7 ms·

How the McLaren F1 Got Its Sound

161 points by dmmalam 11y ago

bcook 11y ago
The technical achievements put the McLaren F1 at the top of the charts, but it was the artistic choices that made put the McLaren F1 poster on kids walls. My favorite McLaren F1 related story: https://youtube.com/watch?v=y0XtNGuijqc https://youtube.com/watch?v=y0XtNGuijqc
arethuza 11y ago
Apart from contemporary exotics like the FXX-K or the Huayra - the car I'd love to hear is the BRM 1.5l V16 (600bhp at 12,000rpm) designed in the 1940s! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Racing_Motors_V16 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Racing_Motors_V16 Mind you - I still think the best engine sound I've heard is from a Rolls Royce Merlin...
- reitoei 11y ago
  For me, it's the Lexus LFA. Thing sounds like a spaceship.
  - crypteasy 11y ago
    My favorite engine sound is the Toyota Hybrid TS030 going from electric to its V8. Also sounds like a spaceship. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRECqhIZwIA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRECqhIZwIA
    - donkeyd 11y ago
      That's pretty awesome!
    - tyh 11y ago
      I couldn't stop smiling when I heard this. Incredible!
    - ericcumbee 11y ago
      The only thing better about that car is hearing John Hindhaugh of Radio Le Mans start talking about it during a race and he says "1000 Brake Horsepower" (Gasoline Engine + Super Capacitor Hybrid System). you can hear the smile on his face as he says it.
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
  - Alupis 11y ago
    The most unique has got to be a 4 rotor RX8 (rotary engine). Back when I had an RX8, I wanted to convert it's stock 2 rotor over to a 3 or 4 rotor purely because of this engine sound! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4Fgi1OQqao https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4Fgi1OQqao The rotary engine is amazing. In the RX8, the powerband kicks in around 4500-5000 rpm, and pulls strong right up through the redline at 9500 rpm. The engine loves high rpm! You can sit in 3rd gear running at 8500 rpm at 80+ mph on the highway and it'll just take it without question. The BMI 4 rotor has a much higher redline, if I recall, near 11,000+ rpm.
    - beat 11y ago
      A friend of mine has an '85 RX7 (last of the original series, and a GSE no less) with some mods, including exhaust replacement. It's such a great sounding engine. I love that a little redline alarm goes off not because you're in danger of blowing it up, but because you're out of the power band at that point. You can't really blow up a rotary engine like you can a piston engine - it doesn't have crap like spring-loaded valves to bounce. As long as it has oil, it's happy. And no fake anything in that car! You really feel the road when you're driving, feel the mechanicals as well as hear them. I really should buy it from him one of these days.
      - reitoei 11y ago
        > As long as it has oil, it's happy. And thus we reach biggest complaint about rotary engines.
        Alupis 11y ago
        > And thus we reach biggest complaint about rotary engines. Complaint? Never heard one from an RX8 owner (only shock from new owners who didn't read-up on how the engine operates, and thought they had a leak someplace!). If you changed your oil out when you were supposed to, chances were you'd never notice it eating oil.
- exDM69 11y ago
  Ah, the "British Racing Misery". Super powerful but very unreliable. That, along with the three liter BRM H16 (which was too heavy to be competitive) were rather exotic engines. But yes, they must have sounded great, at least when they didn't break down, that is. I really like the sound (in recorded footage, would love to hear it in person) of the Cosworth DFV, although it's a much more conventional engine. The (inherently unbalanced) flat plane V8 engine with an unusual valve arrangement, coupled with a tuned exhaust has a great sound. It's was a handful to drive with a very narrow power band, giving out only a few hundred horsepower at ~6000 rpm, and quickly jumping to 400+ hp at 7500 rpm when the exhaust tuning does its trick. You can hear from the exhaust note when it's about to kick.
- chadgeidel 11y ago
  Not your BRM, but have you heard the Cizeta-Moroder V16? A transverse-mounted engine in a road-going supercar: https://youtu.be/akzPztowNC8 https://youtu.be/akzPztowNC8
- lbhnact 11y ago
  Here we go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRNoRlLlsD8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRNoRlLlsD8 Hadn't heard of that engine before. Was a very pleasant way to take a break from emails. Thanks.
  - jwise0 11y ago
    What a truly incredible sound, with incredible sound quality, too. I highly recommend that everyone drop what they are doing, put on headphones, and listen to that. Just when you think it cannot get any better, it does!
- Infernal 11y ago
  I first came across about 5 MP3 files in the late 90's or early 00's that seem to have been taken from the same recordings as this. I was a teenager and listened to them regularly, dreaming of being a racing driver. That flyby around 2:00 still puts my hair on end every time. Lots of nostalgia in listening to this again, for me - truly glorious stuff. The best ground-going engine I've ever heard :)
