Turbo sound OK or not OK? F40/488
Discussion
Waiting patiently for my 488 to arrive, I've been reading online and watching pretty much every available YouTube video known to man! Some of the reviews slightly critise the sound of the 488 due to it being a forced induction engine. I get that the wild scream of an atmospheric engine may not be there, but it still seems to sound pretty good to me.
It does seem to be a fairly constant topic in reviews.
However, when you start watching reviews of the last forced induction engine Ferrari...the F40... people's reactions to the sound are 'glorious', 'spectacular', 'spine tingling' etc... Which got me thinking...
The 488 has a larger forced induction V8 engine to that of the F40, is faster, more advanced etc. in pretty much every way... (Admittedly it's an F40 and obviously has the history/reputation etc, and it's lack of tech makes it a handful, which I wouldn't question for a moment).
So my question is why? Why does the F40's forced induction sound get rave reviews and the 488 not so much?
Or am I missing something very obvious about the engine?!
It does seem to be a fairly constant topic in reviews.
However, when you start watching reviews of the last forced induction engine Ferrari...the F40... people's reactions to the sound are 'glorious', 'spectacular', 'spine tingling' etc... Which got me thinking...
The 488 has a larger forced induction V8 engine to that of the F40, is faster, more advanced etc. in pretty much every way... (Admittedly it's an F40 and obviously has the history/reputation etc, and it's lack of tech makes it a handful, which I wouldn't question for a moment).
So my question is why? Why does the F40's forced induction sound get rave reviews and the 488 not so much?
Or am I missing something very obvious about the engine?!
I had a 488 and personally thought it sounded great and at least as good as my 458. It also sounds much better than the F8 due to the muffling effect of the GPFs. As i've said before the 488 is one of the most under rated Ferraris in modern times and much better than the 458 in all aspects.
The Ferrari F40 was designed and built in a completely different era, to different regulations, and to different requirements.
It was designed and built with zero concerns as to emissions, noise levels, and as a "limited edition".
The 488, despite being a supercar with F40 levels of performance, still has to meet certain emission and noise restrictions, as a standard production vehicle.
The 488 was the modern day equivalent of the 70's/80's 308 GTB.
The 308 GTB dimensions are:
Length 4,230 mm
Width 1,720 mm
Height 1,120 mm
weight @ 1250 Kg
The 488 dimensions are:
length 4,605 mm
Width 1,975 mm
Height 1,206 mm
Weight 1385~1485 Kg
Why should the 488 be so much bigger/heavier than the 308 GTB? - Because time moves on, and regulations change.
Sometimes there are prices to be paid for progress.
It was designed and built with zero concerns as to emissions, noise levels, and as a "limited edition".
The 488, despite being a supercar with F40 levels of performance, still has to meet certain emission and noise restrictions, as a standard production vehicle.
The 488 was the modern day equivalent of the 70's/80's 308 GTB.
The 308 GTB dimensions are:
Length 4,230 mm
Width 1,720 mm
Height 1,120 mm
weight @ 1250 Kg
The 488 dimensions are:
length 4,605 mm
Width 1,975 mm
Height 1,206 mm
Weight 1385~1485 Kg
Why should the 488 be so much bigger/heavier than the 308 GTB? - Because time moves on, and regulations change.
Sometimes there are prices to be paid for progress.
4rephill said:
The Ferrari F40 was designed and built in a completely different era, to different regulations, and to different requirements.
It was designed and built with zero concerns as to emissions, noise levels, and as a "limited edition".
The 488, despite being a supercar with F40 levels of performance, still has to meet certain emission and noise restrictions, as a standard production vehicle.
The 488 was the modern day equivalent of the 70's/80's 308 GTB.
The 308 GTB dimensions are:
Length 4,230 mm
Width 1,720 mm
Height 1,120 mm
weight @ 1250 Kg
The 488 dimensions are:
length 4,605 mm
Width 1,975 mm
Height 1,206 mm
Weight 1385~1485 Kg
Why should the 488 be so much bigger/heavier than the 308 GTB? - Because time moves on, and regulations change.
