How quiet or "refined" is your engine?

[Intrepidation]

Today my friend and I (the one with the Corolla) were getting out of clas to go to somewhere in Mass to take pictures for my photography class. We got in my the car (I had the Intrepid today) and I started it up. I went behind the seat to get my camera out. Apparently he either forgot I started it or didn't think I turned the key al; the way because he asked

Him: "Is the car on?"

Me: "yeah" I put it in reverse back out

Him: "Wow, it's really quiet"

Seems every time we go for a ride in it he's more impressed with the car.

So how quiet (GTOs and other loud V8s/purposely loud vehicles need not apply ) or how refined is your vehicle's engine? Like I've said before, for all the problems the 2.7L is known for, it's been a great engine so far to me. It's very smooth and quiet, and it idles at about 800 rpm (I think, I'd have to double check). It does make some pretty nice sounds when you open up the throttle though :AH-HA_wink:

As for the photos, I won't know until I develop them but they should be awesome..we went to a waterfall somewhere past Fitchburg...got some awesome pictures near the base of the falls..plus some cool ice build-up on the nearby rocks.

On a side note he thinks the new Tacoma is ugly and looks like a bug

Edited April 7, 2007 by Dodgefan

[DetroitNut90]

Before the intake manifold and head gasket started to go sour (nothing major yet, but it won't be long), the 3.4L in our Venture was nice and smooth, pushrods and all. It's not thrashy, has plenty of pep, and emits a thoroughly satisfying exhaust note.

The Vortec V6 in the Sonoma is a little gruff, it shakes just a bit at idle (~600 RPM). But I could care less, since what it lacks in silky-smoothness, it more than makes up with in abundant low-midrange power, a pleasing tune, and excellent reliablilty.

Edited April 8, 2007 by DetroitNut90

[loki]

a 99 3.1L with ~140K on it.... idles rough in random spurts, carrying into the lower rpm range sometimes too.

my brother has an mr2 and a 240Zw/ a lt1 in it, says the same thing sometimes in my car.... "is it running?"

it's pretty easy to drown out when it's idling with music on. but on a 1-10 scale i'd have to guess it's about a 7

my company's new 07 nox is quiet from the front, only hear the idle coming from the muffler from the driver's seat

[ToniCipriani]

Well I came out from a Cavalier, so I'm biased on my G6. My friend did comment on my car and said it was very quiet. He also drove another G6 V6, and commented how peppy and smooth the engine was, so I guess that applies to mine as well.

[Ravenfreak13]

The Electra is smooth riding but you can hear the engine roar...i think its supposed to be that way..hello, its a wildcat engine!

The saturn is a rattle box but it can be abnormally quiet on warm days.

The breeze is pretty quiet...except in idle...the steeringwheel shakes.

[Camino LS6]

Hmmm, let's see...

- The GTO,Firehawk and Maserati make beautiful music and the two Pontiacs are pretty quiet at cruising speed due to low revs.

- The Duramax is the quietest diesel I have ever driven car or truck

- Before I yanked the engine the Camino was dead quiet inside (but won't be when I'm done)

Never been big on the "can't hear the engine" thing.

[Intrepidation]

Hmmm, let's see...

- The GTO,Firehawk and Maserati make beautiful music and the two Pontiacs are pretty quiet at cruising speed due to low revs.

- The Duramax is the quietest diesel I have ever driven car or truck

- Before I yanked the engine the Camino was dead quiet inside (but won't be when I'm done)

Never been big on the "can't hear the engine" thing.

I don't like dead silence all the time, especially depending on the car, but the Intrepid's quitness is very nice, and when you accelerate, you hear it, but it sounds good. Now a Charger R/T or something...I wanna hear that

[Screaming Trees]

The 5.3 in my truck is fairly quiet. Under acceleration you can hear it pretty good, crusing speeds its more subdued. I like the way it sounds

[Camino LS6]

Interestingly, the '02 Firehawk was very quiet as compared to the GTO. Both got a bit louder with age, but the GTO always let's you know that an LS1 lives under the hood. Even so, the cabin is very solid and quiet and if the car had a more docile engine or exhaust, you'd hear very little sound.

[pow]

Our BMW's inline-six is silky smooth and very refined, but it's rather loud at idle, especially when cold.

Our Honda's V6 isn't very smooth (you can start feeling vibrations past 4500 rpm), but it's dead silent at idle. I've tried starting the engine with it running on several occasions.