codeshaman 11y ago
Here they are, McLaren start-up sounds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGV9Qu6-7Oc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGV9Qu6-7Oc
- bhtruong93 11y ago
  Those whines at the beginning :)
beat 11y ago
I grew up around motorcycle drag racing, which exposed me to the sound of both motorcycle and car race engines at extremes. Top Fuel and Funnycar auto engines can really only be experienced in person - you can't get that sound from any sound system. They make the ground shake! I was fortunate enough to hear motorcycle drag racing during the diverse design days of the 1970s. The choppy thrum of a Kawasaki Z1, the shrill buzz of three cylinder two stroke Kawasaki 750s, the intense bass of a twin-engine top fuel Harley... these sounds are still part of my consciousness, decades later.
- jakejake 11y ago
  If I had only ever seen racing in TV I would have no idea what you were talking about. But I did have the pleasure of watching a few Indy 500 races in person. It is hard to describe the sound and feeling of the solid dirt/grass vibrating under your feet!
  - beat 11y ago
    Yeah, and Indy cars are wimpy compared to Top Fuel drag racing. The power involved is kind of terrifying. And the failures, too! Watching a couple hundred pounds of supercharger blown right off the top of the engine and sailing through the air in a burst of flame...
    - WalterBright 11y ago
      I asked a crew chief once about driving a top fuel car. He said he only built them; the people who drove them were insane.
  - WalterBright 11y ago
    Stand anywhere near a Merlin V12 (think P-51 Mustang) when it starts up. It's an OMG visceral thrill. My dad used to drive them, said it was the best job in the world.
    - jacquesm 11y ago
Animats 11y ago
If you're going to fake it, just buy a SoundRacer accessory.[1] Lotus put in a sound generator as original equipment on their electric prototype supercar.[2] Not only did it make fake "vroom" sounds, the driver had to shift, with a momentary loss of power during shifting. There's no shiftable transmission on that car; it was all faked in software. Everyone laughed at Lotus, and that idea went away, not to be heard again. The age of "vroom" is over, now that no production gas car other than a few limited production supercars can out-accelerate Tesla's family sedan. Now this is a startup sound.[3] M1A2 Abrams tank, turbine engine. [1] http://www.soundracer.se/?p=98 http://www.soundracer.se/?p=98 [2] http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1081736_fake-shifting-for-electric-cars-dumbest-idea-of-the-year http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1081736_fake-shifting-fo... [3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXE4tMEYCoI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXE4tMEYCoI
- int_handler 11y ago
  Faking the transmission is really a bizarre move, but actually having a multiple-gear transmission in an electric racecar is actually not a bad idea. Formula-E cars have 5-speed sequential transmissions in order to maximize torque [1], and this may be coming to electric road cars as well [2]. [1]: https://www.reddit.com/r/FormulaE/comments/2gbika/why_do_formula_e_cars_have_a_five_speed_gearbox/ https://www.reddit.com/r/FormulaE/comments/2gbika/why_do_for... [2]: http://www.motor1.com/news/48231/bosch-says-evs-will-soon-get-multi-gear-automatic-transmissions http://www.motor1.com/news/48231/bosch-says-evs-will-soon-ge...
  - Animats 11y ago
    Bosch makes transmissions. They're getting worried. Formula-E cars are required to use a specific McLauren motor.[1] The need for a gearbox may reflect its limitations. Formula-E rules also limit input current, so using huge amounts of electrical power for a few seconds of acceleration isn't permitted. In other words, they don't allow Tesla's "launch mode". Early Tesla models had a two-speed gearbox. That was a disaster. The shock of changing gears over such a wide range wore out the gearboxes rapidly. Electric locomotives have been transmissionless since the first GE locos. "You cannot strip the gears of a magnetic field", one of the early GE designers wrote. Some things just work better electrically. For a sense of this, here's part of the restoration of the biggest steam locomotive ever built, the Big Boy.[1] It sat at the Ponoma fairgrounds for half a century, and was then towed out and sent to the Union Pacific shops for a full restoration. It's being towed out by a standard sized modern AC Diesel-electric locomotive, which has more drawbar pull than the Big Boy. What's impressive is the precise control. The initial move is about one foot per minute, because they're pulling the old steam giant through a tight curve of temporary track. The Diesel-electric doing the pull has synchronous AC motors and solid state controls, and can apply huge torques smoothly at low speeds with no wheel slip. All the wheels are locked together by active control. You don't need a transmission to get low-end torque from an electric. [1] http://www.mclaren.com/appliedtechnologies/products/item/e-motor-120kw-130nm/ http://www.mclaren.com/appliedtechnologies/products/item/e-m... [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ji2aGJJAx8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ji2aGJJAx8

