How does ferrari produce that unique v8 sound?
Discussion
WELL, what makes a ferrari an epic italian car? im sure it that gorgeous v8 engine as it produces a sound like no other and it power figures are highly impressive considering the ferrari 458 produces 571 bhp only from a 4.5 litre engine no turbos...
how do y'all think that a ferrari produces that sound because all other v8 sounds can relate to each other but a ferrari v8 cant be related to any other car.!
how do y'all think that a ferrari produces that sound because all other v8 sounds can relate to each other but a ferrari v8 cant be related to any other car.!
NEFOC said:
outnumbered said:
Other way round, isn't it ?
+1Flat plane=two cylinders firing at the same time, burble.
Cross plane= only one cylinder firing at a time, mayhem.
Mind you, I only figured this out after googling https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AzrOPPZFzs 5 mins ago, so could be wrong.
The classic Ferrari 'sound' comes from a number of interacting elements that line up in a synchronized chorus.
First comes the flat plane crankshaft. This gives each cylinder bank an even firing order LRLRLRLR whereas the typical American V8 has an off kilter firing order LRLLRLRR. The even firing order means that the intake and exhaust pulses are also synchronized and evenly spaced.
Next comes the headers. These headers are tuned for the power band of the engine, not too big, not too small, not too long not too short. The headers cause much of the low frequency rumble from these engines by setting up a standing wave pattern of pressure pulses.
Next come the intake system. Here the air path is essentially straight (e.g. no turns) that enables the air to flow into the cylinders with minimal resistance. The straight air flow and low resistance enables the velocity stacks to be tuned with the header to broaden the power band.
As the intake valve opens (with the still open exhaust valve) air begins to travel into the cylinder even before the piston starts downward from the negative pressure wave from the header. As the intake valve closes, there is considerable momentum in the air flow. When this reaches the closed intake valve, pressure builds until a positive pressure pulse runs up the intake and velocity stack finds air at atmospheric pressure and sends a negative pressure wave back down. This negative pressure wave runs into the intake valve and sends a negative pressure wave back up the intake and VS, causing a subsequent positive pressure wave. much of the high frequency music of these engines comes directly from this process.
Just under the resonance point of the header there are an even number of intake cycles so that when the intake valve opens there is already positive pressure and momentum to take the fresh charge into the cylinder (also) even before the piston starts downward. Just above the resonance point of the header there is another even cycle count in the intake pulse train. There are generally 8 or 10 cycles on the low intake resonance and 8 or 6 on the high RPM intake resonance. These broaden the power band of the motor.
Finally, the throttle plates are positioned at the center of the intake path and at anything less than WOT damp out even order harmonics in the intake resonance so one hears the primary, 3rd order, 5th order,... of the air movements turned into that sonorous chorus. Even order harmonics end up sounding like an amplifier with cross over distortion, while odd order harmonics sound like an amplifier clipping the peak. Any music buff will tell you that odd is much better than even in sound quality.
The modern V8 engines also employ a 2 stage set of resonators. The air box covering the intake tracks is tuned such that at header resonance a positive pressure wave is above each intake velocity stack just before the intake valve opens. The great rush of air into the cylinder reinforces this 'standing' wave resonance. These are known as Helmholtz resonators.
At the end of this resonator is a smallish tube leading to the largish air filter box. The size and length of this tube damp out the resonator standing wave such that the mass air flow sensor gets a nice smooth flow of air and can thereby be used to give precise control to the FI system.
The difference between Ferrari systems and other manufactures, is that Ferrari works to get the sizes, volumes, and resonance points to actually line up and sing. Whereas others just get them close enough to deliver the power.
(Shamelessly copied and pasted from GLASSMAN on ferrarichat.com June 2012)
First comes the flat plane crankshaft. This gives each cylinder bank an even firing order LRLRLRLR whereas the typical American V8 has an off kilter firing order LRLLRLRR. The even firing order means that the intake and exhaust pulses are also synchronized and evenly spaced.
Next comes the headers. These headers are tuned for the power band of the engine, not too big, not too small, not too long not too short. The headers cause much of the low frequency rumble from these engines by setting up a standing wave pattern of pressure pulses.
Next come the intake system. Here the air path is essentially straight (e.g. no turns) that enables the air to flow into the cylinders with minimal resistance. The straight air flow and low resistance enables the velocity stacks to be tuned with the header to broaden the power band.
