Your favourite sounding car?

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

The sounds a car makes in important to me too; it is an central part of the way the car feels - and the way I will feel about it. The engine is the biggest part of is, but by no means the only one. I love the way each make of old car's doors sound different. There was a time when that was distinctive too, rather then the engineered in thunk of all modern cars. I love the strangely mechanical clack Jaguar doors made - and the Rolls-Royce even more so - and the way some other car's whole structure would ring out when the door was slammed. A friend's fiesta would do this. Then there is the trim. Creaky rattles in a Jag; buzzy rattles in a VW is my memory. Starter motors too. I have two favourites - the one used top start the Ford 2.8 V6 and the one fitted to the Jaguar V12. Both are mechanical music. And smell. Each make of car had its own distinctive smell: Jags were sweet - with a slight overlay of leathery bubble gum and woody tones. BMWs smelled of glue - a nice glue though. Mercedes smelled of old people. Fords had an odor I am struggling to describe, but quite pleasant - whilst I remember Vauxhalls smelling of glue, but not such nice glue as a BMW.

 

This disconnected dribble of verbiage hasn't  much to say about my favourite sounding car though.

 

Favourite four - probably the BMC 1100

 

Favourite five - Audi 100 5E

 

Favourite six - probably the Jaguar XK in a decent state of tune

 

Favourite eight - the V8 is my favourite engine sound - my favourite is probably the Alfieri V8 Maserati used in the Khamsin and others. Honourable mention goes to the Stag though - I am always amazed by how good they sound. There are plenty of lovely sounding V8s from the USA of course.

 

Favourite twelve - Jaguar V12. A wonderful sound from the starter onwards.

 

 

I recently opened the door (on a hot day) of a superb original 1965 Mini. The whiff that came out took me back to the early/mid seventies when my Mum had one - the red vinyl BMC used was very pungent. I sat in the cat for five minutes, absorbing it all - just wonderful.

[HMC]

+1 on the 917 Rev.

My fave is ( was) the 917's hurriedly developed and ultimately less successful rival, the Ferrari 512s. 5 litres of howling v12 with max power at 8500rpm. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh. Pure filth.

 

Embarrasing Factoid- sometimes when I'm alone in the house I put a a DVD on of the film " Le Mans" and watch the opening lap with the volume on full blast.

 

Honorable mention also to the musical matra v12 engine

[They_all_do_that_sir]

This gives me goosebumps, one of my all time favourite bikes. Honda rc166.

6 cylinder 250cc 4 stroke. 24valves too. Pistons like thimbles and an 18,000rpm redline

https://youtu.be/2KRBbdyWOJM

 

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[The Reverend Bluejeans]

+1 on the 917 Rev.

My fave is ( was) the 917's hurriedly developed and ultimately less successful rival, the Ferrari 512s. 5 litres of howling v12 with max power at 8500rpm. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh. Pure filth.

 

 

 

There is a reason Steve McQueen didn't say much in Le Mans. The cars do the talking - from the beginning with his 2.4S, c/w Bosch plunger injection and big cooling fan.

[Quintus]

Not a road car but the wailing banshee BRM V16 is certainly an experience.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xK-MK3FREk4

[Guest Breadvan72]

PHACKT:  A Vulcan bomber has the same window winders as a 1962 Austin A35.  This is TRUE*.

[Richard]

This is my favourite. It goes quite well too.

 

[Skizzer]

At the risk of coming over all Pistonheads, a Porsche flat six with enough revs going to open up all the Variocam thingummyjigs sounds flippin outstanding. You can properly hear it inside the car, too.

 

Bikes - a vote for the Triumph 675 triple, which has a fab canned scream / whistle going on that just drips with precision engineering and the potential for silly speeds. I don't really miss biking but I do miss that sound.

[rantingYoof]

The 3.0 V12 in the California.

 

The 4.7 (?) V8 in the Quattroporte.

 

The Alfa V6.

 

The Mk1 MR2 I had with the twin stainless steel pipes was the best 4 cylinder engine I've heard.

 

My 2.0 five pot is okay but I'd rather muted from inside the car. The 2.4 in the V70 was deeper but the lack of movement associated with the noise dampened the experience.

 

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[The Reverend Bluejeans]

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

At the risk of coming over all Pistonheads, a Porsche flat six with enough revs going to open up all the Variocam thingummyjigs sounds flippin outstanding. You can properly hear it inside the car, too.

 

Bikes - a vote for the Triumph 675 triple, which has a fab canned scream / whistle going on that just drips with precision engineering and the potential for silly speeds. I don't really miss biking but I do miss that sound.

 20 years ago (1997) I had two days with a the first 911 imported by AFN, ANW104C. 2 litre flat six on triple choke Rolexes, 130 bhp and it sounded immense.

