Do F1’s new engines have the right sound?

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Formula One’s new engines have been in action at a race weekend for the first time today.

The new V6 turbo engines are quieter than the V8s they replace – the FIA puts the difference at around 11 decibels. The sound itself is different as well – for one thing, there are two fewer cylinders, and the turbo has also changed the sound which is produced.

So far we’ve only heard the engines during practice – it remains to be seen (or heard) what 22 of them revving up at once at the start of the race will sound and feel like.

But the change has already provoked strong feelings on both sides of the argument. Here’s a sample of some of the feedback on F1 Fanatic:

For

I was there today and there was a noticeable difference in the sound. It was remarkably different that some of the guys I was with who are regulars each year commented on how the cars are quieter.

Then we had confirmation, they did a speed comparison and a 2013-spec Red Bull with V8 engine roared to life and stormed around the track confirming that this years V6s are quieter and by a margin.

Personally it will not detract from why I watch F1 for, and if I’m honest, I was more comfortable at the track this year without needing ear plugs, and having normal conversations while cars were whizzing past.
@Dragoll

I was out at Albert Park today and was happily surprised at the sound of the new power units.

A lot is being lost in what you hear on television. I got home in time to watch second practice and the sound was very different. There you can hear the whine of the turbo as they pull out of corners, the odd new noises of the regenerative breaking… I love it.

Sure it’s different but don’t knock it until you’ve actually been 20 metres away from one.
Travis Humphery (@Travis)

I just can’t understand why quieter is worse.

To me, the new sound is great. It is in fact quieter, which means people on site may well stop using earplugs, so they will hear more, much more! We TV viewers may well hear the crowd better, the radio, the tyres, the mechanics…

And any fat, deep noise is better than a blunt squeal in my book. I am all for it.
@Gwenouille

Against

Was at Albert Park this morning for most of first and second practice, at close range (trackside) they sound ok and its quite interesting to actually be able to tyre squeal on lock-ups etc.

However, its just lacks that sense of enormous power that the noise of the V8′s gave off. From a further distance wandering around the circuit they sound mightily unimpressive, reminded me of lawnmowers, my wife said they sounded like trucks…
Marcus Hand (@Wombat1m)

I was watching second practice on TV this morning and the cars sound awful on TV and onboard cameras, very quiet and uninspiring and I cant stand the way the engines do not rev at all.

You could now easily confuse the sound they let off with any other lesser formula. Has totally taken something away from F1 that I have come to love over the years. Disappointed to say the least.
Torg22

After watching first practice the sound is really horrible in my honest opinion. I thought it will be more of a deeper tone like the sport cars.

I’m truly disappointed.
@JohnBt

Over to you

What do you think of the new engine sound? Do you think concern over the lack of noise will only be temporary?

Cast your vote and have your say below.

The new F1 engines sound...

  • No opinion (3%)
  • Very poor (12%)
  • Poor (18%)
  • Average (19%)
  • Good (33%)
  • Very good (14%)

Total Voters: 700

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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231 comments on “Do F1’s new engines have the right sound?”

      1. The shrieking terrorising sound of the f1 car is a huge part of what makes f1 the pinnacle of motorsports for me. As one of the commentators pointed out, now the cars sound too much like sports car. It just feels wrong to see an f1 car so quite. When i see the onboard i seems like the drivers are taking it way to easy.
        i feel like i am watching something in the lower categories and not the pinnacle of motorsports.

        1. They sound like GP2 cars don’t they

          1. Paul Sainsbuy
            14th March 2014, 14:47

            Actually GP2 cars now sound WAY better…….

          2. GP2 cars sound much better

        2. How are quieter engines not the pinnacle of motorsport?

          If you have two cars travelling extremely faster and one is quieter than the other then from an engineer perspective the quieter car is the is more likely to represent the pinnacle.

          If F1 can help push the cars forward then to me it represents motorsport very well. 20 cars travelling at 200mph and making hardly any noise would be incredible.

          1. case in point, the muffled lemans diesels that keep winning.

          2. @sircoolbeans That’s exactly as I see it, all of that noise the old engines made was wasted energy and represented failure from an engineering perspective. The engines are now better and the side effect is they are less noisy.

