Modern F1 cars don’t sound that bad. It’s just that, well, they don’t sound that good.
Once upon a time, the sound of Formula 1 cars filled almost the entirety of Melbourne. During an F1 session, if you lived on a quiet enough street, and listened carefully, you could hear a quiet hum all the way from Albert Park from almost 10km away.
While it was Dick Johnson who said the only thing you get from looking back is a sore neck, the good news for those who miss the days where you needed ear plugs at the grand prix is there are plenty of new road cars that will still satisfy your aural needs. Here are just a handful of our favourites, which pick up for noise where F1 left off at the end of the V8 era in 2013.
Porsche 911 GT3
Okay, so this one basically has a straight-through exhaust – not the most practical modification – but the thought of getting one for your own 911 GT3 will cross your mind watching this. Hearing Porsche’s 4.0-litre naturally aspirated flat-six racing towards 9000rpm will make you momentarily forget what year it is, let alone how a modern F1 car sounds.
Lamborghini Revuelto
Cars don’t sound much better than a big-block V12, and Lambo’s new 6.5-litre Revuelto attests to as much. While in this video of it tearing up Goodwood it sounds a bit muted – like a roaring animal inside a sealed box – the in-cabin sound would be a very different story. A hybrid we can get behind, you can bet Lambo is leaving plenty of decibels in the tank for future models like the Revuelto SVJ.
Audi R8 V10
This is an older video, so forgive us, but Audi and Lamborghini’s 5.2-litre naturally aspirated V10 is basically unchanged to this day – and this video reveals why, in a sense. One watch is enough to make you consider which non-essential organs could be sold on the black market, and which tunnel you could live in once you’d purchased one of the very last new R8 V10s (or Lambo Huracans, for that matter). You best be quick though as production is ending as we speak.
Ferrari 812
Forgive us for basically giving up trying to include videos of cars with stock exhausts, but it would be criminal to buy anything like the 6.5-litre naturally aspirated V12 Ferrari 812 and not at least consider replacing the stock exhaust system. This video shows that while a Ferrari F1 car can’t quite give you the tingles with its noise, one of Ferrari’s road cars still very much can.
Ford Mustang Dark Horse
Don’t want a banshee-screaming V12? Step this way towards a 5.0-litre naturally aspirated V8. Ford’s new Mustang Dark Horse – on its way to Australia imminently – has all the old school V8 burble you could ever want, provided you fit an aftermarket exhaust. Which, again, you’d be a few ponies short a stampede if you didn’t.
Lotus Emira V6
Who would have though an old Toyota Camry engine could sound so good? Even from the factory, the Lotus Emira 3.5-litre supercharged V6 has an exhaust note that will the windows fixed permanently in the down position. This one has a factory exhaust and we discourage watching any videos of aftermarket ones for the sake of your bank account.
And of course, F1 fans, here’s a reminder of what we’ve been missing – thank the heavens YouTube exists:
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