From the Brickyard lunch thread by 6klaunch:

"We got on the freeway and accelerated with a confirming growl from the engine, very nice. The engine note was not pressent until aggressive throttle was applied."

6klaunch, do you think that the lack of an engine note in normal driving was due to very low RPM shift points selected by the automatic transmission or does the car really need a more sporting engine/exhaust sound?

I may be in the minority, but when driving a sports car, I'd rather hear the mechanical sounds of the engine and the growl of the exhaust than the audio system. Those that heard the car from the outside say it's great. To me that means there's either a great deal of sound insulation in the car or perhaps the car you were in had a different exhaust.

 

it becomes annoy if the engine and exhaust sound are too loud.

 

TCL....i think that is a battle between the purists and the "common folk".

Every purist wants to hear the engine and exhaust. But the vast majority of people are looking for comfort. Nowadays enginners can work the exhaust so that during "spirited" driving you can here it.

Just imagine driving an old muscle car with cherry bombs or glass packs 30 miles a day. I think that would get old real quick. Even your E36 M3 had a quite exhaust.

 

The engine note was pleasant and when he got on it, its sounded nice with a deep growl. It certainly didn't sound harsh or annoying. After we had lunch, the z dropped me off and he got on it as he left. It sounded very healthy, but it didn't sound like an after market free flow system either. I suspect that a little exhaust work is in order to get that mean sound... so to speak.

 

dvlad wrote:

"Just imagine driving an old muscle car with cherry bombs or glass packs 30 miles a day. I think that would get old real quick. Even your E36 M3 had a quite exhaust"

Agreed, I do not want an exhaust that is too loud or one that sounds as crude as a muscle car. Nor do I want one that sounds like a rapidly deflating balloon as typical of many aftermarket systems today.

Many M3 owners went to a system made by Supersprint. It was not much louder than stock but had a much nicer sound, more in keeping with a sports car.

6kLaunch, thanks for the additional description. Sounds a more acceptable now.