[Mach5GTP]

The 3.4L DOHC LQ1 in my GTP is from GM's 60-deg V-6 family, so it's already not known for being especially quiet and smooth. Plus, I installed a billet aluminum "dogbone" front torque strut with polyurethane bushings, so the noise under load and high revs really comes thru the car's structure into the cabin. And I wouldn't have it any other way, it just sounds mean when she downshifts into 1st gear at 30mph.

That said, tho, at idle, it's very quite from inside, very smooth idle quality. You can feel a little lopiness, but it's part of the car's character.

Edited April 7, 2007 by Mach5GTP

[Flybrian]

You can hear the 3800 II throughout, but its a very nice sound.

My 4.0 Aurora is very quiet at idle and growls upon acceleration. Northstars and their derivatives have always sounded great.

If I wanted to not hear the engine, I'd probably not want to drive either.

[Northstar]

Well, the GTO is pretty loud. It idles at about 650rpm so it's not overly loud, but that's the nature of the beast. It's relatively quite at cruise, but pretty loud when it's opened up.

I think it's pretty much a consensus that LSx engines are very refined, though.

[Sixty8panther]

The quietest car I have EVER heard was a 1951 Studebaker Starlight coupe.

It did not make so much as a peep as the guy drove away off the Endicott

Estate after the carshow. All I heard was the tires driving over the grass!

[2005 EquinoxLS]

My Equinox is pretty good in spite of what some of the magazines say. The only thing you hear out of the Bonneville is the exhaust thats on it. It shakes at idle but that is due to what I think is a vacuum leak which I cannot find.

[Cory Wolfe]

My Millenia is whisper quiet at running temp during idle as well as at highway speeds. After starting the engine cold, it's not so quiet. Same if I open it up. It purrs nicely when it isn't missing.

[FAPTurbo]

I drive a Detroit Diesel 6.2L.

'nuff said.

[capriceman]

Caprice loud and obnoxious at anything above idle

Camaro 3.4L what the hell is that rattling?

94 Silverado if its quiet the engines not running. (No Exhaust)

02 Sierra quiet until its opened up

98 LeSabre Is there a engine in there?

Vibe Who the hell is revving a weed whacker in the back seat.

issued Impala For how much noise there should be more balls.

[Intrepidation]

Caprice loud and obnoxious at anything above idle

Camaro 3.4L what the hell is that rattling?

94 Silverado if its quiet the engines not running. (No Exhaust)

02 Sierra quiet until its opened up

98 LeSabre Is there a engine in there?

Vibe Who the hell is revving a weed whacker in the back seat.

issued Impala For how much noise there should be more balls.

[Paolino]

My 3300 is fairly loud at idle.. has an odd hum to it. It's fairly quiet cruising at like 40-60. After that it quickly gets noisy.

[bobo]

I like quiet engines. Honda has the best, smoothest small engines around, with a good sound when they rev. However, the Prelude's engine is not as smooth as my previous Integras. I don't care for the loud rumble of the Silverado. As for my IS300, it's quiet at low rpms and grows loudly when revved hard. While smooth, the amount of power is sadly not commensurate to the increased decibels.

[cmattson]

I agree with you Bobo -- Honda has definately spent some time in the noise reduction / refinement areas -- commonly referred to as NVH (noise, harshness, vibration). I've got an Ecotec 2.4l G6 right now -- and it's not as quiet as I'd like at idle -- and acceleration it's quite loud. Before that I had the 2.2l in my '04 Malibu - and it was identical to the 2.4l in terms of noise and courseness. As it is, the 2.4l is a nice little engine -- it's peppy, revs easy, delivers fairly decent gas mileage if you keep your foot out of it (personal best: 32.5 mpg), and non-spectacular, but not-boring acceleration when you put your boot into it (and then it's gas mileage drops to 25-26mpg). It's smooth is how it revs, but it sounds course. My Suburban's got the 5.3l and it's got a really nice burble to it. It idles nice and quiet. Accleration is audible, but it's pleasant - and never loud.

Things brings me to a point:

When doing a review, two things would 'make' a review for me, yet I struggle to find anyone who consistently delivers these stats across all of their reviews:

1) DBA noice level: Noise at idle, noise under acceleration to 30mph & 55 mph, noise cruising at 30mph & 55mph.

2) Acceleration 0-30 & 0-60. Most people can't connect the dots with: horsepower, torque, vehicle weight, and transmission gearing. All of those can and will make a marketable difference to acceleration. Why can't you consistently find the acceleration #'s?

