Why do Italian & American V8s sound different?

Have you heard of Aston Martin? They've gone so far as to put a tunnel from the engine bay to the interior to bring in and tune the sound.
A large number of car companies spend much time engineering the sound of the car. They just have different goals.

 

I believe the Pantera has the cross-flow exhaust, as well, but it still sounds like an American V8.

Can anyone explain the concept of resonance a bit more? Glassman's post is almost incomprehensible to me.

 

Glassman et al.:

how much of an effect is the total length of the exhaust system? the ford gt being the only exception i can think of (and it has it's own sound, more harmonious than the musclecar sound), american v8's have a very long exhaust due to front engine. well, i guess there are plenty of examples of side pipes but that exhaust is still long compared to a mid engine rear exhaust.

i love both sounds. it's interesting though, IMHO the musclecar v8 sound gets better as it gets lumpier, the exotic sound gets better as it gets smoother!

 

The firing order, the cross over tube between the right and left exhaust, the short stroke to bore ratio of the engine....
Maserati 4200 cc engines do not have a flat plane crank, causes to much vibration, whereas the 90 degree crank provides less vibration
so that is a difference between the 4200 cc engine in the Maserati, the Alpha 8C and the Ferrari... The Ferrari also has 1mm more stroke, the flat plane crank, the other two do not... In fact the Alpha and the Ferrari are dry sump, the new Gran Turismo is a wet sump... The sport version is dry sump... There Ferrari and the Alfa jave variable intake and exhaust and the Maserati only the Variable Exhaust... The Flat Plane,180 degree, crank allows the engine to breath deeper and more evenly, thus producing more horsepower. All F1 cars use flat plane cranks..


NASCAR get's this sound from the 180 degree headers...

http://www.roadandtrack.com/article.asp?section_id=3&article_id=6176

 

So if the 90 degree crank is more balanced than the flat crank, what measures are taken in cars such as V8 Ferraris and V8 F1 cars to deal with the unbalance? Does the said unbalance imply more stress on the components or a higher likelihood of failure or some parts?

 

The drivers deal with it.. The rest of the engine is engineered to deal with the extra stress. Remember the F1 Engine only goes for two races... Then it's tossed and a new one is put in.. For the F430, since the car is a mid engine design it helps to absorb some of the vibration as well as the F430 vibrates way more than the 599,etc... It's a sports car, not a luxury car... BTW, that's why a Ferrari has a major service done every 7500 miles.. The extra stress! On the other side, My Maserati sounds just like the F430, 1k less RPM, but it will run forever without having to go to the dealer every 7500 miles..

 

The reason a Pantera sounds like an American V8 is because it has an American V8 in it.

 

So then how does your Maserati sound "just like the F430" if it is a 90 degree crank?

 

But it's very close.. The crank only affects the (sound) whine on the top end, the low end is the same, all the way to where I grab another gear with the paddle at 7500rpm. The F430 goes on to 8500, and at that point it's whining and sounds like Kimi's car when it's accelerating. Of course the F430 doesn't rap to 19k rpm... There is a guy here who has a carbon fiber black F430 Scuderia, down the on-ramp on 136th and I-25 I can stay close to him till I go for second gear, I shift and he keeps going... I have the modified ECU and TCU as well as Tubi and some other tweaks from FormulaDynamics.. At the bottom of the on-ramp, he's 15 to 20 car lengths ahead of me.. His sound is much higher pitched than mine on the top end. His car sounds more like a Suzuki GSX-R with a tuned pipe... My Favorite engine whine is that from the F2004, V10.. I have that for a ring tone on my phone!

 

Funniest line in the whole thread!

 

The Pantera has typical style headers, as said before its sounds like an American V8 because they had Ford 351 Cleveland engines. They used to put flat plane cranks in small block chevys and they would sound similar to an Fcar ie; higher pitch not so low and boomy(is that a word? hahaha)

 

http://www.f1wolf.com/2007/12/2004-v10-formula-1-engine-sound-and-ringtone.html

http://f1buzz.blogspot.com/2008/04/f1-sound-effect.html

 

I thought you were joking!

 

No way! I am a former marine master mechanic, Chris Craft, Mercury, Mercruiser, Johnson, Evinrude and OMC. The sound of a good engine is to me what a symphony was to Bach... There is nothing better than hearing a Ferrari F1 2.4 litre V8 hit it's power band, the others just don't sound near as good... The only other things that come close are a Ferrari V10 3.0 litre, a piped Suzuki GSX-R 750, a piped Arctic Cat running all out, or my all time favorite Mercury Black Max V6 two stroke 150hp Outboard Engine on it's power curve!

 

BAH! You're all wrong! Italian cars sound different because they're tuned in Italy, where we all know the air is more dense. ;-P

 

Or a Ducati 996 at its full powerband in 8000RPM range. Desmodronic valve trains, no spring, just cams. That is $ex on 2 wheels.

 

Take a listen to a "real" Maserati V8, a vintage one.

 

pasta, olive oil, 2hr. lunch breaks.

 

I think that the real reason, more than anything, is that Ferrari engines are generally much smaller displacement, so they rev a lot higher. I'm sure intake and exhaust systems also make a difference, but the high revs are probably the main difference.

 

Same reason testarossas sound different from blondes in bed.





_J

 

Great line......!

Perhaps in Europe, it was marketed as the the 351 clevelandio.....

 

+1

Get the Victory by Desgin Maser episode, and you would bet your bottom dollar, you are hearing an early american big bore V-8.

IMUO (uneducated opinon), the sound is a function of engine architecture....

Solid lifters, dual cams, 180 cranks, opposite banks, v-10's. v-12's, firing order.....every combination produces a differnet/unique sound.

The only real baseline/generality that people can draw on, is that American engines (in the past) have produced power with discplacement. Euro engines have produced power with smaller discplacement, but higher revs... how does that happen?

I(N) M(y) (U)neducated (O)pinion.....IMUO

Lager CID (cubic inch discplacement) engines need strong/simple valve trains...ie... solid/hydro lifters and a single cam.

Small CID enignes need to breath better and as such need more cams, valves, more everything.....

Each has it's pro's and con's.

Large CID enignes produce massive toruqe...great for 1/4 mile drags, but not so great for 2.5 mile full song straights....

Small CID have weakling torque, but can live all day long at 6500+ rpm

I'll let the engine experts take it from there......

 

That was a great article to post, thank you for doing so. I especially like the comparisions to amplified music.


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V8s are all well and good, both silky screaming F-cars and lumpy roaring muscle cars get me smiling, but....

I'm stuck at work at the moment and am blocked from Youtube, so for those of you who free to visit that wonderful site I encourage you to do a search for "countach dyno" and look for a black Countach on a roller dyno. Select it, then immediately turn the volume on your computer ALL the way up.

Italian V12 =

- Josh

 

You haven't lived until you have heard a real GT-40 with the "bundle of snakes exhaust" as shown above. It simulates the 180-degree flat crank sound but it is louder(5-litre Ford)--maybe due to more displacement than the 3 or 3.5 litres we are used to. Trick is to alternate exhaust pulses "side to side". Some of the stock car headers are set up this way also, and sound pretty cool for push-rod V-8's.

 

You just made my day (but I can't say why here or I'll be shunned).

BTW, just noticed that the new Gallardo engine is going to a flat crank. That should be a hell of a note!