What car makes the best sound? Is it a classic example of Detroit iron? A European exotic with more cylinders than seats? The throaty growl of a V-8 or the thunderous rumble of a 12-cylinder engine? Maybe it’s air passing through a turbocharger or a supercharger and exiting out the rear trumpets. Perhaps for you, nothing beats doing things the old-fashioned way — normal aspiration.
There are body designs that are simply works of art. There are interiors finer than those in most homes and performance numbers that defy the laws of physics. The icing on the cake is certainly a robust engine note to let the world know you are not just another pretty face.
There are exhaust notes that pull at an enthusiast’s heart strings. Give a gear head a good engine, a big exhaust and plenty of room in a long tunnel. It’s enough to bring muscle spasms to the face because of the smiles these sounds instantly create.
Admittedly, my experience with high-end metal has been somewhat limited until recently. Nonetheless, I have still heard my share of sonorous tones exiting the pipes ’round back. All of them are not from super cars and all not typical. They may not all make a clarion call from a mile away, but all make me smile.
I’ve compiled for you, the reader, my list of motor music’s finest instruments. Not sounds I’ve heard on Internet videos or cars I heard other journalists say had great sound, but those that I have heard with my own two ears.
In no particular order, my list includes:
2012 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500
2013 Ferrari 458
2009 Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione
2010 Aston Martin V8
1969 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28
1929 Duesenberg ( any one with the 4-valve straight 8)
2006 Maserati Gran Sport
2013 MINI John Cooper Works Edition
2013 Hyundai Genesis Coupe 2.0T Coupe (exhaust rumble on a budget)
1974 Oldsmobile 442
1985 Mercedes-Benz 300D (call me weird, but I love that diesel burble)
…just to name a few.
You may disagree with my list, but that is the purpose of it! Sparking dialogue and inciting debate. Some may say I need to add more muscle cars, some may say my pre- war history is waning. Whatever you say, say it in the comments below and feel free to share your own list. If you have never compiled one, this is a perfect time. My sincere hope is that this opens the floor for passionate petrol head interaction.
With so many manufacturers racing to design cheaper, cleaner, quieter cars, we have to compile lists like this to preserve what makes being a lover of combustion engines worth it all…the sound of combustion happening!
Aaaaaahhhhh, the sound of the exhaust trumpets. Some are as smooth as a kittens purr, some as loud as a lions roar. One thing is for sure, the neighbors may come out shaking their fist when your window- shaking beast rolls up, but if they have an ounce of octane in their blood, underneath, they are smiling too. Saying to themselves: “Oh, How Sweet the Sound”
What are five cars with your favorite exhaust notes?