[pow]

You can hear the 3800 II throughout, but its a very nice sound.

My 4.0 Aurora is very quiet at idle and growls upon acceleration. Northstars and their derivatives have always sounded great.

If I wanted to not hear the engine, I'd probably not want to drive either.

Agreed. I think quietness and refinement are two very different things. You can have a very smooth Porsche flat-six, but it'll definitely be very loud, either at idle or while accelerating. Direct-injected engines like VW's FSI 2.0T are loud at idle (clicking/tapping noises), but you wouldn't mind running some at 6,000 rpm all day long.

[Intrepidation]

The Prizm's 1.6 is pretty Rev-happy...you need to rev it to get the most out of the engine (such is the case with Japanese 4 cylinders), but it sounds good when you Rev it...I like hearing the engine...it feels alive and eager. I have no idea what it idles at, because it has no tach (the only car that doesn't..and the only one with a manual of course).

The Shadow's 2.5L is actually pretty quiet when the catalytic convector isn't rattling around, and when it's cruising up to 50 it's fairly quiet too...it also sounds good under light acceleration. However above 3000 rpm it sounds very raspy, and when it first starts up when it's very cold out it runs rough, but smooths out as it warms up. It idles at about 1000 rpm, but tends to fluctuate every now and then.

Edited April 9, 2007 by Dodgefan

[Intrepidation]

Agreed. I think quietness and refinement are two very different things. You can have a very smooth Porsche flat-six, but it'll definitely be very loud, either at idle or while accelerating. Direct-injected engines like VW's FSI 2.0T are loud at idle (clicking/tapping noises), but you wouldn't mind running some at 6,000 rpm all day long.

Well that's sorta what I ment, refined and/or quiet was the subject of the thread...I dunno if I didn't word it well enough

[Cory Wolfe]

Hmm... I forgot to include the Sunfire. It's the complete opposite of my Millenia. It's loud... always. When she first bought it, I noted that it sounded like a diesel. It doesnt sound very good. The Quad4 in my Grand Am sounded much better... And other than the ticking, was probably more quiet.

[regfootball]

the pushrod 3.4 in the aztek is fairly well muted most of the time with noise abatement and such which is amazing because in other cars I have driven with the exact same motor (Alero) the thing was a buzzbomb rattler like no other that made you feel like it was going to vibrate the car apart and make you go deaf from the horrible noise. If a stranger drove the Alero and the Aztek back to back there is no way you would ever guess they have the same boat anchor under the hood. The only time its disagreeable in the Aztek is under hard throttle and you get the signature GM pushrod sound (the strained vacuum cleaner noise). Everyone comments about how farily quiet the Aztek is. The 3800 like in my FIL's car and many others I have driven is a bit smoother than the 3.4 in most cases (but still possesses the same strained vacuum cleaner noise). Basically, what it boils down to is that GM invests more in deadening the noise and vibration in some cars, than others for their pushrod buzzbombs.

the duratec 3.0 in my 500 has much less noise and vibration abatement. Its probably average to below average in inherent design as well, since the design is so old. The new 35 duratec should be much better and since the 500/taurus whole front end and subframe and powertrain is redesigned (as well as much more sound deadening) I expect to see major improvement in that area. Oddly, my 60 degree v8 SHO which was a derivative of the v6 duratec family had no vibration and was eerily smooth through the rev range. in fact, if you were out driving on a road trip, once the car settled into crusing speeds for an hour or so at 75-80+ mph you simply often could not hear the engine. And you didn't feel it. My 89 v6 SHO was extremely smooth as well and was pretty much dead quiet at crusing speeds all the time. It had brawn and barked like a dog when you wanted it to, but otherwise was like liquid glass. You wouldn't feel or hear it at all.

My 95 tbird was actually a bit racous...smooth but it didn't rev as smoothly as my other cars. The modular 4.6 v8 was good but not a jewel.

All the Nissan v6's I've driven have been smooth as silk and noise and vibration free. I haven't liked the Accords and Odyseeys I have ridden in or drove because I don't think they shielded enough of the harsh mechanical noise.

The one Sienna v6 I drove was ok smooth but not what I would expect of the toyota hype.

I really do think most of it has to do with how much they can do with subframe design and noise abatement to make up for what might otherwise be a groaner of an engine. My own rule of thumb is if a car seems loud, check for feel of vibrations in the pedals. If the pedals are buzzy, then likely they just simply haven't drowned out the engine properly. The engine itself could use more NVH engineering, sure, but the cost cutting on damping out whatever NVH exists to begin with is equally criminal.

