Best Four-Stroke Engine Sound Ever?

acotrel said:
These don't sound half as good, but they used to scare the shit out of me when I was a baby. I grew up to love them. My father used to go AWOL during WW2 and hitch a ride in a B24 with the Yanks to get home to my mother. The Yanks usually got lost on the way.
Click to expand...
Re; "The Yanks usually got lost on the way"

Maybe this was the reason that when the yanks bombed, EVERYBODY got their heads down!:(
 
We Australians probably feel it more when we lose people in wars, because of our much smaller population. The Americans don't seem to back away from attrition. A friend of mine was at the battle of Leyte Gulf in the Phillipines, on secondment as a radio operator with the Americans. He mentioned that there was a landing where the transports were getting hit by the Japanese, every time they got near land, but the Americans just kept on sending them in.
 
I really get a warm fuzzy feeling when a Triumph Trident comes up on the cams about 3,500 RPM and the mechanical banshee howl grows all the way past 7,000RPM. Makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up even thinking about it. One of the best-sounding production streetbikes ever built. The race bikes are even better...
 
My fave 4-stroke sound is from my Ducati ST3s going up through the gears and back down as I ride north over the mountain (hill) to the northumberland straight ... the Commando sounds great no doubt , but the Duc , well it is music !
 
pantah_good said:
I absolutely love this video and play it at times to just plain feel good about things in general, but always with the sound cranked up to full eleven. One reason is because I think the F7F is the coolest and most beautiful aircraft ever made - period, but second and not least, is the incredible sound those Pratt & Whitney Double Wasp radial engines are booming out while being enhanced by that magical Doppler shift. Another fave and very close second is with a certain V-12 British Merlin, with the Doppler shift happening just about as close as you'd want to get.

I know we all love the sounds of our well tuned four-strokes at full song, so my challenge is to throw up your best shot at a video or sound track with any four-stroke engine really singing its heart out.



Click to expand...

merlin every time
 
pantah_good said:
As partial as I am to the F7F and its radial engines, and as impressive as the BRM was, I've got to agree with Fast Eddie on the Merlin. Variations of that engine were in the P-51, but it clearly sounds best in a Spitfire.

Click to expand...


My first job after graduating at was a car factory situated near the end of the runway at Durban airport in South Africa. The SAAF used to fly maritime patrols around the coast, and a couple of times per year they had a Shackelton based there for a few days. Depending on the wind direction, you would get the full benefit of 4 Rolls Royce Griffons going just over the factory buildings either on landing or takeoff. Magnificent sound and sight!

For those too young to know, the Shack was the ultimate development of the Lancaster, with 4 x 37 litre engines driving contra-rotating props. They were rather old and very noisy, often described as being rather like an elephant's arsehole - dark inside, gray outside and very wrinkled. Also described as 40 000 rivets flying in close formation.
 
[QUOTE Also described as 40 000 rivets flying in close formation.[/QUOTE]
I like that description!
But I thought the Lancaster was fabric covered?
 
Last edited:
Those high-speed racing engines are just a pain in the ears. I much prefer the deep roar of a 14-16 litre Scania V8.


-Knut
 
Anybody seen the picture and knows the internet information of the low flying Lancaster over the Derwent dam Ladybower Reservoir ( Dam busters) printed on the front cover of the Derbyshire Life mag, which showed it flying so low, I'll repeat, SO LOW over the dam the 4 Merlin engines created a ripple on the top of the water? I don't know if pic was real or photo shopped???
 
Last edited:
Bernhard said:
Anybody seen the picture and knows the internet information of the low flying Lancaster over the Derwent dam Ladybower Reservoir ( Dam busters) printed on the front cover of the Derbyshire Life mag, which showed it flying so low, I'll repeat, SO LOW over the dam the 4 Merlin engines created a ripple on the top of the water? I don't know if pic was real or photo shopped???
Click to expand...

What year was that? The water level must have been very high!
 
Last edited:
I get your point, that's the trouble, I cannot remember what year! But the photo shows it flying VERY low between the two towers, the water I think was lapping almost just going over the top of the dam, creating ripples on the top of the high water from the noise of the engines. I have not seen the DL picture anywhere else except the front cover of that mag. A fantastic photo.
 
Last edited:
Hi Bernhard, I stayed nearby in Hathersage in 1966 or 67. My host family took us to the dams and told us about it, but I did not know fly-pasts were made. I have only ever seen a Lancaster on display. I could not find your Photo but these of the 75th anniversary are nice anyway. Those are 100ft. passes.

Best, Martin
 

Attachments

  • Best Four-Stroke Engine Sound Ever?
    89764692-0BF7-4F5D-B44F-A2B1FD58F4C4.webp
    27.3 KB · Views: 312
  • Best Four-Stroke Engine Sound Ever?
    B69A8E4E-B50A-400C-9C11-74860B3ED3CD.webp
    24.6 KB · Views: 267
Last edited:
Lots of beautiful noises here. They're all good.
Really hard to beat a Merlin at full song.
Well, maybe multiple Merlins....

Carry on....
 
I went to buy some fast triple spares a few years ago locally to me, when I got there the owner was fiddling around
with a Merlin he had just rebuilt. Awesome.
 

Similar threads

KiwiShane
Motorcycle racer blends-two-and-four-stroke-design-1300cc-single
Replies
7
Views
709
concours
concours
F
  • Locked
Four Stroke / Tractor
Replies
6
Views
915
Alan W
Alan W
Back
Top