161 points by dmmalam 11y ago

bcook 11y ago

The technical achievements put the McLaren F1 at the top of the charts, but it was the artistic choices that made put the McLaren F1 poster on kids walls. My favorite McLaren F1 related story: https://youtube.com/watch?v=y0XtNGuijqc https://youtube.com/watch?v=y0XtNGuijqc

arethuza 11y ago

Apart from contemporary exotics like the FXX-K or the Huayra - the car I'd love to hear is the BRM 1.5l V16 (600bhp at 12,000rpm) designed in the 1940s! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Racing_Motors_V16 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Racing_Motors_V16 Mind you - I still think the best engine sound I've heard is from a Rolls Royce Merlin...

reitoei 11y ago
For me, it's the Lexus LFA. Thing sounds like a spaceship.
- crypteasy 11y ago
  My favorite engine sound is the Toyota Hybrid TS030 going from electric to its V8. Also sounds like a spaceship. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRECqhIZwIA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRECqhIZwIA
  - donkeyd 11y ago
    That's pretty awesome!
  - tyh 11y ago
    I couldn't stop smiling when I heard this. Incredible!
  - ericcumbee 11y ago
    The only thing better about that car is hearing John Hindhaugh of Radio Le Mans start talking about it during a race and he says "1000 Brake Horsepower" (Gasoline Engine + Super Capacitor Hybrid System). you can hear the smile on his face as he says it.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- Alupis 11y ago
  The most unique has got to be a 4 rotor RX8 (rotary engine). Back when I had an RX8, I wanted to convert it's stock 2 rotor over to a 3 or 4 rotor purely because of this engine sound! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4Fgi1OQqao https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4Fgi1OQqao The rotary engine is amazing. In the RX8, the powerband kicks in around 4500-5000 rpm, and pulls strong right up through the redline at 9500 rpm. The engine loves high rpm! You can sit in 3rd gear running at 8500 rpm at 80+ mph on the highway and it'll just take it without question. The BMI 4 rotor has a much higher redline, if I recall, near 11,000+ rpm.
  - beat 11y ago
    A friend of mine has an '85 RX7 (last of the original series, and a GSE no less) with some mods, including exhaust replacement. It's such a great sounding engine. I love that a little redline alarm goes off not because you're in danger of blowing it up, but because you're out of the power band at that point. You can't really blow up a rotary engine like you can a piston engine - it doesn't have crap like spring-loaded valves to bounce. As long as it has oil, it's happy. And no fake anything in that car! You really feel the road when you're driving, feel the mechanicals as well as hear them. I really should buy it from him one of these days.
    - reitoei 11y ago
      > As long as it has oil, it's happy. And thus we reach biggest complaint about rotary engines.
      - Alupis 11y ago
        > And thus we reach biggest complaint about rotary engines. Complaint? Never heard one from an RX8 owner (only shock from new owners who didn't read-up on how the engine operates, and thought they had a leak someplace!). If you changed your oil out when you were supposed to, chances were you'd never notice it eating oil.
exDM69 11y ago
Ah, the "British Racing Misery". Super powerful but very unreliable. That, along with the three liter BRM H16 (which was too heavy to be competitive) were rather exotic engines. But yes, they must have sounded great, at least when they didn't break down, that is. I really like the sound (in recorded footage, would love to hear it in person) of the Cosworth DFV, although it's a much more conventional engine. The (inherently unbalanced) flat plane V8 engine with an unusual valve arrangement, coupled with a tuned exhaust has a great sound. It's was a handful to drive with a very narrow power band, giving out only a few hundred horsepower at ~6000 rpm, and quickly jumping to 400+ hp at 7500 rpm when the exhaust tuning does its trick. You can hear from the exhaust note when it's about to kick.
chadgeidel 11y ago
Not your BRM, but have you heard the Cizeta-Moroder V16? A transverse-mounted engine in a road-going supercar: https://youtu.be/akzPztowNC8 https://youtu.be/akzPztowNC8
lbhnact 11y ago
Here we go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRNoRlLlsD8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRNoRlLlsD8 Hadn't heard of that engine before. Was a very pleasant way to take a break from emails. Thanks.
- jwise0 11y ago
  What a truly incredible sound, with incredible sound quality, too. I highly recommend that everyone drop what they are doing, put on headphones, and listen to that. Just when you think it cannot get any better, it does!
Infernal 11y ago
I first came across about 5 MP3 files in the late 90's or early 00's that seem to have been taken from the same recordings as this. I was a teenager and listened to them regularly, dreaming of being a racing driver. That flyby around 2:00 still puts my hair on end every time. Lots of nostalgia in listening to this again, for me - truly glorious stuff. The best ground-going engine I've ever heard :)

