No better sound: mildly OT

[Kurt B]

some guy in a brand spanking new red Ferrari pulled up next to me yesterday. I had to look over and just stare at it. Beautiful machine. When he pulled away, I could hear that exhaust note. Nothing touches that ferrari sound. How is it they managed to keep that beautiful note, but new Porsches don't make much sound at all?

Is it a choice Porsche is making or a smog/noise requirement dictated by US because Porsche production numbers are higher than Ferrari's and therefore must meet tighter specs (like you could let every 959 into us without regulations and it would make no difference in Ca pollution).

If not, then Porsche needs to get a sound back. Something worth listening to. I don't care how much profit they're making these days.

[NYSCAR]

Not sure what porsche's deal is here in the U.S., but ever hear the european 996 GT3, sounds beautiful!! But I agree about the Ferrari sound, especially those little screaming V8's in the 355 and 360. Not sure about the 12's but I know one reason for the unusual sound of the Ferrari V8's is due to the flat crank setup, sort of why those cars sound like two superbikes riding side by side

Brad

[Kurt B]

Excellent analogy. They do sound like two superbikes riding side by side...hadn't thought about it. I don't know what you mean by 'flat crank.' Anyone care to explain that setup?

[JmuRiz]

I agree there is nothing like the sound of a big Italian motor. A neighbor of mine had a full concorse Maserati Ghibli and there was nothing like it's big V8 to wake up the neighbors.
I was riding next to a 'lowly' Ferrari 402i, pulling out of a toll booth. Wow, that V12 sounded sweet! I haven't gotten a good listen to a 360 but the 355 at full pull is a great sound also.
Then again at the last PCA Potomac swap meet there was an older RUF turbo 911 that screamed away. I guess there are just a lot of good engine sounds out there and a Honda w/ a coffee can mufler is not one of them!!!

Nathan

[jlr69s]

I agree, although 911's do have that one of a kind flat six scruffle, they just aren't very loud. Ferrari's do sound awesome and to hear the engines in race trim scream down a straight is another experience all together. IMHO, I think that Porsche should get out of the, "it looks like a Porsche, drives like a Porsche but the inside looks like a Mercedes," deal and get back to the race car interior and harshness of the 3.2 Carreras. Anyone else agree?

[adamnitti]

Originally posted by jlr69s
I agree, although 911's do have that one of a kind flat six scruffle, they just aren't very loud. Ferrari's do sound awesome and to hear the engines in race trim scream down a straight is another experience all together. IMHO, I think that Porsche should get out of the, "it looks like a Porsche, drives like a Porsche but the inside looks like a Mercedes," deal and get back to the race car interior and harshness of the 3.2 Carreras. Anyone else agree?

AMEN.

[jkcrewsn]

The Excellence article on the new 2002 Carrera says that Porsche revised the exhaust system to give it a more aggressive sound. Maybe Porsche listens after all. Well, maybe. I'm still not sure what's up with that "pepper thing". But that's another topic, eh?

[BrianH]

One of my grandparents' neighbors has a Ferrari 360 and another neighbor has a 355 (my grandparents were lucky enough to move into the area way back when normal people could afford to live there). Anyway, both cars go up the same street and at low speeds the 355 sounds MUCH better. It makes the windows shake, you can really feel it… and when you hear that sound you know a Ferrari just passed by. At about 10 MPH, the 360 sounds like a normal car (at least from 50 feet away, inside my grandparents house) Sometimes I hear what I think is the 360 and it turns out to be a Jeep or a BMW… But when the 360 goes out and gets onto the main street, I can hear him open it up and it sounds like a Ferrari should. I used to think the 996's were also too quiet, but they sound a lot better at higher revs. Just yesterday I was crossing the street and a 996 turned up a steep hill in front of me. It started at about 5 MPH and accelerated fairly rapidly up the hill. Once it got going, the exhaust note was what I would expect from a high-end sports car. Not as good as the Ferrari, but still good. It seems most sports car marques are moving toward making their cars quieter at low revs, though I'm not sure why.

I'd also like to see the 996 interior move away from that of a luxury sedan, but I don't know if that's what the majority of Porsche's target market wants. It seems most of the people who own 996's around here commute in them. On the other hand I think a lot of the SC, 3.2, 993, etc. owners commute in their cars too. Come to think of it, the interior of my '84 is a lot nicer and more comfortable than most of the mid 80's cars I've been in…

[jperry]

My boss has a Ferrari 456 with a Tubbi exhaust system. The rumble at idle is awesome. Not to mention the scream of that engine at 8000 rpm! You can hear his car a block away from our office. There is nothing like the sound of a Ferarri V12.

[beepbeep]

To all those who don't know what flat-crank is:


Usual crank is "notched" in all directions...flat crank is just that: flat. It's flat beacuse it spares some weight by throwing out all extra material in all those "elbows".

Unfortunate result of this in 90-deg V8-engine is that two cylinders fire at the same time, so you end up with two 4-cyl side to side.

Lotus Esprit V8 turbo has same setup. It does sound like a 4-banger :=)