Performance car ownership can be
a tricky affair. When people splash the cash on their desired automobile, it
doesn’t really have to make much sense. We jolly well know that the financial
pressure and burden does not necessarily equate to the level of thought when
putting pen to paper on the dotted line. The salesman will deliver his usual
sales pitch. Your other half will wonder how your latest acquisition will
affect her shopping habits. Some friends will challenge your buying decision.
But what element of the car causes the dissolving of inertia and external
factors, and is so enticing that shuts the outside world, leaving only you to
know why you made that purchase?
I’ve
narrowed down two reasons for acquiring a performance machine. Aesthetically
pleasing cars will definitely favor the hearts of many, and your social circle
will be expanded, no matter how sorry this truth will be. You walk in the
showroom, zoom in on a car that you’ve been researching on YouTube for weeks,
and request for a test drive. But how many times have you stepped out of the
car feeling unimpressed? It ticks all the right areas in terms of driving
involvement. It steers well and responds to your input, but does the engine
note match up to how it looks and feel? In my opinion, that’s the key. They
might not know what made them purchase it, but at the back of their minds, it
could very possibly be the soundtrack that was responsible for the increase in
pulse rate during the stingy 10-minute drive.
Does
engine size really matter? Some might argue that more cylinders attached under
your bonnet equate to microphones of better quality, but I beg to differ.
Engines with Vee configurations will emit a rumbling effect, but too many
cylinders responsible for the bark will disrupt the rhythm. The R8 V10, with
her stylish dual rear pipes, could never sing as well as her younger sister
with smaller lungs. The V8 variant’s oral expression seems more purposeful,
with the quad setup revealing a voice that seems like it was pitched a few
notches higher than the chart topping AMG V8 album, and this is by no means a
bad thing. Remove 2 speakers and we are in the familiar V6 category. The MkV
R32’s bent 6 will always remain as my perennial hero, but I wouldn’t ignore the
S4’s hyperactive supercharged 6-potter. The way it hides the grumpy
supercharger whine behind the glorious engine note is definitely worthy of
Houdini’s attention, and now we wonder how the VAG family prepares such sweet
sounding cars.
Compress
the cartons and I will be analyzing straight and flat six 6 configurations. 2 manufacturers come
straight to our mind. The BMW brand, responsible for the M Division, has been
synonymous with creating cars that darts round corners like ballerinas, and
never associated with adrenaline stirring engine notes when compared to equally
illustrious Germans. The E46 M3’s 6 on part throttle sounds cagey, but
when exhaust flaps free up and air flows into the pipes under full pressure, we
will be greeted with a resonance that is unique only to straight 6 engines. On another "note", Porsche's flat 6 might be named this way, but sounding "flat" has never been in the Stuttgart automaker's dictionary. Porsche’s GT3 RS’s
scream is the closest thing to a racecar that we can hear on our roads. I’ve
been seeing a couple roaming around town, and the manual gearbox certainly adds
to the sensation, when drivers tend to drag the 2nd gear during
gradual right handers, while passersby stand rooted to the ground and stare
intently in awe. It’s this sort of sound that make us Singaporeans wish for an
extension to the Marina Bay F1 Street Circuit contract, due to expire next
year.
These cars
sound brilliant, but in reality, people still buy them based purely on looks,
and realize only after a few months that they were actually acquiring a piece
of art with branded speakers to match. Why not make a more informed decision
before giving yourself the green light? Please do not let your eyes do all the
talking. Don’t forget to prompt your ears to listen, and guide your heart to go
with what your hearing senses tell you to, and this will definitely add up to
the value of performance car ownership. =)