[scot]

The toyota celica gts sounds ok, but its not really what I would consider a GREAT sound. I have heard elises in the past, and they were incredible. Do we think lotus is going to be able to do some magic and pull the right sound out of the car?

I personally think sound is a large portion of the car. Its my biggest problem with the boxster. I have an S, which while being a great car, doesn't (stock) sound like a SPORTS car. The sports exhaust works, but at 1500+ dollars for something that provides no additional power... I mean i will be happy with <1800lbs and 190hp stock, but when I stomp on it, I want to know it through ALL of my senses.

Yep, another endless discussion that will continue until the first one gets here.

 

[Randy Chase]

I am sure that the Elise will sound different than the Celica since the exhaust plumbing will be totally different. I expect that the Celica, even with sporty pretensions, is not designed with the exhaust tuned for performance and sound... as much as cost and quiet. It still a Celica. And I don't mean that in a bad way. I used to own one. Well, a Supra one.

Should be pretty easy to tune sound with some aftermarket exhausts after some time.

 

[Craigy]

Louder/Fruitier exhausts are not all that expensive unless you go for something exotic.

Approx. £400 seems to be the going rate ($600 + shipping).

I personally like (but would never buy) these: http://www.lotuscars.co.jp/yoshimura/index.htm - made of titanium to japanese motorsport standards. The workmanship is amazing but sadly so is the price (they are about USD$3000). Maybe if I hit the jackpot on the lottery....

Standard elises I've heard are pretty quiet. (Mine certanily is). One of the reasons for this is that lotus intentionally put a restrictive exhaust on the K-series cars in order to get the catalyser up to working temperature as quickly as possible on startup; this prolongs it's life and makes emissions tests easier. Most elise owners over here end up taking out the cat and standard zorst and fit a straight-through catpipe (does nothing for emissions: simply like a bit of drainpipe with bolts at each end) and usually fit a much more freeflowing (and louder) exhaust.

The trend has been to go for something pretty fruity but if you go too crazy then you won't get on a lot of circuits in England because they measure the noise levels fanatically.... I'm told Goodwood has a noise-measuring system all the way round the circuit that's linked directly to the offices of the inspectors.

Craigy

 

[scot]

No worries here about the noise level. Ask a cop " Where is the closest track" and you will get one of 2 answers.

1: Uh there is a 1/4 mile down at englishtown.

or if you are friends

2: Come on down to x road, me and a couple buddies will talk to the other officers and setup something, get a couple guys at the start have them block traffic, then get another couple 3 miles down with radar guns and see how fast we can get.


If you then say "no I mean a road course, with turns" They will blankly stare at you then go... "OH you mean richmond speedway? I love nascar races there"



Back to the sound issue. All engines have their own sound based on their own design. My ducati has the most wonderful sound, and is best with no restrictions. My rx7 was the same. The water cooled porsche does NOT sound good fully open, nor does a civic.

Its the native engine sound I am worried about. I have heard some celicas that... well sounded terrible. I am hoping lotus can do some magic, but I think aftermarket might have some issues with making a proper sounding exhaust system. Something with a bit of bite, but no booming resonance.

 

[Modern Wedgie]

Well, as I OWN the car w/ the engine in question, here are my thoughts!

After market exhausts only make it ricier. However, I have not heard a header system on the car, and also remember that the exhaust sytem will be much shorter in the elise, and these may all go to improve the exit sound.

What I found works best is...If you remove the airbox, it sounds fantastic!

I was futsing around one day with a g-tec and decided to remove the intake box for S.A.G. (shits and giggles). With the box off, I could here the car 2 blocks away. It no longer sounded like some silly 4-banger...it had some umphhh to it. I never ended up putting on an aftermarket intake system (po graduate student), so I dont know if that improves the sound.

Anway, some combination of intake and exhaust should change the sound of the engine immediately. As the elise will have different intakes and exhaust, the only part of the engine that may ever sound like a celica would be the starter.

 

[Modern Wedgie]

I also forgot to mention.

My car is nicknamed "Screamer" because she screams in her cam range. Between 6 and 8.5 grand, you can hear that car coming! The sound of the engine must increase by atleast 10db.

 

[Craigy]

And here's me thinking that name had something do with the noise the passengers were making!



Craigy