Why do straight-four-cylinder engines sound so bad?

Question

Engines can be so musical.

V-twins give a heartbeat-like 'blat', V6s and V12 can give a lovely howl and V8s have a really evocative rumble. Why do straight-four-cylinder motors, with or without loud exhausts sound so tuneless? I acknowledge that the flat-fours as used by VW and Subaru have a pleasant 'drumbeat'!

I can only think of the 1960's/70's Alfa twinsparks as straight-fours that sounded any good, with a crackly, hard-edged rasp to them. Were there any others? All modern fours sound so bland - it's just noise.

What do you think?

Answer 1

I agree to a certain extent, but blame Brussels, not the car makers. Most high-volume production cars are limited in the amount of noise they can make.
Some of the wilder Honda V-Tec engines sound pretty good, & if you like, I could drive past your house at 7,000 rpm in my Alfa, just for old times' sake!!

Answer 2

Every engine exhaust has its own unique acoustic properties. Exhaust events in Otto cycle engines with more than four cylinders overlap, scrambling the exhaust sounds even more. Remember that exhaust actually has two major components, the exiting exhaust gas/heat itself and the sound which is created by the exhaust. The trick of the muffler designer is to develop a product which will tune the exhaust for the desired noise quality and not have too much gas backpressure over a wide range of rpms.

Incidentally, I have not seen a question so artistically presented. Skip the cars and start writing.

Answer 3

I dig the old Pinto motors. The 2000cc and the 2300cc Lima. Also old WWII Jeeps sound neat.

A lot of it has to do with the exhaust setup. I ran a glasspack muffler with a 2.25 inch pipe on my Mustang and it has the 2300cc Lima motor. It sounds deep without being raspy.

Also, I had a buddy that had a 2L turbo Mitsubishi motor in his Eclipse. It was deep sounding. He had a stock size (small) turbo on it.

So many of the import tuner guys run huge turbos for the size of their motors. which takes away some of that low end torque that makes an engine sound strong. This is why the "ricer" sound is so raspy and tinny.

Answer 4

Brussels is the capital of Belgium and is the principal seat of the Belgian Royal Family and, also the capital of the European Union and if you intend to know after that it this is actually the place hotelbye . Brussels is a remarkably little, easy-going, and human-sized city for many its importance. Unlike anthers city using their hordes of tourists, Brussels is Belgium's major economic and educational heart, gives the town a far more workaday experience than other towns. Here, in Brussels, if you'd decide to go to, you will receive a appropriate sense for Belgian living, particularly their excellent restaurant and café culture. While Brussels may possibly not have the celebrity attractions of different Belgian neighborhoods, the capital has ample to help keep guests entertained for a couple of days with a clutch of world-class museums and art galleries, along with quirkier sights such as the Atomium, and some great remnants of previous structure in the previous town quarter.

Answer 5

I agree completely.The reason that modern 4 cyl engines sound so crappy has a lot to do with displacement.Usually,a very short stroke small engine,ala ALFA,sound great and large 4 cyl engines like Toyotas and Honda sound terrible.I agree with oklatom,if it's not really fast,keep it quiet.

Answer 6

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Answer 7

Its all to do with gas flow. Engine combusion design is a complex science and the straight engines sound different.

Answer 8

I guess a melodical sound is the last thing engineers consider when designing an economy car engine :)

Answer 9

i thought the fiat spiders sounded cool

Answer 10

I think the best engine is one muffled enough that you are barely aware it is running.