As the intake valve opens (with the still open exhaust valve) air begins to travel into the cylinder even before the piston starts downward from the negative pressure wave from the header. As the intake valve closes, there is considerable momentum in the air flow. When this reaches the closed intake valve, pressure builds until a positive pressure pulse runs up the intake and velocity stack finds air at atmospheric pressure and sends a negative pressure wave back down. This negative pressure wave runs into the intake valve and sends a negative pressure wave back up the intake and VS, causing a subsequent positive pressure wave. much of the high frequency music of these engines comes directly from this process.
Just under the resonance point of the header there are an even number of intake cycles so that when the intake valve opens there is already positive pressure and momentum to take the fresh charge into the cylinder (also) even before the piston starts downward. Just above the resonance point of the header there is another even cycle count in the intake pulse train. There are generally 8 or 10 cycles on the low intake resonance and 8 or 6 on the high RPM intake resonance. These broaden the power band of the motor.
Finally, the throttle plates are positioned at the center of the intake path and at anything less than WOT damp out even order harmonics in the intake resonance so one hears the primary, 3rd order, 5th order,... of the air movements turned into that sonorous chorus. Even order harmonics end up sounding like an amplifier with cross over distortion, while odd order harmonics sound like an amplifier clipping the peak. Any music buff will tell you that odd is much better than even in sound quality.
The modern V8 engines also employ a 2 stage set of resonators. The air box covering the intake tracks is tuned such that at header resonance a positive pressure wave is above each intake velocity stack just before the intake valve opens. The great rush of air into the cylinder reinforces this 'standing' wave resonance. These are known as Helmholtz resonators.
At the end of this resonator is a smallish tube leading to the largish air filter box. The size and length of this tube damp out the resonator standing wave such that the mass air flow sensor gets a nice smooth flow of air and can thereby be used to give precise control to the FI system.
The difference between Ferrari systems and other manufactures, is that Ferrari works to get the sizes, volumes, and resonance points to actually line up and sing. Whereas others just get them close enough to deliver the power.
(Shamelessly copied and pasted from GLASSMAN on ferrarichat.com June 2012)
John Islam said:
if all it takes a little crank, then how comes other companies cant copy that layout? i am sure if to other v8 cars sounded like a ferrari, it will definately a ton of more money!
imagine if the E92 bmw m3, sounded like a ferrari! imagine that!
A flat-plane crank makes the V8 into essentially a pair of inline fours. Other companies do use flat-plane cranks, notably McLaren, and Ford in the new Shelby Mustang.imagine if the E92 bmw m3, sounded like a ferrari! imagine that!
5517 said:
The difference between Ferrari systems and other manufactures, is that Ferrari works to get the sizes, volumes, and resonance points to actually line up and sing. Whereas others just get them close enough to deliver the power.
(Shamelessly copied and pasted from GLASSMAN on ferrarichat.com June 2012)
well i woudn't agree with that ferrari doesn't care about power. i mean its just astonishing that even ferrari does all the sizes, volumes, etc.. they still produce so much power from a non turo engine, aka the ferrari 458! 571bhp from 4.5!(Shamelessly copied and pasted from GLASSMAN on ferrarichat.com June 2012)
thats just amazing, id expect Japanese companies to do something this great as they are more smarter than the normal Italian bosses and engineers (sorry if i am bit stereotypical about this
) but hats off to ferrari. I think Japanese companies such as honda should incorporate there crazy high revving vtec engine into v8 engine as that would make them perfect! we heard the nsx v6 vtec engine sound and its probably the best v6 sound around, now i think they should have a go at a v8, although i doupt its going to happen due to engine getting smaller in sizes!
John Islam said:
if all it takes a little crank, then how comes other companies cant copy that layout? i am sure if to other v8 cars sounded like a ferrari, it will definately a ton of more money!
imagine if the E92 bmw m3, sounded like a ferrari! imagine that!
The resulting increase in NVH would be totally unacceptable in an M3.imagine if the E92 bmw m3, sounded like a ferrari! imagine that!
John Islam said:
I doupt it will as we have seen this engine work perfectly on the ferrari california, so i am not too sure about that
Not exactly the same though? Isn'the the intake different? I doubt the cali would meet BMW/Mercedes NVH standards. No bad thing of course but different cars.mwstewart said:
Not exactly the same though? Isn'the the intake different? I doubt the cali would meet BMW/Mercedes NVH standards. No bad thing of course but different cars.
yes true, but dont you think a mercedes c63 amg 2008-2014 makes so much noise, vibration. i mean especially the black series onesGassing Station | Ferrari V8 | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff