Ranger and Mustang GT test drive.

[Bill Jobe]

A few days ago I stopped at a local Ford dealership and test drive both a Mustang GT and a Ranger.
I didn't care much for the Ranger and wish they'd kept the original configuration.
As for the Mustang, I was anxious to hear that beautiful growl I remember from mustangs I had driven in the past.
However, it seems Ford decided to use artificial means to manipulate the exhaust note. The are 3, perhaps 4 settings you can choose depending on how loud you want it to be, but it in no way reminds me of the last (1994?) GT I drove.
I strongly dislike the trend in producing exhaust sound using cunning and trickery.
Anyone else care to share their thinking?

[Bill Dufour]

Is Ford still making any cars this year besides Mustangs?

[Doug Dawson]

A few days ago I stopped at a local Ford dealership and test drive both a Mustang GT and a Ranger.
I didn't care much for the Ranger and wish they'd kept the original configuration.
As for the Mustang, I was anxious to hear that beautiful growl I remember from mustangs I had driven in the past.
However, it seems Ford decided to use artificial means to manipulate the exhaust note. The are 3, perhaps 4 settings you can choose depending on how loud you want it to be, but it in no way reminds me of the last (1994?) GT I drove.
I strongly dislike the trend in producing exhaust sound using cunning and trickery.
Anyone else care to share their thinking?

I prefer the dead silence of a Tesla, where the only sound is that of the wind and the screaming of your passenger. It can be quite musical.

No I don't own one (but I've driven one.) I like to listen to music in the car, and no car engine noise is better than that.

[Bill Jobe]

I think they still sell Lincolns here. Also (unless it has been dropped) a compact sedan (Fiesta?)

[Stan Calow]

I looked at Mustangs in 2017 and noted that either the motor or transmission or possibly both, were made in China or Mexico. Same for the Escape and the other Ford vehicles I looked at. They are getting fatter and heavier every year, which is what ruined the original Mustangs as well. I also think its misleading to see those commercials for "North American Truck (or Car) of the year, or other awards. North America includes Canada and Mexico so its not what people assume.

[Rick Potter]

I had a '91 Mustang GT, all stock except for Borla mufflers. Sweetest exhaust sound I have ever had, and I have had about 120 cars.

I currently have an '03 GT convertible that just turned 30,000 miles. I like it OK, but no contest. Never got around to getting the Borla on it.

Of course the '91 was a 302, while the '03 is a Mod motor, and the one you drove was a Coyote. All different sounds from the getgo. All would sound different even with the same mufflers.

As far as the current trend for the last few years (Flowmasters and such), they sound like trash trucks to me.

My brother has an '04 Corvette with an Alpine exhaust on it, and somehow it has a high pitch as the RPM's rise.

As for the artificially assisted interior noises..........meh.

[Kev Williams]

Disclaimer, owner of a 2013 Mustang GT that I put substantially louder GT500 mufflers on- I would put non-muffled side pipes on the thing except that it's actually the wife's car and she won't let me ;)

I'm almost 65 years old and I still love a very loud, and very baritone V8 exhaust note. Baritone, as in low and throaty, NOT the gargling soup-can note most cars have these days, including the wife's Mustang. It's okay, and the GT500 muffs are very nice actually, not a bit of drone at any speed, basic cruising isn't very loud at all, but she screams bloody murder at 7000 with the foot down! -- just not low and throaty... :(

Best sounding exhaust I ever heard in my life, I was at a trailer hitch shop when a genuwyne 427 Cobra with unmuffled 4" sidepipes came by, slowed to make a left turn, then hit 50 in a blink- OMG, talk about low and throaty--! :D

A close second was way back when I had my '70 Dodge Coronet R/T, 440 sixpac, the slapstick 4-speed, 4:10 gears- I put a set of 2-1/8" Casler headers on the thing, bought a pair of 16" Cherrybomb header mufflers, cut the ends off and welded a pair of cut down drivelines to them, where the exited just under and beyond the axle. After that the same drivelines ended up under my '70 Mach I Mustang, attached to a pair of short Thrush muffler. The idle drone was horrendous, it would rattle windows. That did get a bit obnoxious, but driving the noisy thing(s), that was heaven... I had a '56 F100 with a 390 SCJ, I put sidepipes on that. We bought an '84 Ford custom van, made my own sidepipes for it. We had until recently a 26' Chaparral bowrider with Captains Call sidepipes, where you choose exhaust into the water or out the pipes-

Which brings me to the new Mustang's selectable exhaust- it's not really cunning or trickery, it's done mechanically with valves, not much different than moving a butterfly baffle valve in some Harley exhausts...

I've even been reading up on what's needed not to kill the power of the 5.4 Triton in my '02 Ford F250 I'm about to put true dual sidepipes on... ;)

[Frank Pratt]

My SIL has an '07 that he put an insane cam in & an aftermarket exhaust that was pretty loud. That thing had the most insane, crackling, lumpy exhaust at idle that just hearing it made my pulse double. Terrible around town drivability though; absolutely nothing below about 3000 RPM. Easily the best sounding 'American' car I've heard.

Then he put a Coyote from Ford Racing in it. Doesn't sound as good now, but it's a lot faster (something north of 500 HP)

[George Bokros]

I am 72 yo and have a 84 Merc Capri RS with 302 bred 30 over with true dual exhaust with Flowmaster American Muscle mufflers Sounds good to me. This was bought new driven two years winter and summer in NE Ohio winters. I also have an 85 Merc Capri that we bought used but it has NEVER seen any winter driving. I am the third owner. First owner ran the body shop at a Mercury dealer. He put a leather Mustang SVO interior in it and only 2500 miles on it in five years. He sold it a guy that worked in the dealership. He got free paint from a company that wanted the body shops paint business. He said the car had some spots on it from acid rain so he painted and drove it two years (never in the winter) and sold it to me. I don't remember what mufflers I put on it last year but they do not have sound I was hoping for.

[Scott Donley]

I remember you could buy an exhaust cut off from the JC Whitney catalog. You installed in front of your muffler and ran a cable to your dash. pull cable and you had straight pipes(loud v-8) push in and it ran it through the muffler. I guess the Mustang is just an updated version form the 70's.

[Bill Jobe]

The best sounding exhaust I've ever heard was when Ron Swearingen was crew chief for Lori Johns. If memory serves it was at Indy.
It was a short stint, I believe.
I had the distinct pleasure to be standing on the ramp of the trailer right next to the motor.
I have NEVER heard a fuel motor sound so good.
Fuzzy Carter from Eddy Hill's crew was on the team, too.
He must have run that thing 5 minutes (he has always been known for running them longer than most other TF and FCs).

When they shut it off, Ron and Fuzzy looked at each other...Swearingen was grinning from ear to ear and just shook his head.
I knew if he could get ahold of the track with that monster he would break records.
He did.
Hard to believe with that much power. It was far beyond any fueler I ever heard before.

That remains my favorite memory at any of the races I've been to.
Ron had a way with the fuelers. One year at Mile High at Denver, where it's difficult to make power, he continued to run in the 4s, at that time commonplace, aside from Denver.
The rest of the pack was running ets .2 slower.
Sadly he left the NHRA and was crew chief for nastalgia fuel cars.....altereds and slingshots.

Sorry for the long post. It was that good.

[Jim Becker]

Is Ford still making any cars this year besides Mustangs?
AFAIK, they are moving to all SUVs and Trucks with the exception of the Mustang in the NA marketplace. I "think" there may be a sub-compact in a 5-door (hatchback) that may be continuing. They haven't yet made the switch so there are still a number of sedan types still available for MY19 according to their website.

[Jim Andrew]

Guess I am getting old, but liked dual exhaust sound when I was young. Now I appreciate a quiet, smooth running truck like my Tacoma.

