Not all noise is the same
07/08/2020
The issue of noise is currently well represented in the daily press. The focus is on the so-called "posers" who produce an unnecessary amount of noise with modern vehicles. At least that is how it is described and it is not entirely wrong. It is not always modified and illegally converted cars (mostly from German premium suppliers) that produce this loud noise, but often models bought off the shelf or tuned with registered exhaust systems.
In fact, you can buy many new cars that are capable of producing noise levels that pose a danger to the human ear. It is also possible that road-legal cars are not allowed to drive on racetracks because they are too loud. Unfortunately, the noise does not even have anything to do with usable power, but is often artificially influenced, for example by electronically controlled misfiring and flap systems.
In the past, cars were sometimes loud too, but in an "honest" way. Of course, 20 or more years ago, there were already low-resistance exhaust systems that allowed higher decibel levels than the standard road vehicles of the time. But these were at most fitted to super sports cars and hardly ever attracted negative attention in road traffic.
It sounded something like this:
The background noise comes from an Aston Martin V8 Vantage V600 Le Mans from the year 2000. Just 40 of these cars were built, so few people will ever have had the pleasure of hearing that great V8 rumble.
And if we go back even further, cars without significant soundproofing were even approved for road use, for example in the 1930s or even after the war. But this was also "honest" noise, so to speak, and served the engine's power output. But that was in the past. For many enthusiasts, the background noise that old cars can produce is music. But what did Wilhelm Busch say? "Music is often not considered beautiful because it is always associated with noise ...". This probably also applies to the symphonies from the exhaust systems of classic vehicles.
