Mrmerlin

Hi I was wondering if anyone could post the firing order of all of the current V 8 engines EG Porsche, Ferrari, Lambo, Ford, Chev, Dodge, just curious as the 928 engine dosent sound like any other. Just thinking. From working at the MM 13 on the Bonniville 100 I was at the fastest part and the 928 had a definite rumble as opposed to the Chev or Fords, By the way Tim Deys car with 6.5 stroker could be heard for the longest time and it was a deeper loud if that makes sense, the Nascar Chevy was the loudest at the marker but quickly faded , The Corvettes seemed to have a definite whistle as they passed but not much engine noise. Thanks if you do, Stan

DFWX

An interesting point. Often visiting the local 1/8th mile drag track, with American muscle V8s of all brands, years and mufflers to no mufflers, ANY of my 928s sound "tougher" and "more poweful". Nearly all the bracket racer's V8s sound like trucks that lost theri muffler.
As a personal preference, any of our 16Vs sounded tougher than the S4 we had for a short time.

One of the downsides to a single turbo system is it makes the exhaust muddy - and eliminates the crispness of reving up (and down). A true dual exhaust generally sounds tougher than a single exhaust, due to cutting the "pulse rate" in half with dual and the two sets of pipes do not sound exactly the same (like two different musical instruments - close but not exact) - though a single exhaust or a dual exhaust with a crossover or X-pipe makes more torque.

Historically, some motors have just sounded "tough". Though a terrible design, the old flat head Ford V8s had an excellent sound, as did early Jaguars (the Mark series).
928s (at least 16Vs) motors sound notably of larger displacement than they actually are.
Firing order does affect exhaust sound. For example, I remember back in the late 60s, early 70s, a design team determined what they believed to the absolute ideal exhaust headers for a Mustang 302. The only problem was that it combined the exhaust signals in a way that the motor sounded exactly like a 6 cylinder. No buyers were interested for that reason.
In hot rod days, glass packs sounded vastly superior to turbo mufflers, though the later were good for much more power.
In figuring what exhaust I plan for my 928 project, "sound" actually is more a factor than power. It is not that I want it loud, but rather that it sounds "right". That is a difficult decision as this is not really discussed much.
Why do 928s sound so excellent?
Mark O

DFWX

A curious comment - I have never heard a 928 sound like the sound track for the Risky Business 928.
Mark O

DFWX

One plus of a turbo, though, is the wastegate exhaust sound, which I intend to play with to make up for quality lost due to turbo blending the exhaust pulses.
Mark O

Garth S

The distinctive note of a Ferrari is more due to the 180 deg flat crank configuration more than firing order: cam design also appears to have a signifigant influence on many cars ( re. amount of overlap, etc).
Interesting question about firing order though - do not know ...

Imo000

That's because the sound was from a Ferrari!

I think the best sounding amrerican V8s are the 80's- early 90's 5.0L Mustangs. As far as amrican V6s go, the GM 2.8 & 3.1 would take that spot.

AO

Does firing order really have much to do with the note? I don't think so. I believe it has much more to do with the configuation and design of the exhaust system as well as the cam profile. Other factors that could affect the note (for comparable engines like a Ford 5.0 vs a 928 5.0) would be rotating mass, compression ratio, bore vs. stroke, push rod vs OHC, etc. Way too many variables.

For example: Take a 1995 Ford Mustang 5.0 V8 engine. Doesn't even sound like an S4. Reason:
FORD:4,942 cc 4.9 liters 8 V front longitudinal engine with 101.5 mm bore, 76.1 mm stroke, 9 compression ratio, overhead valve and two valves per cylinder
1991 9284,957 cc 5.0 liters V8, 100mm Bore, 78.9mm stroke, 10:1 compression, double overhead cam - 4 valves per cylinder.

Obviously the main differences are the cams, number of valves, and compression. But I believe the tuning of the exhaust is probably the biggest factor.

heinrich

An S4 with RMB and Ott X sounds EXACTLY like that.

IcemanG17

Out of the domestic V8's......the old 5.0 mustangs and the new mustangs (to a lesser extent) have always sounded pretty good......but mustang engineers spend ALOT of time getting the sound just right! Vettes can sound good.....vipers sound like crap at anything less than WOT......the 928 just has a nice blend of a throaty deep V8 with the cammy high rpm sound of a smaller displacement V8 (like a ferrari)....I was driving through a neighborhood yesterday that has narrow streets and tightly packed houses.....even though I wasn't going fast....every soccermom out for a walk would turn and stare with that "slow down" look......

Ketchmi

The sound difference between the GT and an S4, both with our X-over, GT resonators and an RMB is significantly different. The S4 is loud but not nasty, the GT will break windows. The only difference being cams and computer...

svp928

As Garth said, the Ferrari sounds the way it does due to the 180 deg crank- so it has has perfectly even firing pulses on both sides of the engine. Most v-8's like ours are 90 deg crank engines, and so, do not have even firing pulses on each side. This un-even pulse can be tuned out by using 180 deg headers, which connect pairs of cylinders firing 180 deg apart, but it makes the engine sound "like a 6 cyl". The X-pipes made by many of our supporting vendors also take away alot of this un-even pulsing, but do not completely eliminate it, resulting in a higher, smoother pitch to the sound, but retaining enough of the rumble to make it discernable as a V-8.

zoltan944

with all the corvette junkies and '350' worshipers (plus a 69 firbird owner)
NOT one them know their firing order off hand.... i made fun of them and ridiculed them for you Stan!

sweanders

I think you are all missing the parts contributing most to the sound of Tims car = DEVEK headers and exhaust. Instead of the rumbling of the stock exhaust and manifolds (even with RMB) you get a car that sounds like a the Hulk ripping a silk shirt from his cheast.

Bill51sdr

Just about every GM or Ford V8 I've ever worked on have been the same: 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2, which is physically the same as the 928 engine. The difference in the #'s is that Ford and GM number the cylinders 1,3,5,7 on the left and 2,4,6,8 on the right. Porsche does it 1,2,3,4 & 5,6,7,8, #1 being on the passenger side.

dr bob

Bill--
That 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2 is correct for the GM V-8's but not the Fords. You are correct though about the only difference being the cylinder numbering. Dodge fires in the same physical order, too.