Answers Revealed Amidst a Flood of Educated Guesses From Our Readers!
09.07.06 // 11:58
By: Che Chou
Last week we posed an audio challenge to gearheads on the 'net at large. Based on our Dyno Spotlight of Kevin Countryman's clean and mean Z16 Corvette, we threw together 5 different V8 engine sound bytes and asked you guys to not only pick out Kevin's customized engine, but identify the other 4 models too. Thanks to the passionate auto community out there, we got the usual flood of great responses rationalizing why folks chose what they did.
Now it's time to reveal not just the answers, but also our favorite responses from the community. The best response wins an official Forza Motorsport 2 t-shirt. Remember, each time we do a Turn 10 Dyno Spotlight feature, you have a chance to win a t-shirt if you can figure out the correct engine sound byte and send us our favorite response. The next car we throw on the dyno will be a surprise. Well you'll just have to wait to find out.
Here are the answers to the Corvette audio challenge, with commentary from Turn 10's auto research guru, Scott Catlin:
The BMW Z8 houses the aluminum S62 V8, which at the time was the most powerful road engine in BMW history, pushing 394hp and 368 lb-ft of torque. Variable valve timing on all four camshafts and an individual Drive-By-Wire throttle body for each cylinder give the Z8 that silky rumble and shove the car from 0-60 in 4.7 second.
This bracket drag-racing Nova came to us with one hell of a GM 350ci small-black V8 wedged under the hood. Heavy breathing is applied through an Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, into a Holley 650 double-pumper carburetor, vented with the aid of a camshaft upgrade and expelled through custom headers and a free-flowing exhaust system.
Want your own Bitchin’ Camaro? How about this standard Chevy 396ci V8, bored out to a ridiculous 496ci, strapped with a thirsty Holley Dominator carburetor attached to a tunnel ram intake manifold, and Brodix heads with massive valves and a thunderous open-header exhaust. Then grab the nearest Turn 10 audio geek, drag his ass to the dyno and watch his ears bleed.
You can hear our featured signature Corvette gurgle at idle, but when you get on the gas – holy crap. The way this engine winds up so quickly you know it’s breathing well, evidence of the flow-matched AFR heads and light flywheel. The tone of the exhaust as it opens up at the higher RPMs shows a well-planned and researched modification path.
The LS2 engine is the new factory V8 for the Corvette C6, producing 400hp and 400 lb-ft of torque. The latest generation of the GM small-block family, the LS2 picks up an all-new aluminum block, cylinder head design from the C5 Z06 and a higher compression ratio. The LS2 also appears in the Cadillac CTS-V and gets the C6 to 60mph in 4.1 seconds.
And our favorite response comes from John Adamczyk who had this to say about his correct choice:
"I think sound clip 4 is Kevin's Corvette, mostly because the sound is rich and smooth, and this is what I think causes it: The Kooks headers really clean up the tone of the exhaust note, making each exhaust port tuned and equal; the off road x-pipe typically gives the note a higher pitch and more racy "exotic"sound; and the use of factory titanium mufflers (factory mufflers are usually conservative in sound) keeps the sound low at idle and low rpms, but allows the exhaust to "open" up as the engine achieves higher rpms."
We also liked Carter Bryan's shot in the dark:
"I think it's audio clip #4 because I've driven a lot of Z06 Vettes being a valet driver, and I know what they sound like on stock mufflers, I've also heard a vette with just as extensive head work and this clip fit the bill to me. I aslo believe that clip #2 IS NOT a muscle car. I hope I'm right because if I'm not then I'm an idiot!"
A big thank you to everyone who sent in emails -- you know who you are and you know just how right you were. Stay tuned as we announce our next dyno spotlight car in tomorrow's Weekly Pitpass Report!
// Comment on this story //