Sometimes there are prices to be paid for progress.
Good points, thank you. Makes a lot of sense when you put it like that. It was designed and built with zero concerns as to emissions, noise levels, and as a "limited edition".
The 488, despite being a supercar with F40 levels of performance, still has to meet certain emission and noise restrictions, as a standard production vehicle.
The 488 was the modern day equivalent of the 70's/80's 308 GTB.
The 308 GTB dimensions are:
Length 4,230 mm
Width 1,720 mm
Height 1,120 mm
weight @ 1250 Kg
The 488 dimensions are:
length 4,605 mm
Width 1,975 mm
Height 1,206 mm
Weight 1385~1485 Kg
Why should the 488 be so much bigger/heavier than the 308 GTB? - Because time moves on, and regulations change.
Sometimes there are prices to be paid for progress.
An aftermarket exhaust maybe a serious consideration then, as long as it still gets through the future MOTs... I imagine manufacturers have their hands tied to a certain extent, with rules and regs these days.
The difference in sound is down to the fundamental designs of the Manifolds and Turbos.
Taking Cats and Silencers out of the equation for a moment..........
The F40 is classic old school. The tubular manifolds have long primaries with 4 into 1 collectors and a Turbo stuck on the end.
Although muffled by the Turbo you still get that classic "flat plane" sound.
The 488, and indeed all modern engines of this ilk, use shorter cast primaries in a 4 into 2 set up. However they never get the 2 into 1 as the Turbos are the "twin scroll'' type. What that means is the Turbo acts the 2 into 1 collector.
This gives a completely different sound, which although is unmistakably "flat plane", is lower and less, er, angry.
You also have to take into account the 488's engine is a much larger capacity than the F40's by around 1 litre.
This again gives a much deeper engine note than the smaller 2.9 litres of the F40.
Of course then you add the Cats etc.
Taking Cats and Silencers out of the equation for a moment..........
The F40 is classic old school. The tubular manifolds have long primaries with 4 into 1 collectors and a Turbo stuck on the end.
Although muffled by the Turbo you still get that classic "flat plane" sound.
The 488, and indeed all modern engines of this ilk, use shorter cast primaries in a 4 into 2 set up. However they never get the 2 into 1 as the Turbos are the "twin scroll'' type. What that means is the Turbo acts the 2 into 1 collector.
This gives a completely different sound, which although is unmistakably "flat plane", is lower and less, er, angry.
You also have to take into account the 488's engine is a much larger capacity than the F40's by around 1 litre.
This again gives a much deeper engine note than the smaller 2.9 litres of the F40.
Of course then you add the Cats etc.
Edited by Overhaul on Friday 15th October 15:57
I think F40 was catless?
Cats absolutely kill noise, particular the scream as such. When you decat a 458 they almost sound like an old school F1 car.
Still saying this a de-catted 488 still sounds pretty muted compared to a 458 or an F40.
Times move on, engines are now made and have to tick many many boxes to be allowed to be sold, back in the F40 days there was probably not so many tick boxes to worry about.
Cars are generally getting quieter and quieter, also faster but at the same time more boring on the public road as they become less and less fun at legal speeds, only stand out modern car for noise and fun at legal speeds is the 812, the rest of the range does not even come close. 458 Speciale was the pinnacle of the modern cars, down hill since then.
Cats absolutely kill noise, particular the scream as such. When you decat a 458 they almost sound like an old school F1 car.
Still saying this a de-catted 488 still sounds pretty muted compared to a 458 or an F40.
Times move on, engines are now made and have to tick many many boxes to be allowed to be sold, back in the F40 days there was probably not so many tick boxes to worry about.
Cars are generally getting quieter and quieter, also faster but at the same time more boring on the public road as they become less and less fun at legal speeds, only stand out modern car for noise and fun at legal speeds is the 812, the rest of the range does not even come close. 458 Speciale was the pinnacle of the modern cars, down hill since then.
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