Why do Ferrari's sound like....Ferrari's?

[Getrag]

Could someone explain to the uninformed (me) why Farrari's have that fantastic sound. Take the 355 for example. Many engines have similar formats yet none come near to the sound, so what is it that gives the spine tingling sound track? And has Ferrari patented any of its sounds? I know Harley was going to patent their sound but withdrew because nobody could recreate it. Thanks....

[murcielago_boy]

Getrag said:

Many engines have similar formats

Don't agree dude.
Take the F355 - A flat-plan crank V8 with 5 valves per cylinder and variable length (partial cat-bypassing) exhaust system... Not many engines have that.
So what I'm saying is the Ferrari engine configurations designed for power are happily, actually very pleasing to hear (including induction noise AND firing order).


Also ought to add that most of the modern Ferraris sound crappy (I've driven almost all of them). The 550/575M sounds like a vacuum cleaner. A Benz E55 sounds better. The 360 sounds synthetic and tinny too.
Would you believe the Enzo sounds crapper than all of them. Thank God for the aftermarket.

The Boxer series has one of the most pleasing engine sounds I've ever heard. Daytona is aural bliss.

[danhay]

I had a discussion on this topic with a vehicle sound engineer at MIRA a couple of weeks ago. The conclusion was that the things that make a Ferrari sound the way it does are:

1. Valve Timing (affects induction & exhaust sound)
2. Exhaust design
3. Induction design
4. Engine configuration (no of cyls, crank design, angle of V)
5. There are also a number of tricks you can play with accoustics to deaden particular frequencies, and enhance others. I wouldn't pretend to know exactly what Ferrari do, but they manage to get all the noise but without the vibration and harshness!


>> Edited by danhay on Monday 6th September 21:35

[Getrag]

Thats very interesting. Like I said, I know the bare minimum about engines but thats it. As luck would have it, a 550M drove past me in my street today. I wound down the window in anticipation and.....nothing Sounded just like any other quiet, luxury V12. I imagine it might sound more different at high rpm with the valve timing and exhaust etc...

So, thats why I mentioned the 355 because from what I've read, its one of the last good sounding F cars. Would love some more detail about that particular engine/car/noise if anyone knows.

I've never heard the Enzo in real life but have seen it in all the videos. It does sound a little "flat."

In addition, when I hear the sound of a 360M CS, it makes me think of a trumpet but with all the high frequencies silenced out. On the other hand, these particular cars are designed for something other than just noise.

[996 turbo]

Click on the "Now that's what a Rarri should sound like" link. Bashers new exhaust is mechanical music if ever I heard it.

http://theratpac.com/events/farboud/

Enjoy, Steve, 996TT

[murph7355]

Equipped with the right exhaust set up, even modern Ferraris can sound awesome.

Sadly, the EU has given us straight bananas, iPods with restricted volume and Ferraris with their vocal chords cut.

God bless progress.

[basher]

check out the links at the bottom of the link steve posted - it sounds better at full chat...burbles bangs and all...enjoy....

it does however play second fiddle to the power of the 996 tt's that were there..... the gap closed alrmingly quickly when i pulled away for , oh, 0.3 seconds.... frighteningly quick...