGqehNMEsZ2UQ&t=1609
youtu.be/yKxdk8OJqok?si=PY4mGqehNMEsZ2UQ&t=2038

See 1609 and 2038 time codes in that video. That's from 1935. That noise I could never get tired of.
 
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cyb3rdud3

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Jun 22, 2014
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avro707 said:
I was following on from the earlier conversation.

I dislike the faked mapping to make the machine gun artillery explosions. If a 1285hp Porsche 917/30 doesn't do machine gun explosion noises on overrun then a ~300hp Golf doesn't need to either.
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No fake mapping required; sure you can bring it to enhance it, or change the exhaust to accentuate it. Plenty of standard engines do, my standard road legal Porsche does 👍 unless I am in e-Power mode; yup a hybrid…
 
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avro707

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Dec 13, 2010
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cyb3rdud3 said:
sure you can bring it to enhance it, or change the exhaust to accentuate it.
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I don't think a shopping trolley hatchback doing 30 explosions in a row from the exhausts while doing 40km/h is the real deal. They've begged the local tuning guy, I wanna crackle map, must have it because all my friends have one. Seriously, the thing isn't even a real performance car in the grand scheme of things.

When you hear it all day and all night it gets old very quickly. And these four cylinder engines otherwise just sound like vacuum cleaners. They don't even have a nice note - they just make the loudest noise possible because the guy behind the wheel wants to get noticed.

Give me old school engines without this stuff.
 
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Reverend Benny

Reverend Benny

macrumors 65816
Apr 28, 2017
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925
Europe
avro707 said:
That's why I love the old-school performance engines like the BMW S70/2 (6064cc at ~630hp) because there is nothing fake about the sound, no artificial maps to add explosions on overrun - it's just a lovely 12 cylinder music with nothing else to mess it up. For that matter, an old Mercedes 5.4L inline-8 supercharged engine is also music to my ears (ie, from the 540K Spezial Roadster). And then the crazy supercharger noise, haha, lovely. :)

Golf Rs and others all mapped to heck just sound like vacuum cleaners with a machine gun firing non-stop. Sorry, that's not internal combustion music - it's just bland noise.
Click to expand...
I have a fetish for enginesounds in general and think a straight four can sound awesome if tuned right and not tied to a whitetrash exhaustpipe with a homemade can.

The new VW's does sound good but VW have added a "sound enhancer" in the coupe so that the driver get a stupid enhanced sound then pushing the accelerator (imho). Reminds me a bit of when addind a playingcard with a peg to my bicycle.

Or maybe i'm getting old. :-D
I would prob have loved the enhanced sound as a kid.

Edit:
Not a car but old bike that's sounds great :)

 
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cyb3rdud3

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Jun 22, 2014
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Reverend Benny said:
I have a fetish for enginesounds in general and think a straight four can sound awesome if tuned right and not tied to a whitetrash exhaustpipe with a homemade can.
Click to expand...
Exactly, some really nice sounding 4 cylinders. My Golf Mk2 GTI is the first with digifant fuel injection, it's in an excellent state of tune like new and sounds amazing, as just one example.

My 2014 Golf R MK7 was the last 4 cylinder I've had, really doesn't make that much noise, especially at slow speeds. When pushing the exhaust flaps open, and then, especially with the DSG gearbox, you get some blips and chatter when slowing. But under normal circumstances, anyone is hard pushed to distinguish the sound from anything else.
Reverend Benny said:
The new VW's does sound good but VW have added a "sound enhancer" in the coupe so that the driver get a stupid enhanced sound then pushing the accelerator (imho). Reminds me a bit of when addind a playingcard with a peg to my bicycle.
Click to expand...
Exactly that! This has very little to do with the engine. It isn't even audible outside the car. And VW isn't the only one. I'm no fan of those systems.
 
Chuckeee

Chuckeee

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Aug 18, 2023
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Southern California
My 2016 Mazda Miata came stock with a sound tube and it is a completely useless addition. The Miata has a noisy cabin to begin with just do to wind noise and minimal insulation to save weight. Adding a port and a 1½” tube from the intake to an acoustic diagram and then another the to a port in the cabin is a waste and adds 3’ of useless plumbing under the hood.

IMG_7478.jpeg
 
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GrayFlannel

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Feb 2, 2024
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Bought two Escalades yesterday. One for the exwife and one for our daughter. I don’t understand the attraction of them but those two love them.
 
Herdfan

Herdfan

macrumors 65816
Apr 11, 2011
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cyb3rdud3 said:
I don’t get them at all, but hey some people like them as otherwise they wouldn’t be on sale.
Click to expand...

I had a 2006 and it was a great vehicle. But when I replaced it I went with a Yukon XL SLT because I missed real 4WD.
 
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