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Why the Ferrari F355 sounds so good

roadandtrack.com

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Re: Why the Ferrari F355 sounds so good

#61

Post by spuz »

ndesaulniers wrote: post #47
nimbius wrote: post #12

hi, im a professional diesel engine mechanic and can easily explain what youre hearing. Most italian/european sports cars (with the exception of Mercedes in the past 3 years because American customers) have machined their crankshafts as "flatplane" cranks. Flat-plane cranks, no matter what firing order they have, will always alternate from bank to bank. This yields optimum exhaust scavenging and thus doesn't require…

I found this video to be an excellent explainer on the differences between cross and flat plane cranks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcyMoZoqkPA It additionally talks about the unusual pattern used in modern voodoo engines in the Ford Mustang (which is also mentioned in the article). The video is very similar to this article.

That's an excellent video and helped me understand a lot. Another great video is this one from a guy who created Engine Simulator which not only simulates the physics but the sound of engines as well. In this video he covers the difference between flat and cross plane engines: https://youtu.be/NBBwva3NZ6o

Re: Why the Ferrari F355 sounds so good

#62

Post by vr46 »

mulmen wrote: post #44
lutorm wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My money is on the 360-degree crank Honda V4s as in the RC30/NC30 bikes: https://youtu.be/uTxe1_MPdiw

I love my 1991 VFR400. The Tyga exhaust takes it to a whole new level. Worth every penny. The extra 3500 RPM on top of the RC30 are nice too. Plus an NC30 can be had for about 1/5 the price of an RC30. https://youtu.be/f-1HwvLLNEI Does a good job capturing the exhaust along with the straight-cut gears in the valvetrain and the intake noise.

The VFR had such a great unique sound, could hear them approaching in the city. I had a 1998 which didn’t last too long but it was fabulous sounding. Only four cylinder bike I owned, it’s been twins all the way for me otherwise and for my ears, nothing beats the V-twin grin :) But older VFRs before they got heavy are wonderful.

On the subject of the article, I hooned an F355 around Silverstone and while it sounded good, it was dull to drive at lower speeds and the Elise spanked it for fun.

Re: Why the Ferrari F355 sounds so good

#63

Post by TacticalCoder »

I own the model just before the F355, the Ferrari 348. A big difference between the two, in addition to the F355's much better handling, is that the F355 has got 5 valves per cylinder (355 is for "3.5 liter / 5 valves per cylinder while 348 stands for "3.4 liter / 8 cylinders and has only 4 valves per cylinder). The music the 348 produces is already beautiful (especially with a non stock exhaust) but the F355 is indeed one of the best sounding V8 of all times.

Italians know how to make cars sing. Sadly they don't much about electricity/electronics nor reliability ; )

Re: Why the Ferrari F355 sounds so good

#65

Post by tmh88j »

rob74 wrote: post #4

Good? I'm just imagining what life would be like if all cars sounded that way. And, as anyone who ever had to drive a car with a broken exhaust muffler can say, it's also nothing special...

> And, as anyone who ever had to drive a car with a broken exhaust muffler can say, it's also nothing special...

Loud isn't the goal, the tone is. The Lexus LFA is a perfect example of this[1]. It's not extremely loud for a car of that caliber, but it's lauded as one of the best sounding cars ever made. Poorly designed exhaust (or no exhaust in the case of your broken muffler) on an otherwise great sounding engine almost always ruins the tone and makes it unbearable to listen to. Bad exhaust on a bad sounding engine is just miserable.

[1] https://www.hotcars.com/heres-why-the-lexus-lfas-screaming-v...

Re: Why the Ferrari F355 sounds so good

#66

Post by [deleted] »

startupsfail wrote: post #41
qbasic_forever wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Americans like it because when you sit in a big V8 and smash the accelerator it jolts you forward and pins you in the seat while the engine is roaring like a lion. It's fun, like going down a hill in a rollercoaster. That's really all there is to it. Hearing it makes you think of the fun yourself.

[flagged]

[deleted]

Re: Why the Ferrari F355 sounds so good

#67

Post by Faaak »

wkjagt wrote: post #54
js2 wrote: post #2

For context, here's what it sounds like: https://youtu.be/MCCYMys6aDw?t=890 (14:50 in case the time link doesn't work.) And from the video embedded at the end of the article: https://youtu.be/zUU0aW3yyMc?t=32 (32 seconds in.) Meanwhile, here's the Ford GT40: https://youtu.be/KJJ0nIbn_Ts?t=120 This is a replica GT40 with a modern Ford 5.0 Coyote V8: https://youtu.be/6g3Ay83JLJE https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Modul…

Last year, I was driving through the mountains, behind a motorcycle that sounded so good I had constant goosebumps from it. The sound of it echoing between the mountains, slowing down, accelerating for like 30 minutes was such a special experience. When I was behind it, I didn't know what it was, but I had to find out. When we came to a village, we both stopped at the same traffic light, next to each other, so I coul…

> The sound of it echoing between the mountains

And sadly, annoying thousands of people during its trip

Re: Why the Ferrari F355 sounds so good

#68

Post by ilyt »

speedgoose wrote: post #58
dekhn wrote: post #49

oh, I thought that was the sound of gasoline being wasted. I never realized how much car noise bothered me until I got an EV; it's silent at speed and you hear the wind.

I always been into internal combustion engine noise for some reasons. I like the harmonics, the vibrations, the feeling of power. It’s wasted energy but it’s fun. But when I’m driving to the kindergarten at 7am, I want silence and peace. When I’m part of the traffic going back home and you have one guy making so much noise for fun while barely moving, I wish for bad things. When you are in the mountains and you hear…

I'm similar; I do like nice sounding engine but not necessarily want it loud

Re: Why the Ferrari F355 sounds so good

#69

Post by ilyt »

foxes wrote: post #60

Why do some people think loud cars or machines sound good? Do you want hearing damage? What makes that attractive to some humans? Have you just forced yourself to like it? I absolutely hate it along with other loud sounds. If you are in the middle of nowhere whatever. But I hate people driving around my suburb in their loud stupid “exotic” sports cars or bikes, it just signals you are a POS.

I like good sounding ones, sadly loud often comes with that, especially on aftermarket where nobody bothers to make "reasonable volume but nice sounding"

Re: Why the Ferrari F355 sounds so good

#70

Post by t0mas88 »

dekhn wrote: post #49

oh, I thought that was the sound of gasoline being wasted. I never realized how much car noise bothered me until I got an EV; it's silent at speed and you hear the wind.

Engine noise is a tiny part of it, the sound of the tires and wind is a significant component. A petrol powered BMW 7 series is for example quiter than a Tesla model S. While they have a roughly similar weight, shape and size.

It's mostly sound insulation and build quality that affect it for higher end cars.

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