How a good car sound is "manufactured"

So this is not a question, but a collab request.

I have some thoughts and soon I am going to try them on a very unconvenient system, a nitro RC car of mine.
As an automotive and racing fan who participated in racing, got trophies and read a lot, tested a lot; I have come to this conclusion for a simple yet an iconic sound for a car. It is very simple. And I want your opinion on it so we can test it all together on a tiny bit engine.

There are mainly two distinct yet connected sounds which makes the sound of a car. First is the engine sound and it comes from where the engine itself positioned. Seconds is the exhaust. The common family cars or city cars are built for a convenient use noisewise so their engine sounds are not catching up with the exhaust sound, they are very very little compared to it. I am not talking about a V8 here btw. After giving these heads up, I want to share it where it cought my ear as a musician. These two sounds have to have a very very nice calibrated (or by chance) pitch difference. The biggest example will be a lamborghini sound. The biggest difference I heard was a Gallardo. It was exciting if you know what I mean =)

So, the engine here I have with me is of course a whiny little one. If I can create a muffler for it specificly designed to pitch up or pitch down the sound of the engine (apart from the engine itself), maybe we can have a go with it.

Now the acoustics kick in. I need to find shapes, structures inside the proposed muffler/exhaust to find out the perfect pitch for it. And of course computers come in handy here. I will take a short engine sound and duplicate it with some pitch, play it together to see how much pitch is the "pleasure" point like a lambo.

Please feel free to add any suggestions, info, etc as this is going to be a fun project for all of us I think.

Note: Lexus LFA is banned from this topic LOL (its too good)

Forget the muffler you need to get the flow right from the beginning. I swapped to an equal length header on my RB28.

What it does, it equalizes the flow from every cylinder so you get a resonating main flow. It shifted the pitch into "hate mode", that´s what I call it, but more important, it gave me more torque at higher RPMs. It´s also called harmonizing here in Germany.

You make the engine and exhaust work together, not change some shape in the muffler. I don´t know, something sounds very off with your knowledge, no offense.

a reply to: verschickter

No offense taken.

My theory is to have a certain pitch between the engine and the exhaust to achieve a certain sound.

Edit: Only sound, not about performance

Things such as cylinder firing order, configuration ( flat, vee, boxer ), number of cylinders, head flow, camshaft lift, and type of ( or lack of ) power adder all play a role in how an engine sounds. Too many variables for a major change with a muffler alone.

Start by uncorking and smoothing flow at the head with a good header, high-flowing downpipe/Y-pipe/Crossover pipe. A quality muffler all contribute.

Swapping my 4 cylinder Ecotec from a supercharger to a turbo helped the exhaust sound tremendously. The turbo itself acts as a sort of muffler and smooths the exhaust impulses.

Just last week I swapped the factory muffler on my 5.3 V8 truck to a Borla Pro XS dumped at the axle. It yielded a nice mellow deep tone that isn't much louder than stock.

I have bought, fabricated, and installed far more exhaust setups than I care to admit.

a reply to: belkide
If it´s only about sound you might as well just put a speaker into the exhaust. I dislike it, but many companies do it nowadays.

Not to be confused by generating noises inside the drivers cabin. There really are sound actuators in terms of speakers attatched to the exhaust pipe. I´m not talking about gates that bypass the muffler.

To make things clear for my theory and to test it;

1. engine: all camshaft, valves, everything combined they make a certain sound.
2. exhaust: another main sound source.

so it gives us one "easy" thing to play with which is the exhaust. I am talking about a pitch difference. I will try to make a sound file and upload it soon. All the things sound "same" till you make a pitch adjustment starting from the exhaust valve to the tip of the pipe.

Here in this video, maybe you don't notice but you hear 2 sounds at the same time with different pitch. For the ones who will check it I recon it is combined with the main sound and a 3rd and a half upper or as a whole lower harmonic. I don't know which one is the engine or the pipes (Probably the engine is the lower freq sound).

forward to 20th sec.

a reply to: verschickter

speakers are a no no like you said. if it is not the real sound whats the point of having the fake one? =) +1

Engine sound is not everything.

If you have the grunt ... the sound is secondary, but usually will give you a grin.

Exhaust noise can be tuned ... for the wankers.

a reply to: Timely

Well this is just a project to see if I can achieve something on a RC car, not soundwise but the ideawise. And I am not only talking about exhaust noise. I am talking about a signature sound combined of engine and exhaust. And please dont call lambo owners "wankers" as they have a certain sound palette because of the engine and exhaust. =))) Which means it comes pre-tuned.

Okay guys I see there is a misunderstanding here. To be clear;

Common car (It can be V8 to V1)
-

Engine sound is "A" and the exhaust sound is close to "A" okay?

So we take the exhaust sound and make it something else and match it with the engine sound which is loud enough to go with the exhaust and make it "B"

In the end our car's sound is AB which is a nice noise and a signature of a brand. Hope it is clear.

a reply to: belkide

I did not use the words .. lamborghini owners and wankers in any previous posts.

You are an RC fan.

Sorry, I misread your OP ... 😎

a reply to: belkide

if it is not the real sound whats the point of having the fake one? =) +1

What´s the point in having a car sound like it´s a 700+HP bolide when it is not? Sure, your car will sound nice and angry.

It´s like putting spoilers on a 60HP rig.

See, there are people trying to achieve the exact opposite, being able to drive a 700+HP without waking up the whole city when you turn on the ignition to go for a fun ride.

a reply to: verschickter

The reason is not power, the reason is not performance, the reason is to have a signature sound. Signature sound doesn't mean to have a 700hp car, it can be quiet yet have a nice sound. Cheers. And this will "not" have a sound like you have a 700hp. I am still trying to explain. It will just sound NICE not STRONG. if you have a strong car yes it will sound both.

a reply to: belkide

Why ?

I would respect 1/4 mile numbers over car farts ...

What trophy does that bring anyway
.. !??

Ypur mates must have some weapons in the mix ... !!

That´s why car manufatures put speakers inside and outside.

See, like cynicalheathen wrote already, there are so many factors to consider. That´s why car manufactures went with speakers because they realized there´s only so much you can do.

Even the same models with the same motor have differences in tolerance, power output and flow characteristics. And all that adds up at the end.

You were asking for help, I´m just trying to tell you, if you want to do it, go for it! But I consider it a waste of time, because your muffler (or whatever part you develop) won´t work on the next model.

What you try to do is what computers did in simulations already. That´s why I find it pointless.

a reply to: Timely

Dude I am just talking about sound here and I wanna talk about sound, not performance =). Is that clear? =)

a reply to: Timely

My Son has a 1.5 Proton Satria ...

That sounds fat at idle !

My CX7 turbo sounds crap at idle ...

It can make me smile at times too.

a reply to: belkide

Sound is relative ... if you are a gear head.

Performance is gospel.

Grunt is good.

Choir singing has its place too ... 😎

a reply to: verschickter

I haven't been a fan of a car with speakers. I have noooooo means of buying a car with speakers. This topic is to have some ideas with the pitch and sound. And the companies who does that does because their priority is not sound btw.

a reply to: Timely

This is a really seperate topic =) Yes performance is GOD and I dont care if the car sounds like fart if it goes like hell. But cmon guys, this is a topic for soooound ideas, its like how lambo achieves the sound etc. Its like brainstorming. Its not about what is convenient =)