Car guys: Best-sounding 4 and 6 cyl engines?

[grizzman]

I am a performance enthusiast. I just don't understand what the sound has to do with performance. Like wise, weight doesn't matter, unless your looking at the exact same horsepower and torque specs in two vehicles of different weights. The Chevy Spark is under your weight limit, but its power to weight ratio is not what you are looking for.

I'm just trying to explain my curiosity at why the sound would matter. I find it more akin to saying "Which of these guns sounds the best when I fire it?"

Changing the subject back to your original question. I once stood next to a 2003 Aston Martin Vanquish when they fired it up. That was the most amazing sound I've ever heard come out of a muffler. That car truly purred. Its double or triple the number of cylinders in your original question, but the sound was so impressive, I thought it worth mentioning on a car thread about sound.

Some people, like me, also like our cars to handle and brake well....doth or which are definitely affected by how much the car weighs.

Have aftermarket exhaust systems been banned without my knowledge?

[militarymoron]

I'm just trying to explain my curiosity at why the sound would matter. I find it more akin to saying "Which of these guns sounds the best when I fire it?"

It because of what we've been conditioned to associate with the sound, and that applies to many things. Using a gun example, which gun sound elicits more excitement to the gun enthusiast - a .22 plinking or a long burst from a minigun? Through our experiences and exposure to different mechanical sounds, we associate certain attributes of the machine by its sound. In general terms, you can discern the performance of an engine from the sound that it makes, because the sound helps you identify what the engine is.

When it comes to buying an every day commuter car or family car, less noise inside the cabin is my preference. But if it's a performance car, then there are certain criteria that some want that fit that idea of 'performance'. If a big truck had a sound like a go-kart, or if you saw a Ferrari drive by that sounded like a 4-banger with fart can, it would seem incongruous, like a big, tall man with a squeaky, high-pitched voice.

A car's color has nothing to do with performance (whereas sounds is related to an engine's performance), but it's typically high up on the list of attributes that a car buyer considers.

Unless you're a professional race driver, and are spending your own money on a car, then I would say that all aspects would be of some importance whether they're purely performance-related or aesthetic/personal preference. There's nothing wrong with wanting a car that sounds pleasing to your ear. There's pure performance, and then there's performance with style. Neither is right nor wrong.

[26 Inf]

Deleted as the OP should do whatever makes him happy.

[Alex V]

Sound can be of importance. After doing heads and cam on my LS1 TA, the exhaust got a horrible drone at 1900RPM. Changing the exhaust would change the note, making driving more pleasurable.

[pinzgauer]

Sound can be of importance. After doing heads and cam on my LS1 TA, the exhaust got a horrible drone at 1900RPM. Changing the exhaust would change the note, making driving more pleasurable.

Survived and hated some flowmasters that were the worst drone of anything I've ever heard of. And they were the mild ones.

Found a take off factory exhaust and put it on.

Next we can all talk about our favorite car in terms of tip in response. Another area manufacturers game, same engine, same performance, same everything but they changed the tip in response and the people think it's faster. Where in fact the only thing that changed was fuel mileage.

Drove one Toyota based econo box made for boy racers that the tip n was so nonlinear it was almost impossible to start from a dead stop without scratching the tires.

[Adrenaline_6]

Survived and hated some flowmasters that were the worst drone of anything I've ever heard of. And they were the mild ones.

Found a take off factory exhaust and put it on.

Next we can all talk about our favorite car in terms of tip in response. Another area manufacturers game, same engine, same performance, same everything but they changed the tip in response and the people think it's faster. Where in fact the only thing that changed was fuel mileage.

Drove one Toyota based econo box made for boy racers that the tip n was so nonlinear it was almost impossible to start from a dead stop without scratching the tires.

I loved the sound of Flowmasters on my 69 Camaro and Monte Carlo SS. AT low RPM they had kind of a drone, but at WOT sounded wild and pure. They were true dual exhausts though with Hooker race headers. Not sure what you had. The low sound growl sound to me is infinitely more preferable than a high buzzing sound. A Ferrari and Lambo sound still qualifies as a growl and not buzzy....just higher up the rev counter. To each their own I guess.

[pinzgauer]

I loved the sound of Flowmasters on my 69 Camaro and Monte Carlo SS. AT low RPM they had kind of a drone, but at WOT sounded wild and pure. They were true dual exhausts though with Hooker race headers. Not sure what you had. The low sound growl sound to me is infinitely more preferable than a high buzzing sound. A Ferrari and Lambo sound still qualifies as a growl and not buzzy....just higher up the rev counter. To each their own I guess.

On a Camaro with low interior volume the "growl" might be fun.

I bought a Suburban that had been nicely tricked out, but one of the tricks was 'Cherry Bomb' mufflers.

So I thought I'd go with the mild flowmaster. The "Growl" with the interior volume of the 'burb led to very bad droning/resonance.

Which is a regular complaint on the flowmasters. And has something to do with their construction, there are other low back-pressure mufflers that are not as bad. Some folks correct the drone by adding mass to the can with welded weights.

What works on race car, or even lightly driven muscle car can be a grind in a daily driver.

I'm all for performance mods that increase performance. And hate mods done just to make noise. Open pipes on harleys come to mind. As do buzzy rice boxes boy racers with tiny engines and loud exhausts. And often, big wings.

[pinzgauer]

My contribution is Cummins 5.9 turbo diesel.

What? It’s a 6 cylinder!

I love the way they sound.

Mentioned earlier, so there are two of us.

Glug-glug-glug-glug...

had a two cylinder diesel Kubota, love the thump-thump-thump sound it had.

[Sry0fcr]

Drove one Toyota based econo box made for boy racers that the tip n was so nonlinear it was almost impossible to start from a dead stop without scratching the tires.

Electronic throttles aren't something that I think ever needed to actually ever be a thing...

[pinzgauer]

Well if you have a fuel injected car you got to have it in some aspects

Used to be the mechanical linkage set the tip in response.

Then with fuel injection the "throttle position sensor" pot was linear. It really only controls your acceleration shot, the main control for the engine was the throttle body butterfly.

Which can again be artificially manipulated with the linkage, but in most vehicles was fairly linear. Which you want because the air flow through the butterfly is exponential

Most people don't understand it but unless your throttle body is a restriction under full power, bigger throttle bodies just goof up the tip in response. Make it harder to get a smooth acceleration from idle. But the artifact of that has become desirable in some circles.

"Man, this thing is hot off the line!"

No it's not.