Tunnels are triumphs of engineering over natural obstructions. They also make for some mindbending sights and noise with the right cars. These are Jalopnik readers' picks for the ten best videos of cars in tunnels.
Welcome back to Answers of the Day — our daily Jalopnik feature where we take the best ten responses from the previous day's Question of the Day and shine it up to show off. It's by you and for you, the Jalopnik readers. Enjoy!
Photo Credit: Jason Thorgalsen Photography
10.) Italian Chamber Orchestra
Suggested By: Jackie
Why takes us to the other side: Soloists get all the attention, but a good group effort should not go unrecognized. Especially when it's a group made up of Northern Italy's finest aluminum castings and exhaust tubing yowling around Seattle. We wonder if the exposed left side maybe makes the sound a bit cleaner and livelier.
9.) Nissan Skyline Under Tokyo
Suggested By: daender
Why takes us to the other side: It's not just about the sound; going fast in such an enclosed, artificially-lit place is surreal. Conveniently, it can also be difficult to enforce speed limits in a tunnel, which makes one of Tokyo's underground passages a perfect place for this scorching run by a hypertuned Skyline.
We wish the video's attitude was less infomercial and more Akira, but the effect still hits you in the face.
8.) Prost F1 at Monaco
Suggested By: Altemus Prime
Why takes us to the other side: Use the word "tunnel" in a motorsports context and there's really only one place you can be talking about. The devilishly tricky underground pass at Monaco is as much sensual overload for the audience as it is mental feat for drivers going bright/dark/turn/dark/bright at ridiculous speeds.
This would have ranked higher if there had been more tunnel footage, but its inclusion is essential.
7.) Jeremy Clarkson's Sewer-Pipe Adventure
Suggested By: CRXPilot; Junior Cornering Solutions Consultant
Why takes us to the other side: During rehearsals for the filming of the original Italian Job, one of the Mini stunt drivers allegedly did a full loop during the drainpipe scene. Attempts to get the stunt on film failed, but questions about the possibility of doing it remained. Leave it to Jezza and a Twingo to show how it is done.
Oh, and there was some Mercedes ad that was sort of like this too, but computers and stuff.
6.) TVR Cerbera
Suggested By: Aldairion
Why takes us to the other side: A variation on the theme of V8, the Cerbera's flat-crank motor sings a different tune than the traditional Detroit rumble — and punctuates that noise with emphatic overrun crackling as the driver works the loud-soft-loud dynamic to brilliant effect.
5.) Shelby Cobra
Suggested By: Bullitt417 Picked Up his Mustang GT
Why takes us to the other side: Counterpoint to that is the more classical sound of an old-school V8, brought to you through side pipes. It may be a matter of the car's light weight or its minimalist construction, but somehow motors always sound livelier in Cobras, as if they're happy to be free of all that excess sheet metal.
4.) Pagani Zonda Cinque
Suggested By: Uncanny
Why takes us to the other side: Preference for the Zonda's looks may be a matter of taste, but its sound is universally appreciated. That unique cluster of four exhaust pipes emits some of the most exotic noise in the automotive world. Chase it through an enclosed space in Singapore and your whole world starts to vibrate at the edges.
3.) Ferrari 400i
Suggested By: DasWauto - Disregard politics, acquire cars
Why takes us to the other side: Variants of the same basic Gioacchino Colombo-designed V-12 powered Ferrari cars for over forty years. They would have probably been appreciated even if they'd sounded like a badger with a cold, but that glorious blend of mechanical and gas-flow noises is an essential part of the Ferrari mystique. Even the underappreciated 400i sings that glorious old bel canto tenor snarl with noble pride.
2.) Ferrari 599 GTO
Suggested By: zer0zg
Why takes us to the other side: And then to the present day. If Futurists had stuck around for the introduction of the semiautomatic gearbox, this is what their movement's music would have sounded like. Both in the pass and out in the open air, the combination of modern computerized intensity and old-fashioned engine howl is mesmerizing.
1.) Modified Datsun 240Z
Suggested By: Robb
Why takes us to the other side: Who said that only the rich guys were allowed to make cool noise? This vintage Z-car may not be stock (race-prepped engine, hand-bent headers) but it's still a bargain compared to most of the rest of the list — and it just may make the sweetest sound of them all.