Following the world’s first genuine taste of the 2014 Formula 1 at the Australian Grand Prix last weekend much of the discussion has centred around the sound of the new F1 cars. Now powered by V6 power units the turbocharger and energy recovery systems have robbed F1 cars of the high-pitched shriek we became used to with the old V8s and V10s before them.
After spending Saturday at Albert Park we reckon the new cars sound better than we were expecting. Let’s be clear, the 2.4 litre V8s sounded much better, but that’s in the past now and we won’t be hearing those free revving normally aspirated engines anytime soon. So stop wishing those days would come back. They won’t.
The biggest issue with the current power units is they are so quiet compared with last year’s engines.
After the break we’ve got a couple of videos to help illustrate that fact. The first shows F1 cars compared with Porsche Carrera Cup cars and V8 Supercars. It’s worth noting in this comparison the F1 cars were mostly on out laps at the start of Free Practice 3, while the Porsches and V8SCs were filmed during race conditions.
The second clip is very telling and gives a direct comparison between the 2013 cars against the new 2014 machines.
UPDATE: A third clip of F1 cars has been added filmed from various sections of the track between Turns 4 and 11.
6 replies on “2014 Formula 1 sound comparison”
It was a sad day when everyone realised that V8 Supercars are now louder than F1. The F1 cars crept up on you as the sound doesn’t carry either. Wherever I stood with my camera I had to keep both eyes open to look for the cars approaching before going into photographer mode.
No one needed (and hardly anyone) wore ear protection during the running of the F1s, but most wore protection for the Porsche and V8s.
Very disappointing indeed.
Darren Heath has some pretty good thoughts on this subject:
http://www.darrenheath.com/season/2014/australia-2014/blog/sound-and-fury
When you’re trackside you can certainly hear a lot of the whirring and buzzing of the ERS gadgets doing their thing which is kind of cool.
I dont have an issue. I saw F1 in Melb when they were V10’s. The sound was vicious, terrifying, awesome and staggering all at once. I dont think the volume made for better racing. If you can get away with not wearing earplugs, I reckon its a pretty good day. Furthermore, the sound is a measure of the jump in technology. Its quieter, but it is completely different. I like it.
For me it’s not the volume but the sound itself. Off throttle was alright as you could hear the turbo and ERS etc as Liam pointed out, but on throttle is was a real boring droney sound IMO. I watched them from T9 through to T16 and it just isn’t as exciting as it once was.
Well I think what’s missing is real high RPM sounds because even though there is a 15,000 RPM limit none of the cars were shifting anywhere near that, mostly maxing out at 12k and lower, sometimes a lot lower – I guess to save fuel.
So regardless of the volume you just don’t get that insane high RPM sound that I associate with F1!
Ok the rpm issue is true. Max rpm is now a lower 15,000 to the previous cars 18,000. But according to reports no engine manufacturer was willing to use all the revs and most engines were capped at around 12,000 rpm. A few reasons for that. Firstly the new engines make an insanely more amount of torque and lower in the rev range than the 2.4L V8’s they replace so short shifting was a practise used by a lot of the drivers just to get the power down out of corners and they were still struggling with grip (plus there is less aero this year to help them). Secondly they now have 8 gears instead of the 7 of last year. Some cars weren’t even using all 8 for this race. Lastly they are limited to 5 engines only for a whole race season before being penalised, that is why they are being very conservative with the engines.
I’ve been going to Aussie GP’s since 1985 and yes this years cars sounded the worse I can ever remember. They were quiet and had this artificially sound to them. Even the turbo cars of the 80’s sounded much more mechanical and vicious through the rev range and on over-run.
Nerds will love the new quite gizmo sounding cars, but to me that is not motorport. Sound is as much part of the excitement of F1 (it’s the first thing anyone who ever goes to their first F1 race is blown away by, then the speed of the cars in corners). The best sounding engines ever where the 3.5L V10’s and V12’s. Nothing will come close to the sound of those engines. Not only were they super loud, but it was a kind of mechanical symphony of noise from down low right through the rev range. I will never forget how good the cars sounded back then, still brings shivers when I think back.
I feel sorry for you younger guys that never got a chance to year a screaming 3.5L V12 Ferrari or 3.5L V10 (Renault) Williams screaming through the streets of Adelaide. It was an amazing sound. The Cosworth Ford 3.5L V8 never sounded as nice but it was cool to still hear it’s different sound on the track as well.
For rally fans (which I am as well) it’s like the sound of the old Group B cars, nothing ever in rally ever sounded as good as those days.
FIA is trying hard to make the sport green and I get it, doesn’t mean I have to like it. F1 will be the loser in all of this. Sure die hard fans like me will still go to races and watch it live on TV as well. But I can tell you at this years race there were so many people disappointed with the sound that they commented they won’t be back next year. It will be interesting to see after the fascination period of this season when next season rolls on what the attendances at races will be and the viewing audience. If the numbers drop significantly by the end of 2015 I think F1, the teams and the FIA are heading for a showdown otherwise the sport will be dying a slow death. Serious changes will need to be made to at least make the cars sound much louder and more exciting than they currently are.
What I would do? Well I accept the rule changes and realistic enough to accept that we will not be going back to 3.5L or even 3.0L N/A V12, V10 & V8 (wasn’t a fan of the change the 2.4L V8’s but they sounded better than what we have now). But what the FIA and F1 can do is relax the rules a little, so that at least different configurations of 1.6L turbo engines can be used. Do not restrict them to just V6. Allow inline 4, flat 4, inline 3, inline 5, even V8. Don’t restrict the number of turbos either. Give the engine manufacturers some freedom so that at least we get some really different distinct sounds in the sport if other manufacturers decide to go a different route. Keep the size to 1.6L turbo charged but allow some freedom. Also raise the RPM limit to 20,000 rpm and reduce the number of gears back to 6 only. This will give us engines that will scream for longer, rather than the short shifting crap we have now. Lastly abolish this stupid rule of only 5 engines per season. Give the teams unlimited amount of engines (it never hurt the sport in the past, actually made it more exciting) because we had some cars going out on 1100HP special qualifying units. We loved that part of F1. Yes the sport is expensive and so it should be, it cost money to race and go fast. This cost reducing BS doesn’t work and only hurts the sport by pussyfying it to the point now where it’s becoming boring. Yes the race was boring I’m sorry to say but it was, anyone who thinks otherwise is burying their head in the sand and just trying to make the new rules look better than they are.
Also allow teams much more testing!
F1 should be about creativity not just with nose cones that look like a penis, but with different engines, sounds etc etc.
On a side note the V8SC are also sounding worse and worse each year. Like they are being muffled. I remember on of the first races of the new rules I attended back in 1993 at Amaroo Park, the V8SC sounded a hell of a lot better and slowly over the years have sounded worse and worse.
Anyway that’s the take of this old dinosaur who’s made his living in the technology industry for many years and still does. I love my tech, and I don’t mind moving to a more tech focused F1 rules, just don’t take the excitement out of it and homogenise so much that it becomes boring. By 2016 we will know the verdict of the people and see if changes are made.