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Detroit, 6:26 AM
Sat Dec 5
26 posts in the last 24 hours
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11/22/09
I don't know if the engineers intended it (but I'm fairly sure they did because it's freakin' Yamaha), but the noise it makes right at the red line on full throttle, right before you shift - I cannot get enough of it. Heavenly.
A choir of angels couldn't top that.
11/22/09
11/22/09
I think you could definitely design an engine for a certain sound and make it work, and I like a high-revving engine, but I found the clip pretty unappealing.
11/22/09
Please throw away your copies of the Fast and Furious series at once.
11/22/09
So I won't imply, I'll state that the GC sounds better because it actually makes a sound that's pleasant to hear. The LFA sounds like a fast car, it just doesn't sound good. I suspect the recording was taken from a strange spot and that it's missing a whole range of frequencies because it's rare for any car to sound so hollow.
11/20/09
11/20/09
Some of you toffs place too much on the brand. Just because it says Lexus and not Maseratti does not mean that this should be under valued. Desire should come straight from the engineering. Its a car not a painting. You want the love of it to come from the drive, not from name dropping in social circles.
I think of it like this. I buy Ansell condoms. Not because the name sounds sexy and inspiring or desirable, but because i trust their engineering. I do not desire to simply own them for the name sake, but i do desire to use them.
Take off the badges (get naked) and drive till your hearts content.
11/20/09
At the same time, we expect little oddities in vehicles. We want to find something wrong, because flaws make it easier to anthropomorphize a car. We want to feel like the cars we drive, the cars we lust after, are more human. We want them to have things like 'soul' or 'passion'.
This car, for all its perfection, has nothing we can identify with. There aren't any tricks to driving it, it doesn't have a single button somewhere other than where you would expect it. This is the essence of a perfect car, and because of that we cannot love it. There's nothing to learn, there are no tricks to it, it just feels cold and calculating and very, very fast.
So, Toyota, if you're listening: We know you can build the perfect car. You've shown us that, and we respect it. We just can't love it.
11/20/09
11/21/09
11/20/09
Now, I just need to find that money somewhere.
11/20/09
All that beautiful, fanatical, incomparable machinery, but Lexus cannot seem to engineer desire.
11/20/09
I can't ever imagine Bizzarrini trying to break down engine notes into numbers and algorithms.
And I don't like how it sounds. But it is how I would imagine how a high revving Yamaha engine to sound.
11/20/09
See my comment below about just how great high-revving Yamaha engines can be.
11/20/09
11/20/09
11/20/09
11/20/09
11/20/09
[www.yamaha-motor.com]
11/20/09
11/21/09
And yes. Obviously following that logic, modern Italian cars are going to sound less soulful than the classic ones. I don't think anyone can deny that.
11/21/09
11/20/09
Other cars with twincam V6s sound like cars with twincam V6s. The SHO, with its rusted-out mufflers and removed resonator, sounded like a weedwhacker on crack. It was addictive.
I would *love* to hear the LFA in person.
11/20/09
BTW sounds great, although I normally remove the accousting dampening "tanks" and other unnecessary items from my intakes. I like to hear those pulses in concert with the exhaust.
11/20/09
11/20/09
(Hey Ray, who loves ya, baby!)
11/20/09
11/20/09
11/20/09
11/20/09
11/20/09
Ferraris dont need that...
11/20/09
11/20/09
I don't know if it's true or not, but I remember reading a blurb in Motor Trend where it was said that Ferrari frequently sacrifices some degree of engine efficiency just to get the right sound. Again, I don't know how true that is, but I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if it was true.
11/20/09
11/20/09
Might as well play a throttle-angle influenced V12 soundtrack over the speakers. Would be cheaper than pipes.
#tips
11/20/09
11/20/09