Reading the post about noise problems at Goodwood got me thinking about the best sounding and loudest (!) race cars. Obviously I love the GT40 with a cross over system, in fact any big V8 is lovely.
But the loudest and possibly best I have ever heard is the V16 BRM. One and a half litre supercharged circa 500 bhp and notoriously unreliable. I remember my Dad telling me he heard one racing at Snetterton in the fifties and you could hear it all the way round the circuit above all the other cars!
The first time I got to hear one was at Silverstone during the Coys Historic Festival a few years ago. I was sitting in the grandstand near the start finish line and we saw the BRM being towed up and down behind a quad bike as they tried to start it. It was owned by Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason.
Eventually it emerged and stuttered off round the circuit sounding horrible. But as it came round Woodcote the first time all 16 cylinders chimed in together and the NOISE! The entire grandstand put their hands to their ears and turned away. It didn't just hurt your ears but your rib cage as well.
As an aside I had a talk with former BRM employee Peter (?)Rivers-Fletcher many years ago. He said that during the seventies (I think) they took the V16 for a demonstration by Graham Hill during the South African Grand Prix at Kylami. Because the track was thousands of feet above sea level they had no idea how to set up the engine, so just bunged the biggest intake on the supercharger they could find in the box of bits that came with it.
Purely by chance they had got it dead right. Hill was only supposed to do three slow laps - but they had to pull him in after about twelve. He had a big grin on his face - apparently the BRM was pulling about 185 mph down the main straight!
I was wondering what was your personal favourite?
But the loudest and possibly best I have ever heard is the V16 BRM. One and a half litre supercharged circa 500 bhp and notoriously unreliable. I remember my Dad telling me he heard one racing at Snetterton in the fifties and you could hear it all the way round the circuit above all the other cars!
The first time I got to hear one was at Silverstone during the Coys Historic Festival a few years ago. I was sitting in the grandstand near the start finish line and we saw the BRM being towed up and down behind a quad bike as they tried to start it. It was owned by Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason.
Eventually it emerged and stuttered off round the circuit sounding horrible. But as it came round Woodcote the first time all 16 cylinders chimed in together and the NOISE! The entire grandstand put their hands to their ears and turned away. It didn't just hurt your ears but your rib cage as well.
As an aside I had a talk with former BRM employee Peter (?)Rivers-Fletcher many years ago. He said that during the seventies (I think) they took the V16 for a demonstration by Graham Hill during the South African Grand Prix at Kylami. Because the track was thousands of feet above sea level they had no idea how to set up the engine, so just bunged the biggest intake on the supercharger they could find in the box of bits that came with it.
Purely by chance they had got it dead right. Hill was only supposed to do three slow laps - but they had to pull him in after about twelve. He had a big grin on his face - apparently the BRM was pulling about 185 mph down the main straight!
I was wondering what was your personal favourite?