            I’d rather F1 was actually the pinnacle of motorsport rather than pretending it was. How many people complain about F1 becoming a show rather than a sport and yet are also criticising the engines for being too good! The engineds are more powerful, faster and more efficient so what’s to complain about.

          3. Yeah, the Audis just breeze past you, quite astonishing to watch.

          4. andre (@f1follower12)
            14th March 2014, 20:05

            they are a lot slower than the v8s looking at the lap times, even if we are talking about new cars.

          5. I completely agree, the quieter, more powerful engines are actually more impressive. I’ve gone to the Petite Le Mans here in Atlanta when the Audi’s and Peugeots were running and It was so eerily wild to watch the Audi’s go by running those incredible laps yet being quieter than everything around them.

            @f1follower12 I think it’s a bit early to decide the cars are slower. The teams are still working their setups and getting started. And even if they are slower on a lap, that’s a matter of reduced down force! It has nothing to do with the new engines which happen to be more powerful.

        3. +1 I agree with Brundle as well.

        4. With that logic NHRA Top Fuel would be the pinnacle of motorsport ;) Ear protection is never good enough when around them and the ‘sound’ is so big it concusses your body. I loved the old engine sound but as a big fan of turbo charging I can appreciate the sounds the new power units make. Also, one of the main things I like about F1 is the engineering challenge, so all of these changes at once have made the new season very interesting IMO.

      2. You know, If FIA decides to increase the RPMs to 18000 or so, these engines will sound amazing! The scream will be back and it will still be green. That’s what is probably going to happen once FIA realize that the engines are reliable enough. I expect the regulation change in 2016.

        1. I doubt it, the engines are allowed to rev to 15,000rpm but I don’t think they’ll even be hitting that anyway since they can hit maximum fuel flow from 10,000rpm and there is no shortage of torque.

        2. Yes I also hope and believe higher revs are coming! What I don’t understand, though, is why the engines don’t sound like the CART/Indycar 2.65L V8s of the late 90’s/early 2000’s. They had big turbochargers sitting in the exhausts but they sounded fantastic. That was what I was expecting, not this flat, fart-y sound. And the revs on them were similar too with a redline around 14,500rpm.

          1. Because they’re V6s?

          2. Yeah that would make some difference, as flat-crank V8s have a great shriek, but nothing this dramatic… they are completely flat. I’ve heard turbo-4s even sound much better than these V6s

        3. What I hear, besides the flat and comparatively empty tone, is that the engines are not revving anywhere near as high as they need to, and no doubt can. It sounds like the engines are almost cruising, certainly not screaming in the much-loved F1 tradition. There’s a lack of tension resulting from this, along with what’s going to be diminished interest in the sport I fear.

          Waiting until 2016 is much too long to fix this, better this year if it can be done reliably, say after the summer break.

      3. Watching on tv you can hardly hear the cars.
        I already know 3 people who are not going to Sundays race due to the lack of noise.
        They’ve wasted their money.
        Anyone who says the unique noise isn’t part of F1 is delusional.

        1. Agreed. The V6 Turbos are straight trash! I’m at least hoping they can figure out some type of filtering device that they can apply on the cars to give them some resemblance of sounds of the V8’s (Wishful Thinking I know).

          1. I got an idea. You know how some cars now pump engine sounds through the audio speakers? Well, just do the same. Have some mics on the cars (or an MP3 of the old V12s) and play the sound over the PA system at the races. RIP F1.

      4. The sound that F1 cars used to make is very much part of the reason why I become an F1 fan.

      5. They killed f1 these cars sound absolutley horrid!!!!

      1. First they mess up the looks, then they bring in gimmicks like DRS, then Double points and now the sound is gone. whats next? medals for winners or artificial sprinklers? I dont want to sound like a whining f1 snob but i am certain the majority of f1 fans feel the same way.

        1. Well, you’re wrong. Look at the percentages.

          1. @mashiat

            Well, you’re wrong. Look at the percentages.

            Average and Less = 49%
            Good & Very good = 49%

          2. Most of the voters are not young. They have their nostalgia to help them accept and love the new sounds. That does not exist for the younger generation and. But that set is a minority on this site.

          3. Exactly, not a majority. Plus, some people voting average may have just been thinking of a direct comparison to last year. For example, “I’ll vote average because I don’t find them any better or worse”.

          4. @rojov123 I’m 23 years old, so the Turbo era died before I was born. It may be a bit of a sweeping statement to say it’s only the older voters voting positively…I mean, I love the sounds, and frankly felt that the V8 era was an over-long stopover in engine development. I enjoyed the freedom and variety there was in the early ’90s, and could never resist the scream of the old V10s (the BMW was spectacular!), but I always felt a little (comparatively) underwhelmed by the V8s.

            Knowing that the whole world is being dragged inexorably towards the ‘greener’ perspective, and hearing F1 sounding like it is whilst conforming to newer and more environmentally-friendly regulations, I have a good feeling for the foreseeable future of the sport, at least in terms of the power units we now use.

            I can’t wait until Sunday morning when we will hear the whole grid lined up and in beautiful musical harmony!

          5. Good & v good 48%
            Average 19 %
            Poor & v poor 40%
            No opinion 3%

            So not a landslide, but more have a favourable opinion than unfavourable… Or to use your skewing of the stats against you, v. Good, good and average = 67%

          6. Oops, forgive my maths… 30% are poor and v. Poor, so it actually is a landslide (or at least 2:1 in favour with approx 20% on the fence, which is enough to win any general election except maybe Venezuela, eh Pastor?). ;)

        2. I absolutely agree. From the days I watched F1 as a kid, it has always felt epic, on edge, or even dangerous. For me, the sounds of the old 12 cyl. Ferrari’s and the screaming V10’s gave F1 a special place in all motorsport. The cars are no longer distinguishable from other series as far as sound goes. Although I like the loss of downforce this year, the new engines sound crappy compared to almost any other F1 car in 30 years. I’m disappointed….

          1. +1 – that is the main issue for me – they’re no longer distinguishable from other series. F1 was always special, and the whooshing and ERS sounds are cool but by no means unique.

        3. @aimalkhan – Everything else you mention affects the actual racing or the points whereas the sound affects nothing but your subjective experience. If you want to compare the sound the engines make, compare it to the teams changing the colour of their livery to something you don’t like.

    1. The onboard acceleration up through the gears reminds me of the noise from onboard footage of a MotoGP bike .

      They sound ok, but lack volume I think

      1. you can buy a 600cc sport bike that sounds a lot better than an F1 car, like the Yamaha R6. Seeing as how the cars lost two pistons and only rev to about 11k rpm, yeah, it sounds pretty bad, at least the FIA managed to get rid of cars like Honda’s HSV.

        At least there is still Super Formula (Nippon) ,.. no … doh, they got to that one too, RAWR!!!!, at least the Aussies had enough sense to include V8 in their branding scheme :)

      2. Just what I think. Sometimes it looks like a motorbike…something is missing for sure.

    2. I love the sound and what I love even more is how you can now hear the tyres screaming when they begin slipping.

      1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVBuTMCpIeE

        The on-board sounds are terribly muted, like people say it just sounds like a lesser formula now. This is volume – turn up your amplifiers and bathe in the glory of the mighty V10. simply beautiful! Click the link to see.

        1. That video took me back to my childhood days in 2004, when I first discovered F1, with Schumi plundering his way to the title, race after race. I miss that V10.

          The V6 ain’t bad, just needs more volume. That, and the FOM needs better microphones and sound engineers.

    3. @aimalkhan @keithcollantine I agree. I changed my opinion to liking the new sound to not liking the new sound, after the 2 FP. Simply put the sound is anti-climatic as aimalkhan says it just lacks volume. The tyre squealing is terrifying it activates the part of my brain that triggers fear!

    4. The magic is gone with no more loudness. Stupidity by FIA like so many other of the 2014 regulations. I would say that the eco-drive crap is the worst but the lack of loudness is not far off. Sad times.

    5. To be brutally honest, the sound is like formula ford and it’s positively underwhelming. They need to fix this ASAP otherwise people won’t attend. Very very disappointed. Live from Albert Park at PS and Qualifying!!!

    6. Peter OReilly
      15th March 2014, 16:13

      Quiet better than Noisy.
      What are you talking about ? ? ?
      If you are a petrol head half the buzz of driving and seeing a fast car is the sound it makes ! !
      I have been a F1 fan for over 10 years and watching the qualifying today was very disappointing only due to the rubbish noise these cars make.
      All I could hear was the commentator with a quiet
      rumble and whistle in the background.
      I thought there was a problem with my TV.
      Gutted ! !

    7. The best sounding thing on an F1 weekend will now be (cough) the Mercedes pace car, assuming a restart, and the Ferraris in the warmup races. They sound like anemic vacuum cleaners. Where’s the banshee scream that drew me to the sport in the late 80’s? Between that and the Nascar’esque double points last race I am seriously wondering about the sport I love so much.

    8. I hate the new sound. It would de differant if they were to run the engines 18K But 10-11K!!!!! I thought i was watching an indi car.

    9. These F1’s are doing the same lap speeds as the F3000 of ten years ago?! Is this still Formula 1?

      1. Are you deliberately choosing to ignore how close they were to last years times in Bahrain testing?

    10. Close your eyes and they sound like the current Indycars. Terrible for F1.

  1. I miss the excitement of a screaming engine

    1. Completely agree. The new engines don’t give me that excitement that the old engines gave me. That sound was a staple of F1 and even from home gave me the chills hearing the start. These engines don’t sound bad, but they don’t give me a rush like the old ones did.

    2. Fully agree… what is F1 if you cannot hear the sound from a mile away… These sound like kittens (referring to the p-word)

      1. Yup the walk across the bridge to the Île Notre-Dame will no longer be the same…

    3. I’m sitting at Turns 1-2 and the sound of the cars under braking and acceleration is pleasing and it sounds like a “real” race car.
      But most people are here to have their faces turned to a mix of pain/amazement when an F1 car goes past; now when they go past the reaction is one of mild satisfaction.

      I never thought I’d be so eager to watch the ultimate speed comparison with the old V8 engine, and it’s a bit sad I can’t hear the new F1 cars from the other side of the circuit :(

    4. That has always been one of the essences of the Formula One experience for me. With the V10s (and still the V8s), it created this all-encompassing bubble of sound. When it approaches your seat, it sounds like an angry hell-beast that’s coming closer and closer, while you can’t even see it yet. When it passes, you are in this bubble of sound in which nothing else exists but the raw power of this Formula One engine. When I read that people are now able to talk to each other, it means that Formula One has lost its all-encompassing ‘nothing exists but this car’ power and that’s a real shame.

      I do like that you can now hear more parts working, like the brakes and the tire screeches. It feels more mechanical.

      Of course Formula One is still (one of the) pinnacles of motorsport in the sound department, but it is definitely not on another level anymore. It has turned from this otherworldly hell beast into a grizzly bear: still something formidable, but just not the same.

  2. I really like the noise itself, there just isn’t enough of it.

    1. Exactly. Brundle said it on the broadcast and I agree as well. It’s a good sound just not loud enough. Its very mechanical and throaty but needs more volume to get the vibrations going.

      1. ……..if its sound and vibrations you desire then I would strongly urge you to go and sit trackside at a Top Fuel drag race meeting!!! You are 4 metres away from the track and the ground and whole stands are shaking from engine noise! You will love it, and its only 25 smackers entrance fee at Santa Pod.

        1. I’ve done that many times, its amazing. I’m looking forward to the new cars in Montreal.
          At least one upside of quieter engines will be the turbo and tire sounds.

    2. petebaldwin (@)
      14th March 2014, 14:27

      Yep that’s exactly my view on it as well.

      Do I like the new sound of F1? Yes
      Do I like the volume? Noooo…..

    3. I think this year the engine noise is “special” by itself, as last year’s V8’s had their special noise. It is not that I do not like it nor that I do not miss the V8’s, but I somewhat like this special noise… except for the Renault engine, it sounded horrible when watching on-board.

  3. I like the sound. Onboard it has a much rougher, bassy sound while on tv you can hear the whirs and whizzes on downshift into corners. The whole thing sounds kinda futuristic to me, like you can hear all the new technology working together to make the cars go fast.
    I’ll miss the wall of sound the old engines make, but I’m quickly getting used the the new sounds. It’s good, not better, not worse but definitely different.

