Recipe for a mean sounding VW ?

[benlawrence]

To me, induction and exhaust are what make a motor sound killer. IDAs and nice, quiet maganaflow are my choice

Did any people use straight cut cam gears in the 70s and 80s. It seems like a recent trend. Just to change it up the next engine that I build will not have straight cuts. Does anyone know of a hot engine that does not use straight cuts? I bet it sounds better.

Really? To me the timing gears give the audio qualities of a hot VW it's "edge", especially at idle. BTW, Pete Statt's car had straight cuts in '86-87

I hate straight cuts, nothing beats the sound of a quite and smooth valvetrain, the resonance of s/c gears just gets in the way of what most times could be a beautiful sounding motor.

[Jesse/DVK]

What do you guys think?

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/2yUrsgSlX4o" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/2yUrsgSlX4o</a>

[BeetleBug]

I hate straight cuts, nothing beats the sound of a quite and smooth valvetrain, the resonance of s/c gears just gets in the way of what most times could be a beautiful sounding motor.

X2

[Chris bugster]

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/O2wGWxVQorw" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/O2wGWxVQorw</a>

My car with the previous smaller engine

[hotrodsurplus]

I hate straight cuts, nothing beats the sound of a quite and smooth valvetrain, the resonance of s/c gears just gets in the way of what most times could be a beautiful sounding motor.

X2

I don't exactly hate straight cuts but I always thought they were gimmicks, a means to make an engine sound nastier than it is, a means to impress people who really don't understand what real power sounds like. That's not to say that there aren't any really powerful engines that run straights (there are) or that there's no need for them (there is) but 99 percent of engines that run straights don't benefit from them for any other reason than the noise they make.

Someone pondered earlier what makes some louder than others. In most cases it's usually material. Gear sets with an aluminum gear like that Magnum a few posts back can be downright quiet. All-steel gear sets are usually obnoxious.

You want a good sounding flat four? Try one of the Autocraft or Scat engines built for USAC midgets in the '70s. Two liters, 320 degrees duration, close lobe centers, 16:1 CR, methanol, Hilborn injection, magnetos, and a coupler instead of a flywheel. They idle at 2,000rpm and tach to 8,000 before you get the pedal halfway down.

[holmsen]

The sound of an anchor 
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/NmUGAr-8iBY" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/NmUGAr-8iBY</a>

[Worm]

Now, WHICH straight cuts?  The Scat ones?  Do tell....

[holmsen]

The CB performance ones

[181]

Cb performance straight cuts  can be heard in my earlier post. I used them because I wantrd to take away axial forces on cam thrudt bearing. It is noisy, but I have other car when I eant to travel in silence..

[KrylonMonster]

As was said before, it is definitely cylinder pressure and cam that attribute a lot to how nasty a VW motor sounds. Compile that with a good amount of compression and a tight deck height and you get some pop in a NA motor. Plenty of guys do not measure it our correctly or take stuff out of the box and put it inside a motor and call themselves an engine builder....with a .130 deck height!!  That is just an assembler.
 Once the final product is together, it also needs to be tuned properly. As we know, the IDA can sometimes be a finicky piece and may take some time to get right. But when you do, they are a very well working piece to many high performance motors. Another element that you need I believe. is a good ignition system. No sence in making good power if you can't light it off.

Below is my dads 2332 with superflows that made 226 horsepower to the wheels on a dyno.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/SfySmUGt0h4" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/SfySmUGt0h4</a>




I am not sure if the video will show, but here my 2332, CB Strip Dominator heads, 14:1 compression being broken in on carbs before the FI

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151504186746210

[neil68]

To me, induction and exhaust are what make a motor sound killer. IDAs and nice, quiet maganaflow are my choice

Agreed:  my street strip Beetle runs IDA's and A1 Magnaflow muffler which produces a nice growl, but also keeps it "street legal" for cruising around the city

[fish]

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/vK-mIWHjypY" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/vK-mIWHjypY</a>   

 My 1915 with superlight flywheel engle 120  early cb044 dual dellorto 40

thats a snappy sounding rat......love it.

[AirCooledCurtis]

From what I've heard from the older folks, Solex 40 p11s make a beautiful sound when at full throttle, but those are all extinct from the vw scene today    Does anyone have video proof?

[TheNick80]

Still a fav, and one of the meanest sounding, on video anyway!

