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

[Adrenaline_6]

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

All the sportbikes are throttle by wire. They were glitchy in it's infancy. They have since been ironed out. Now you can easily pick multiple throttle mapping depending on road conditions, preference, racing experience, etc, along with preferred levels of traction control and wheelie control.

[Adrenaline_6]

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.

I got ya. I was a lot younger then. I loved the sound, even though I drove those daily. Now, they probably would be a bit loud and not a daily driver. The Camaro had a .525 lift, 294 advertised duration solid lifter cam and 12:1 compression.

[Ron3]

My contribution is Cummins 5.9 turbo diesel.

What? It’s a 6 cylinder!

I love the way they sound.

Hmm...now I'd like to see one mid-mounted in a car. 😁

[Ron3]

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.

Too big a throttle body is like too big of a carburetor. Bad.

[Ron3]

All the sportbikes are throttle by wire. They were glitchy in it's infancy. They have since been ironed out. Now you can easily pick multiple throttle mapping depending on road conditions, preference, racing experience, etc, along with preferred levels of traction control and wheelie control.

Cars and trucks are all TBW now, too.

[Ron3]

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. .

I like Flowmasters! Especially the original 40 series. They do best with a manual transmission or auto with a lot of gears and full manual control to avoid the drone-zones. (Seem to be 1800-2100 and 2700-2900 rpm)

There are probably Helmholz compensators that could clear it up. (Aka resonators)

I like the downshift burbles and pops common to Flowmasters.

They are available in stainless steel now for only $10 more. ($75-$85)

Tip-in response? Yea it really varies these days. Just have to get used to it. Some cars it's quite silly. "Man, this car moves out, I'm only at 60% throttle!" Then you put it to the floor and find out there isnt much more. You were already at 95% throttle because the throttle mapping lies. 😕

[Talon167]

4-cyl: 4G63/SR20DET
6-cyl: RB26/2JZ

Yea...not familiar. Mazda?

Mitsubishi/Nissan
Nissan/Toyota

Partial to the 4G63T myself... see username.

ETA - For a four, I've always been a fan of the 420A, especially when it's screaming over 8k. Not a bad tone, for a Honda.

[Talon167]

Never once has the sound a car makes, or the weight, ever been a factor in my decision. Interesting...

Size, reliability, performance, features, fuel economy, appearance even, but never sound or weight.

Again, if you're not an automotive performance enthusiast, you wont understand.

Its akin to saying, "why do you need a gun with all of those modifications? I have a s&w Bodyguard, a Ruger P89, and a pump 12 guage. I just shoot them and they do everything I need guns to do."

That guy just isnt going to understand a $2500 firearm.

Exactly. If I have to explain it to you, you'll never understand.

[Talon167]

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.

Couldn't disagree more. Weight effects EVERY aspect of a car, especially when you're dealing with performance. It effects the car's ability to accelerate, brake, and turn. There's a reason performance car companies squeeze ounces at a time out.

Maybe I misunderstood what you said.

[Bulletdog]

Maybe I misunderstood what you said.

I think you missed the "unless..." part.

Worded another way: Say hypothetically, I was deciding between a Corvette or a Porsche. The weight of either wouldn't matter to me. I would look at the performance specs. 0-60, 60-0, 1/4 mile times, and lap times with comparable drivers on the same track on the same day. While weight is obviously a factor in how either car will perform, I'd be looking at performance of the overall car, and not the number on the scale.

Does that make more sense? Lap times and performance matter. The actual weight doesn't. Not to me anyway.