Edited April 9, 2007 by regfootball

[trinacriabob]

For its 15 years and 234,000 miles, my 3800 Series I is quiet. It was extremely quiet during the first 100,000 miles, but now is a little less so.

This engine, for some reason, tends to "appear" quieter when put into Buick and Olds products...it's probably the level of sound dampening.

BTW, are the 60 degree V6 families put out by GM supposed to be smoother and quieter? That's what one post above infers.

[aaaantoine]

The 2.2L Cobalt is reasonably quiet. Only when it revs up can you really hear it. It's not dead quiet at idle, but the idle hum can easily be masked by music.

One of the interesting things about the Cobalt is as you accelerate and decelerate, there is a secondary hum that carries a specific tone depending on your exact speed. It's a good audible speedometer if you listen to it.

The other thing, though, is that once you get above 65 mph or so, the wind noise overcomes the engine's 2500RPM volume. It's only when you have to downshift to accelerate that the engine becomes noticeable again.

[SuperSport623]

my moms Explorer (1999 with a 4.0 6cyl) sounds like a freakin vacuum cleaner. not loud, just annoying as hell.

My nova on the otherhand, is not meant for anything but pure sound. the last owner put on a 2.5 inch exhaust with mufflers that really dont muffle anything. when it idles i can hear it from across the street, and if i punch the gas everyone in a 10 block radius hears it. just think when i get my headers and electric cutouts....

[Drew Dowdell]

inside the car, the 3.6 in my CTS is quiet but audible at idle. it does have a bit of a limp in it's idle when the climate control is on. outside at idle I can hear a clicking noise that i've been told is the fuel injectors running. under heavy throttle the engine sings an assertive song. settled into highway cruise the engine is smooth like butta.

the 5.3 in the avalanche is actually smoother than the CTS at idle. outside you hear the soft 'glug glug' of the engine.

on the highway the engine is fairly smooth and quiet but not as much as the CTS.

under full throttle, the 5.3 sounds like a race car crossed with a T.I.E. fighter. there is this strange high pitched hum that comes on in the higher rpm bands that gives me the TIE fighter sound.

normally I don't mind 4-speed autos, but the avalanche is one where this deficiency is substantially more noticable. there are times in that 40-55 mph range where the transmission wants to upshift for efficiency yet the engine doesn't have enough juice to keep the truck moving. this will cause the annoying 'lug and hunt' and lots of drive line shudder.

[Delta Force79]

the 5.7 liter Rocket in my Olds....quiet?

the 3.8 liter in my Riviera....rattles and squeaks....the car has tons of issues and only has 86,000 on it....it needs a new supercharger and a whole bunch of work....so in this car the noise is annoying....in my Olds, the more noise the better....funny how with some cars the noise is what you want and some it isn't

[regfootball]

The 2.2L Cobalt is reasonably quiet. Only when it revs up can you really hear it. It's not dead quiet at idle, but the idle hum can easily be masked by music.

One of the interesting things about the Cobalt is as you accelerate and decelerate, there is a secondary hum that carries a specific tone depending on your exact speed. It's a good audible speedometer if you listen to it.

The other thing, though, is that once you get above 65 mph or so, the wind noise overcomes the engine's 2500RPM volume. It's only when you have to downshift to accelerate that the engine becomes noticeable again.

driving an Ion and Cobalt and even a 4 cyl grand am back to back is amazing. the cobalt is pretty quiet and the others are raspy. same engine though...the sound dampening and chassis NVH is the difference.

[ToniCipriani]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eL7wpSDWFbU

[76ChevyTrucker]

My truck...it lopes, LOUDLY, and when you punch it, well I've got 2.25-in quadruple exhaust pipes running out of it, so its SUPPOSED to be loud. Then again, it is a 350-cid punched .040 over.

The 2.2 in the Cobalt is deadly quiet until you put your foot into it.

The 4.3s in my parent's '03 S10, dads 92 C1500, and granddad's '89 S-10 Blazer, are all a little loud, but I don't care about them, they pull, and pull, and pull (just like any small-block, or small block derivative).

The 5.3 in my dad's new '05 Silverado is EXTREMELY quiet, except for HARD acceleration, otherwise it just kinda hums quietly along.

And finally the 350 in my granddad's '83 C20 kinda purrs, really it more or less just burbles all the time.....only gets louder under acceleration, but doesn't really make a whole lotta noise, but then again, its bone stock.