Telling the difference between engine notes

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I'm really good at telling what kind of car it is just by listening to the motor. The modular V8 mustangs are fairly easy to distinguish.
 
Ahem, I think wankel rotary's are fairly easy to distinguish....:lol:
 
Yeah, nice try, but nobody bought any of those. You'll be saying next that you can recognize anything with the Kent engine :p

I reckon I could :sly: The other distinctive one is any of Peugeot's sportier engines from stuff like the 106, 205, 306 etc. They have quite a distinctive sound, especially when (nicely) tuned.

Honda I4s are fairly easy to distinguish. And I've heard the sound of MX5s before and known exactly what they were before I turned round to have a look.

V6s are interesting ones. Good ones (Volkswagen's narrow-angle VR6, Alfa Romeo's V6s, Lancia Stratos etc) can sound absolutely glorious and completely distinctive. The Italian ones are almost musical, and the VAG ones are very hard-edged with a bit of a rasp. The Mitsubishi FTO I once drove had a nice sound to it too.

Yet other V6s are bloody awful. So many of them have an unpleasant droning sound, which is amplified if it's got an auto box. They're smooth of course, but certainly not music to your ears.

Inline 6s are a different kettle of fish too. Since they almost always inhabit BMWs, they're fairly easy to make out. The world seems to love the E46 M3's I6 exhaust note, but I've never been keen. It's far too metallic, and BMW's normal I6s with a good aftermarket exhaust sound significantly better.
 
It seems that, for me, I'm normally able to pick out specific engines, but then have a more difficult time making blanket guesses as to what it is. Living on a corner with a Michigan turn and a stoplight, we hear some pretty wicked stuff most of the day. Usually I can pick a Modular or a LS V8 out of the pack pretty easily, same with Volkswagen VR6s and the VQs in Nissan/Infiniti models. Four-cylinders are a bit harder to pick apart, frankly.
 
Yeah, nice try, but nobody bought any of those. You'll be saying next that you can recognize anything with the Kent engine :p

Nope, but it turns out I can recognise the sound of a Ford Ka engaging reverse gear.

I wish I was kidding, I really do.
 
There are only a few cars I can recognize by sound, and they're all loud. My sister's Bug, the neighbor's 350Z, their motorcycle.

I could probably identify a KA engine by sound.
 
HA! I knew it wasn't just me who has developed an ear for this. If i hear a car coming, and I'm with friends, I will usually call it out before it drives by...the confusion usually starts when people realize that I was spot on:cool: This includes the different tones between different manufacturers
 
Try to mistaken this for something else.



So what if its aftermarket exhaust?
 
Famine's list is pretty accurate. Let me add 2 missing types. :sly:

V6 Sounds like balls (minus Nissan VQ)
I6 Sounds like sex (minus GM 4.2L)

Try to mistaken this for something else.



So what if its aftermarket exhaust?


I wet myself...:nervous:
 
Says the guy with a GTI.

Maybe part of the problem is that a lot of the cars are just so quiet. But unless the car has a nice, clearly breathing exhaust, I have a lot of problems telling a V6 and I4 apart.
 
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