codeshaman 11y ago

Here they are, McLaren start-up sounds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGV9Qu6-7Oc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGV9Qu6-7Oc

bhtruong93 11y ago
Those whines at the beginning :)

beat 11y ago

I grew up around motorcycle drag racing, which exposed me to the sound of both motorcycle and car race engines at extremes. Top Fuel and Funnycar auto engines can really only be experienced in person - you can't get that sound from any sound system. They make the ground shake! I was fortunate enough to hear motorcycle drag racing during the diverse design days of the 1970s. The choppy thrum of a Kawasaki Z1, the shrill buzz of three cylinder two stroke Kawasaki 750s, the intense bass of a twin-engine top fuel Harley... these sounds are still part of my consciousness, decades later.

jakejake 11y ago
If I had only ever seen racing in TV I would have no idea what you were talking about. But I did have the pleasure of watching a few Indy 500 races in person. It is hard to describe the sound and feeling of the solid dirt/grass vibrating under your feet!
- beat 11y ago
  Yeah, and Indy cars are wimpy compared to Top Fuel drag racing. The power involved is kind of terrifying. And the failures, too! Watching a couple hundred pounds of supercharger blown right off the top of the engine and sailing through the air in a burst of flame...
  - WalterBright 11y ago
    I asked a crew chief once about driving a top fuel car. He said he only built them; the people who drove them were insane.
- WalterBright 11y ago
  Stand anywhere near a Merlin V12 (think P-51 Mustang) when it starts up. It's an OMG visceral thrill. My dad used to drive them, said it was the best job in the world.
  - jacquesm 11y ago

Animats 11y ago

If you're going to fake it, just buy a SoundRacer accessory.[1] Lotus put in a sound generator as original equipment on their electric prototype supercar.[2] Not only did it make fake "vroom" sounds, the driver had to shift, with a momentary loss of power during shifting. There's no shiftable transmission on that car; it was all faked in software. Everyone laughed at Lotus, and that idea went away, not to be heard again. The age of "vroom" is over, now that no production gas car other than a few limited production supercars can out-accelerate Tesla's family sedan. Now this is a startup sound.[3] M1A2 Abrams tank, turbine engine. [1] http://www.soundracer.se/?p=98 http://www.soundracer.se/?p=98 [2] http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1081736_fake-shifting-for-electric-cars-dumbest-idea-of-the-year http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1081736_fake-shifting-fo... [3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXE4tMEYCoI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXE4tMEYCoI

int_handler 11y ago
Faking the transmission is really a bizarre move, but actually having a multiple-gear transmission in an electric racecar is actually not a bad idea. Formula-E cars have 5-speed sequential transmissions in order to maximize torque [1], and this may be coming to electric road cars as well [2]. [1]: https://www.reddit.com/r/FormulaE/comments/2gbika/why_do_formula_e_cars_have_a_five_speed_gearbox/ https://www.reddit.com/r/FormulaE/comments/2gbika/why_do_for... [2]: http://www.motor1.com/news/48231/bosch-says-evs-will-soon-get-multi-gear-automatic-transmissions http://www.motor1.com/news/48231/bosch-says-evs-will-soon-ge...
- Animats 11y ago
  Bosch makes transmissions. They're getting worried. Formula-E cars are required to use a specific McLauren motor.[1] The need for a gearbox may reflect its limitations. Formula-E rules also limit input current, so using huge amounts of electrical power for a few seconds of acceleration isn't permitted. In other words, they don't allow Tesla's "launch mode". Early Tesla models had a two-speed gearbox. That was a disaster. The shock of changing gears over such a wide range wore out the gearboxes rapidly. Electric locomotives have been transmissionless since the first GE locos. "You cannot strip the gears of a magnetic field", one of the early GE designers wrote. Some things just work better electrically. For a sense of this, here's part of the restoration of the biggest steam locomotive ever built, the Big Boy.[1] It sat at the Ponoma fairgrounds for half a century, and was then towed out and sent to the Union Pacific shops for a full restoration. It's being towed out by a standard sized modern AC Diesel-electric locomotive, which has more drawbar pull than the Big Boy. What's impressive is the precise control. The initial move is about one foot per minute, because they're pulling the old steam giant through a tight curve of temporary track. The Diesel-electric doing the pull has synchronous AC motors and solid state controls, and can apply huge torques smoothly at low speeds with no wheel slip. All the wheels are locked together by active control. You don't need a transmission to get low-end torque from an electric. [1] http://www.mclaren.com/appliedtechnologies/products/item/e-motor-120kw-130nm/ http://www.mclaren.com/appliedtechnologies/products/item/e-m... [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ji2aGJJAx8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ji2aGJJAx8