[Grundig]

This bit of Bowies Space oddity always reminds me of a moggy minnor throttling off

 

https://youtu.be/cYMCLz5PQVw?t=2m51s

[Stroller133]

My favourite would be a Mini (any size but pref a 1275) with an RC40 exhaust on twin SU carbs.

[spike60]

Mazda 787b endurance race car from the 80's and early 90's. A screaming quad rotor with amazing jips, bangs and crackles on the downshifts. At Le Mans when you woke on the Sunday morning you could hear how many of the 3 Mazdas were still running regardless of where you camped.

[cros]

Not a road car but the wailing banshee BRM V16 is certainly an experience.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xK-MK3FREk4

The BRM V16 was driven through the streets of Bourne and could be heard from my house which is 8 miles away. Last time was 2012. Sounds well, but unsuppressed ignition fucked up people's telly when it went past their house in the 50's. Here's a photo of the noise.

[plasticvandan]

My favourite sound is a whining gearbox and diff,so although a huge moggie,mini fan (when I was younger and the cars were more common I could tell between mini and metro whines...) My favourite sound can be summed up in this video

[plasticvandan]

My next sound was going to be the 2stroke Saab,then I remembered the Wartburg sounds much better!

(Bonus under steer at the end!)

[blakey79]

The drinks are flowing, caning a daewoo matiz round Watford ring road,brings back great memories.

Also a Peugeot 406 v6 coupe deserved a 20 minute drive, instead of a 5minute jaunt to the fuel station.

 

O Christ stop the baileys flowing I was always interested, I said interested in flogging my mums Volvo 360 GLT, that sounded Whineyyy

[Bianconeri]

My DS23, it means the goddess deigned to start.

 

But everyday, my newbie hybrid in all-electric stealth mode. Spookily quiet.

[Station]

I'm biased but I just love it, it sounds like a wasp.

[forddeliveryboy]

Favourite sounding cars? I miss the everyday cars which once formed a backdrop to everyday life, today it's as cancerously, mega-business silent as Rachel Carson's Spring.

 

From the outside, I miss the gentle wuffle of the original Range Rover, a Citroën 2cv's crazy yet soporific whine, the way Rover 2000 exhausts would rattle window panes in the most expensive old houses, fizzingly staccato Alfa exhausts controlled by a pair of Dellortos, the ubiquitous BMC tranny whine and their glorious A series exhaust note, the dignified resonance of a Saab 900 tailpipe which hinted at the cars' hidden qualities, the sound of the self-righteous Volvo driver if you took what he'd thought was his parking space.

 

I miss the rattling clang of French doors followed by the whirr of the Paris-Rhone starter on a hot engine and the gasp of children if it was a big Citroën as it rose like a magic carpet, the safe-like thunk of a Saab door, the click of the switch then the sound of a slurred engine note as the overdrive was actuated, wildly-different-sounding and frequencing indicator click-clacks depending on country of origin, the subdued whine of the Jaguar starter motor then the total sllence of the V12, the psssssht-click of the oil-controlled Citroën and its ability (pre-Pug parts) to bring its Michelins to a controlled, howling partial-lock up (way better than ABS on a dry road), the chortle of drunk passengers in an XJ40 and so on.

 

It was sad my Dad had a Morris 1800, even if it was the most brilliant machine - it sounded shit in almost every way.

[They_all_do_that_sir]

I do miss the sound of real cars. When I was a kid my parents were bemused by my ability to name the car based on its sound before it came into view.

You forget that cars used to make real noise, nowadays most of the sound is tyre noise.

Some exceptions, to my shame I like the 1 series coupe, and heard a nice m135 earlier with lovely raspy exhausts

 

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[Junkman]

At the risk of coming over all Pistonheads, a Porsche flat six with enough revs going to open up all the Variocam thingummyjigs sounds flippin outstanding. You can properly hear it inside the car, too.

 

I actually had this as my first vote for 6 cylinder. But I thought long and hard and the 3.0 Si just beats it ever so slightly.

From the "siiiiiiirrrrrrr" of the fuel pump to the "ishishishishishi" of the starter motor and then angels are kissing your eardrum.

 

Nah, Ferdl's flat six is second. A very, very close second indeed.

 

That Opel Commodore/Admiral six is clearly only third.

Then comes the Cologne V6 in a honourable fourth.

[xtriple]

I had a Mini Cooper 'S' 1275 as my first car! I did save for a long time and sold my rebuilt motorcycle to part fund it and the rest on hp.  I blew it up. It got rebuilt and I blew it up again. It then gt a succession of 1100 engines from the scrapyard (£25 a time) which also blew up (hollow cranks apparently) . In the mean time, a friend had made a friend who worked at BL special tuning (I lived in Leamington then) and the amount of boxes of heavy and expensive bits that came over the fence late at night was staggering!

