Mercedes noise

[mx_tifoso]

gcdugas and HKS in particular,

While I believe the MP4-23 has continued with it's 'lengthier' exhausts, the F2008 now too has seen an increase in exhaust length. As you may see in the pic below from Bahrain '08. So the current Ferrari has also seen much development in this area, with much similarity between the McLaren and itself.


While the F2007's exhaust pipes were of shorter length and were 'inserted' into the bodywork (very little protrusion). For visual comparison see previous post by gcdugas.

[coreybaxter]

I noticed the exposed exhaust was larger than the internal part. Is that something normal or in any way contribute to the noise? I'm not really sure if there is any importance to the car or aero or even because the teams try to pack everything in tight, or am I just thinking into this to much?

[Ray]

This means that if part of the vehicle frame blocks a line-of-sight path from a noise source (like the engine) to the observer, then that component is not heard.

Totally off topic, but snipers do that to hide their positions. If they shoot past a tree/building/whatever it fools the ear and makes it seem that the shot came from whatever they have shot past.

[donskar]

RE: coreybaxter and mx_tifosi:

Exhaust tuning is way beyond me, but I remember a couple of points;

1) a megaphone is useful for speeding exhaust flow and maximizing the harmonics. The positive pressure wave moving out the pipe is mirrored by a negative pressure wave moving up the pipe (toward the exhaust valve). If the negative wave arrive at the valve when the valve is OPEN, VOILA: scavenging and more power. If not . . nothing.

2) other things being equal (OK, they never are . . .) longer exhaust pipes = torque; shorter pipes = HP

Exhaust tuning is a deep and wonderful science. I hope some of our more technically astute members can contribute.

[Scotracer]

I was thinking about this the other day.

When I attended the 2006 French Grand Prix, the Mercedes V8 was definetely lower-pitched than the other engines for similar road-speeds and engine revs. If you now listen to the MP4/23 (on TV, mind you) the Mercedes V8 is actually one of the more piercing sounding engines. Could Mercedes have used the Big-bang principle then changed it later on, for 2007 and 2008? The sound is much different from what I remember in 2006. The same could be said for the Ferrari V10 engine. It had a very coarse sound, compared with, for example, the screaming Honda V10 (and the Honda V8 still screams).

On to the "other" sound. It's like a chirping, buzzing sound when the engines are under full load and usually around 17-18k rpm. Could this be the engine vibrations causing the microphone to distort (engine vibration into the mechanical housing of the mic compared with the air vibrations causing interference)?

[mep]

During the french GP after the exhaust of Kimis Ferrari felt of
I tried to listen on some onboard views to hear any difference,
but unfortunatelly I couln't spot any difference to Massa's car.

There should be a hughe difference in sound, when half of the exhaust is missing.
Does anybody have some good videos where we can hear the difference?
Unfortunatelly where the most onboard views on Massa's car during the race.