    1. I think the broadcaster needs to turn the mic volume up. Bttc cars are surely quiter, yet on tv they sound louder than the f1 cars. Its all down to the sound guy not boosting the volume enough.

      1. I thought the same. The broadcast is doing these engines no favours! I still think the high revving sound was part of the uniqueness of F1 and it will be missed.

    2. but I’m quickly getting used the the new sounds

      @colossal-squid Congratulations, Toto Wolff likes you!

  4. Too early to judge, I have only heard clips on youtube, tomorrow morning I can tell something after qualifing

  5. The engines have this amazing rumble when off-throttle, and they kinda sound like jets when accelerating. I like how they sound. They just don’t make enough of it. That’s the biggest fault of the new V6s, they need to be a bit louder.

    1. @seyrine You make a balanced point

  6. All F1 engines sound amazing in my view. I love the difference in the engines, the only issue I have is that they’re a bit quiet for my liking. This will probably be worse at a more open track like COTA or Malaysia.

  7. They sound silly, weak and gutless. F1 is about extremes and the engine noise is/was part of that.

    1. Extreme inefficiency maybe….

      1. Your point? You really think F1 cars using 1/3 less fuel is going to save the planet? Wake up.

        1. Its about the technology that the fuel restrictions foster growth in, not just the 22 cars running around the track. Love it or hate it energy recovery and smaller turbo engines are the future and they will help to save the planet.

          Plus the 400+bhp per litre before the electrical system is amazing, and that’s where a lot of the sound has gone.

        2. It’s not about saving the planet though; it’s an engineering exercise to improve efficiency for the sake of performance

        3. Any sound escaping from the engine via the exhausts is wasted energy. From an engineering point of view, a quiet car is working at its best.

  8. I like the sound, although I really wish FOM would give us a better listen to it with some updated mic hardware. There’s a definite difference between the noise which was being captured by the mics used by the journalists at the tests, and the ambient trackside mics used by FOM. I felt like the sound seemed quite muted on the FP coverage and lacked a lot of the detail, especially the turbo spool noises and the whine from the energy recovery systems. But even still, I think it’s a massive improvement over the shrill noise of the old V8s. The V10s used to have a much more pleasing timbre, while to me the V8s were just flat noise. So it’s good to have a bit of tonal variation back through the rev range, and generally I think it’s a really pleasing noise.

    I always preferred a deep power chord to a string quartet

    1. @mazdachris, your comment got me thinking, I wonder if the trackside mics are attenuated in the lower frequencies so as not to pick up any naughty words spoken by trackworkers or very loud fans and therefore not giving us the full range/volume of sound emitted by the new engines, apparently people trackside are getting a lot more variation in the sound than I am getting from my TV (it has large speakers and excellent sound unless compared with high end seperates).

    2. It occurred to me that Bernie was quite deliberately keeping the sound crap to score a cheap point. Also, poor recording doesn’t explain the poor mixing on behalf of Sky – why can’t they ramp up the volume of the feed before talking over it?

  9. from outside the car they sound pretty good, much like indycar, but I think indycar might be louder…
    from onboard, they sound terrible, mainly because they sound less exciting then many lower tier series like gp2 and gp3, I don’t think they even sound as good as the 80s f1 turbos from onboard, maybe the camera the cameras are placed wrong and picking up to much turbo whistle.

    1. here is a decent comparison video of a 2014 Mercedes v6 turbo at jerez, and a 2013 Williams Renault v8 both in same section of Jerez track during past 2 years testing. the only thing the video doesn’t show well is the lower volume http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gz4h336rVpk

  10. To be honest I didn’t enjoy the sound @ FP1 but in the last 30 min of FP2 I got used to it, so I think after a few races many though will miss V8 but will get used to the new power plants.

    1. You said it right.
      There was the wonderful thing about the old high revving engines that I found enjoyable, such that if I found myself napping, especially for these early hours races, the moment I pick up the sound of the engines, I’d wake up immediately. But with these new ones, even the commentators seem to be whispering so as not to drown out the sound of the engines.