 

Anyway, my 1340 cc engine with 4 Amal carbs on the 8 port head and mounted on a Quaife straight cut gear set sounded absolutely bloody awesome... and was also deafening and really tiring very quickly! My mate (Tony ) had a similar bottom end but standard shape 5 port head with a 45 Weber on a long swan neck manifold which meant speedo delete (carb lives where the speedo used to...) and that sounded so much better but the vibration inside the car as the carb tried to empty the cabin of oxygen was astounding!

 

Noises,

 

1, 2 or 3 cylinders has to be a 2 stroke bike engine - Kawasaki, possibly Suzuki.

 

4s, Alfa flat four?

 

5s Audi ... any from the 80s 90s.

 

6s I loved the noise my Toyota Crown made when it had a very slight blow in the back box, lovely. In general, I think straight six engines sound the best.

 

8s, V8s sound lovely but straight 8s sound far better, Bugatti?

 

12s, Jaguar V12. Just fantastic sounding engines. As said before, from the epic whirr of the starter motor onwards. Just glorious.

 

Also, I have to give an honourable mention to the V8 in my BGBM (you knew I was going to didn't you!) as it is the least V8 sounding V8 I have ever heard! It is sort of creamy smooth and near silent even with the bonnet open and head shoved right in to hear it. It sounds like what I imagine a petrol powered Swiss watch would if such a thing existed.

[forddeliveryboy]

 

I actually had this as my first vote for 6 cylinder. But I thought long and hard and the 3.0 Si just beats it ever so slightly.

From the "siiiiiiirrrrrrr" of the fuel pump to the "ishishishishishi" of the starter motor and then angels are kissing your eardrum.

 

 

I've yet to be exited by the sound of a German car, Porsche or not. Unless you're in one, which isn't a good idea, since even if you're not up to your eyes in debt they've invariably a cuntingly rough suspension and or evil handling on real roads. Conclusion - no.

[RobT]

A-series gearbox whine. Every time I use my Metro it makes me smile.

 

An XK engine under hard acceleration is a heady, evocative sound.

 

I also quite like the thrum of an XUD, although the novely wears off after a while (not a fan of dizzlers generally).

[155V6]

2 Cylinder-my old Suzuki TL 1000S with race cans

 

4 Cylinder-Talbot Sunbeam Ti with twin 40s,or my old Mk 4 Cortina 2.0S with no silencers except for a rear box from an RS 2000 with no baffles left

 

5 Cylinder-Fiat Coupe 20V Turbo,my Volvo just doesn't sound as good

 

6 Cylinder-Alfa of course,but Granada 2.8s or Triumph straight sixes with no rear box sound pretty good on their way round the oval   .Citroens Xantias aren't bad either.

[Junkman]

 

 

 

 

I've yet to be exited by the sound of a German car, Porsche or not. Unless you're in one, which isn't a good idea, since even if you're not up to your eyes in debt they've invariably a cuntingly rough suspension and or evil handling on real roads. Conclusion - no.

 

 

Yes, I know.

You will have to agree, that I am not exactly the type, who hails anything German.

But the 3.0 Si is one of those cars, where it doesn't matter who built them, let alone which country.

I am convinced, that it wasn't even intended to be what it is. It just coincidentally turned out to be what it is, by pure dumb luck.

A bit like the 77-78 Caprice with the 350/350 and "export/police" 2.41:1 rear axle.

Those cars were never intended to be as good as they are, it just coincidentally fell into place.

 

Just drive a 3.0 Si and you will understand what I mean. And for God's sake, just listen to it.

[pshome]

Sorry, no soundtracks taken during this photo session:

 

 

 

Nothing can beat two pairs of weber triples roaring side by side into odd firing PRV's... tears of joy (really!) !

[rml2345]

8s, V8s sound lovely but straight 8s sound far better, Bugatti?

 

 

This.

The Duesenberg straight eight is one of my absolute favourite automotive noises and even the very best V8 runs second. Speaking of, I do like the burble of the Rover V8 as an old Range Rover goes by and the woofly harumph that the 6.75 litre Crewe lump makes when drawing away.

When did gearboxes stop making interesting noises? The little AX was fantastic for that, you always felt it was giving you all it had.

Probably because it was.

XUDs make a sort of reassuring noise, like it'll always get you where you want to go. All the other good diesel noises are much bigger though so we shan't go into that.

The noises they make are a big part of the bonding process with cars I find and even the dullest can have their moments, however fleeting. In the end it all adds to the character and some cars just don't have much.