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/v4b84MICGZc" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/v4b84MICGZc</a>

[Peter Shattock]

Can't believe this thread has got to 3 pages without someone referring to this engine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=VPVqYRrQBA0

Short stroke, light reciprocating parts and good cylinder pressure. Pump gas and through a muffler too.

Better still you can buy it as its currently for sale on here, to be honest I can't believe it didn't sell the moment it appeared. 11 second 1603cc motors do not come up every day!

Certainly does it for me.

You can hear it on the quarter here too.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=v15y0b480GY

As the original thread said crank up the volume and enjoy!

[Zach Gomulka]

From what I've heard from the older folks, Solex 40 p11s make a beautiful sound when at full throttle, but those are all extinct from the vw scene today    Does anyone have video proof?

They do sound fantastic, but I'll never do another pair. Extremely expensive, complicated, heavy, and phisically much too large for a beetle's engine compartment.

[Jon]

An engine to me is an instrument, and how it reacts to the right foot creates the music. In other word, throttle response, I prefer when there is NO hesitation...  nice but lethal.
If you aim for throttle response, you will create music...  or is that too blunt?

[wolfswest]

An engine to me is an instrument, and how it reacts to the right foot creates the music. In other word, throttle response, I prefer when there is NO hesitation...  nice but lethal.
If you aim for throttle response, you will create music...  or is that too blunt?

I can dig that! 

[Lee.C]

An engine to me is an instrument, and how it reacts to the right foot creates the music. In other word, throttle response, I prefer when there is NO hesitation...  nice but lethal.
If you aim for throttle response, you will create music...  or is that too blunt?

 

[Jim Ratto]

An engine to me is an instrument, and how it reacts to the right foot creates the music. In other word, throttle response, I prefer when there is NO hesitation...  nice but lethal.
If you aim for throttle response, you will create music...  or is that too blunt?

Makes perfect sense. This is what I explained to Henry Oelkers when I was doing the tune on his engine. His car definitely has a distinct note to it.

[dannyboy]

<iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/video/embed?video_id=10151059036420666" width="720" height="480" frameborder="0"></iframe>

[dannyboy]

dunno how to embed the link sry 

[Red Rooster]

Here is a video of my old car. it was a mega snappy engine and loved rpm.

 http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pmLMSVE3zSo#

spec was 2165cc

42x37.5 street elimimator heads
web cam 226
12.5 compression
IDA's
1 3/4 header and red lined at 8500 rpm

Made me smile every time I drove it!

[Doktor]

From what I've heard from the older folks, Solex 40 p11s make a beautiful sound when at full throttle, but those are all extinct from the vw scene today    Does anyone have video proof?

Here you go:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/XYum3Qohexw" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/XYum3Qohexw</a>

2017ccm, Solex 40PII, CSP Super Competition exhaust 

[Bendik]

Nice car!

[Jon]

What impact will the shape of the stacks have on the sound?

[hotrodsurplus]

What impact will the shape of the stacks have on the sound?

Think of the manifold, carburetor body, and velocity stack as an organ pipe. Increasing its length and/or the diameter of the assembly reduces its resonant frequency.

It explains why IDAs make basso profundo. The manifold passages are usually larger to accommodate the flow potential and the carburetor bodies are a lot taller than the other carburetors. The velocity stack further increases the length.

If the PII carburetors sound any different I am at a loss to explain why. They have the same basic dimensions as a 40mm IDF/DRLA with 32mm venturis. If they do in fact sound any different it may be because of the manifold design. The PII manifolds that I have do not seem to look any different than most IDF/DRLA manifolds but I have never made a direct comparison.

The engine combinations may explain why engines with PII carburetors sound different. Most engines running PII carburetors were built long ago. Older camshaft profiles usually have slower ramps which can increase seat timing. Increased seat timing can increase the overlap and/or the intake-valve closing event. Both of those influence reversion. Reversion plays a significant role in induction honk, AKA Alfa Song if you spent any time around Italian cars.

[Zach Gomulka]

I loved the sound of my P11's. Very similar to an IDA, in my opinion. IDF's and Dellorto's have that annoying chirp...

[hotrodsurplus]

IDF's and Dellorto's have that annoying chirp...

IDFs chirp?

DRLAs chirp because of that slot machined in the throttle-bore base. Fill that with silicone (or use the special base gaskets) and the chirp magically disappears. Never once have I heard an IDF chirp.

[Jim Ratto]

What impact will the shape of the stacks have on the sound?

Reversion plays a significant role in induction honk, AKA Alfa Song if you spent any time around Italian cars.

A lot of time. That's my problem.