Ocn's quote of the day

[ocnblu]

"Refinement does not equal longevity."

Would you rather drive a purely silent appliance, or do you enjoy the feeling of machinery under you? I love to "throw the coal" to an entertaining mechanical symphony under the hood. Some people prefer to be far away from any hint of the oily bits.

Which do you prefer? Why?

[razoredge]

I only drive unrefined, unreliable, GM's so what would I know.

[Drew Dowdell]

LOL @ "oily bits"

[Drew Dowdell]

I would argue that refinement also does not equal silence.

The Northstar is very nicely refined... but when I drive one, I drive it hard because I really like the noise they make.

Listen to the "burble twap" of any mid-90s GM mid-sized pushrod V6.... not particularly refined, but probably reliable as any out there.

[Sixty8panther]

My Camaro at idle is louder than a lexus at 6500rpm... this is a huge problem for me... I think the car is entirely too quiet.

The best part about my old Grand Am was the growl of the 3.1 liter underhood. It helped to make the car enjoyable even with it's FWD and automatic trans.

In the three+ years I've owned my 1997 STS I can honestly say I have never driven it more than half a mile without redlining the Northstar just to hear it at WOT. Addictive. If only it had a manual transmission & RWD.

The first time I drove a Lexus LS430 I thought wow, it is relly quiet... how depressing to have a V8 and yet have it sound like an electric car.

When (hopefully) I get a 1959 Buick this spring/summer I'll probably put on some obnoxios pipes on it just for entertainment value. Perhaps I'll save my flowmasters. Cherry Bombs anyone?

BTW: Coolest sounding 4th gfen Camaro I ever heard? At the Worcester Summer Nats. I was stuck in traffic next to a paxton supercharged LS1 and I brought it up to 7000 for him (by request) he did the same. Since we could not race in downtown Worcester we had a deceibel duel instead.

I think the 4th gen. won, he was running STRAIGHT pipes! Just headers. No cats, no mufflers, no NOTHING. He disconeccted the exhaust at the headers for the day's activities.

[Enzora]

I'm definitely one who likes hearing the car as it accelerates. There's just something unnerving about pressing the pedal and not hearing a response from under the hood.

[Flybrian]

What Oldsmoboi and Enzora said. After taking an '06 Avalon and '03 Lexus LS430 for a spin, I would describe the lack of engine noise as unnerving.

[sciguy_0504]

I somewhat agree with Enzora but there can be a limit to how loud the engine and exhaust are. People who buy a $60,000 Lexus or any other luxury sedan don't want to hear it.

[staceface]

I love a car to sound loud and be able to hear the gears change. I currently only drive brand new refinement, but there was a time when (young and with a huge disposable income!) I would purposely poke holes into the pipe on the back of my Firebird to make it growl. I also had the catalytic converter removed from my Corvette and just ran two straight pipes out the back. Didn't do anything significant but wake up the neighbours, but man, it sounded MEAN!

[Cory Wolfe]

I must be able to hear the engine... but I want refinement. I don't something as unrefined as the Quad4 in my GA. I want a mechanical symphony, not a mechanical noise. But, what I did love about the Quad4 was how it sounded. I loved to turn off the radio and just listen to engine while rocketing over PA's somewhat complicated back roads. T'was very much awesome until that goddamn rod bearing... Stupid Quad4.

[mute]

refinement doesnt equal longevity but then silent doesnt equal refined to me

id rather have some verbal feedback in a refined car

but then again id say that there are a lot of unrefined cars that dont make noise as well

[Croc]

refinement doesnt equal longevity but then silent doesnt equal refined to me

id rather have some verbal feedback in a refined car

but then again id say that there are a lot of unrefined cars that dont make noise as well

^^What he said^^

[pow]

I like, uh, refined feedback. There.

[mute]

I like, uh, refined feedback. There.

and def what he said

and an example in my opinion of an unrefined quiet(so ive heard) car : prius

Edited January 7, 2006 by mute

[MyerShift]

With no sound, there is no joy.