[Patrick Walsh]

I’m a euro car guy myself but I got behind a brand new Shelby the other day on lunch break and practically fell in love. Googled it a bit and 512hp and man o man I hate to admit as I’m not a American car fan after the hemi cuda, super bee, and road runners. The new doge version make my stomach turn. Never liked mustangs either but this car was sweet.

Now I gotta figure out where to get 50K for a used low mileage one and how I can afford work truck also.

[Bill Jobe]

I could have taken the Shelby out, too.
But I would probably have wrapped it around a tree.
I thought the clutch was very similar to the one in my old '90 Ranger. Took me a year or more to finally stop killing it at stop signs/ lights.
My sister married a guy who had a 68 (?) with a 390, traded it in for a Mach 1 (70?) that I think had a 428. Both sounded awesome and ran real hard.
I had alway assumed they had stock exhaust. Maybe not.
For whatever reason the sound of the old Mustangs stood shoulders above everything else, to my thinking.

[Jim Becker]

There is a generational shift relative to "what sounds good", likely influenced by the popularity of small, high performance vehicles based on Honda Civic and Subaru WRX, etc., and their unique sounds which are completely in a different direction from vintage muscle cars. Beyond that, a lot of vehicle engine sound comes from the intake and face it, today's methods are vastly different than back in the 1970s when big, four barrel carburetors ruled the roost in performance vehicles. So the market for sound now comes from alternative cold air intake (CAI) setups. That's how it is for Jeep Grand Cherokee with the Hemi. The OEM intake sounds pretty darn good (at least mine did to my opinion) when you step on it, but for more growl, folks change out to an alternative CAI. Exhaust systems obviously can play a roll, but still...a lot of the sound happens up front at the air intake.

[Bill Jobe]

You're right about intake sound.
I bought my '02 Ranger from a kid who'd removed the original air box and replaced it with a K&N. Sounds pretty good for a 6 banger, but my understanding is the K&N robs the 4.0 of power.
He gave me the old airbox, but it wasn't usable. Looked like he removed it with a backhoe.
Still gets 16mpg average, but I suspect it did better with the stock intake.

If I had the wherewithal I'd stuff a V8 in it.
I still think that if Ford had offered a V8 in the original Ranger they'd have sold like hotcakes. Or as Lisa Douglas said, "Hotscakes".

[Bob Turkovich]

There is a generational shift relative to "what sounds good", likely influenced by the popularity of small, high performance vehicles based on Honda Civic and Subaru WRX, etc., and their unique sounds which are completely in a different direction from vintage muscle cars. Beyond that, a lot of vehicle engine sound comes from the intake and face it, today's methods are vastly different than back in the 1970s when big, four barrel carburetors ruled the roost in performance vehicles. So the market for sound now comes from alternative cold air intake (CAI) setups. That's how it is for Jeep Grand Cherokee with the Hemi. The OEM intake sounds pretty darn good (at least mine did to my opinion) when you step on it, but for more growl, folks change out to an alternative CAI. Exhaust systems obviously can play a roll, but still...a lot of the sound happens up front at the air intake.

Jim,

You didn't spend a second life as an automotive engineer, did you?:p

Back in the early 2000's, the small, high performance vehicle business was taking off in the SoCal area. Honda was not doing well in the market and upon doing research, determined that their vehicles were being perceived as being slower than the competition. Comparison of 0-60 and 1/4 mile times showed that was not true - in some cases they were better than the competition. Rather than redesign the intake or exhaust system and have to eat the cost of re-certification, they implemented an underhood speaker system to enhance the noise under throttle. The system was developed by a company in Auburn Hills, MI. The result was a significant increase in market penetration just by making the car sound faster.

There may have been earlier implementations of "enhanced NVH" but this ignited a boom in the augmentation industry.

There are three components to NVH perception - exhaust, intake and mechanical+combustion. As you noted, intake is a major contributor - more so than the general public perceives.