  11. I like the sound, but do wish that the rev limit was 18000 instead of 15000. I think then the cars would have that perfect rumble.
    I heard Kimi’s Ferrari pull into the pits, and dat whistle…..great sound.

    1. @strikeforce, none of the cars are reving much above 10000, because thats where max fuel use happens and therefore max power and above 10000 reliability will decrease for no gain in power.

      1. True, qualifying may get here tomorrow and then everyone will be happy with the sound, as they’re using more of the power. I’m just anxious for the race!

        1. 18000 + more fuel is what it needs, slowly reducing fuel limits year by year giving time to perfect technologies.

        2. @strifeforce, the sound on the video of Q3 in the round up is vastly superior to the FOM broadcast sound, check it out.

  12. I like all the different systems in the power unit adding new layers to the sound. I find it interesting and so far I’m liking it.

  13. For those who remember, how does the sound actually compare witht he turbos of the 80s? Do they still rev a lot lower than the cars from that era?

    Whilst I have not been able to really have a good listen yet (I will reserve any judgement till race day) if they sound similar to the turbos of old and a period in F1 which is often glorified, how can anyone say they are “not F1”?

    1. @mach1 I think the rev issue is a bit of a red herring. It wasn’t until the mid eighties that Renault were able to develop the first engine to hit 12,500rpm (much lower than the current limit) and the revs didn’t go much above that until well into the later part of the nineties when the big increase in revs occurred to get to where we were for the last few years.

      I can’t say first hand how the sound compares as I never attended a GP until 2004 so would depend on TV sound to compare and that is heavily dependent on sound technology so not a fair comparison.

  14. First footages I’ve seen show appalling onboard sounds. But I’m confident they will tweak and remaster the levels to produce something acceptable for broadcast, so, in a sense, yes I think it will be temporary.
    But we have no choice anyway, and resignation can’t really be called ‘people will get used to it’.
    At least, the sound is not my primary concern for F1.

  15. I love the new sound. The V8 shriek may as well have been someone sticking a dentist’s drill into my ears. By comparison, the V6Ts grumble-and-whine sounds like sweet sweet music.

  16. On-board footage is not that promising. They sound very similar to this. Not the sound I was expecting :(

    1. I prefer the indycar sound, less noise from the turbocharger.

      1. Exactly. IndyCar sounds better for me.

  17. The FP1 was really strange to watch, at certain points you just couldn’t hear the cars at all. That said, I think this new F1 sound is actually good, it could be a little louder, but that’s okay, because it makes possible to hear the tyres squealing, and that’s kind of an entirely new experience for me in F1.

  18. OK, lets be blunt- the new engines lack the shear volume and intensity of the old V8s. People saying that they can hold conversations near the track suggests that this year you won’t feel the sound through your body when a car goes past, but last year my ears were ringing for hours after a single day at Silverstone (I forgot my ear plugs!) and you only have to watch coverage to see that people who spend their lives around the old style F1 engines have seriously damaged their hearing. It did make for a good spectacle though!
    The thing is, we F1 fans like to claim that our sport is the pinnacle of motor racing technology, but with the Audis tripping around Le Mans year after year the naturally aspirated V8 didn’t qualify as high tech except that it revved higher than anything should ever have to. Yes the sound lacks the intensity that we as fans loved, but now we have depth. Listen to the whine of the turbo and the deeper roar of the exhaust, hear the turbo spool down when the car stops, and tyre screeches. In my entire life of watching F1 I have never heard a tortured tyre midcorner before.
    I think we have gained much more than we have lost, and F1 motors have finally become a serious talking point, which in a motor sport seems like a great thing!

    1. Very close to my thoughts, although I will reserve opinion until I hear them properly, not through PC speakers at work…

      1. OK, after the race, I am overall happy with the sound. There are so many more nuances, as said above, like tyres, turbo, MGU’s. Hearing the cars set off from the pits brought a huge grin to my face every time!

        I do think FOM need to sort out the levels of the sound for TV. This will go a long way to appeasing the audience.

        Obviously, I can’t comment on the sound at the track.

  19. I was never crazy on the V8’s sound. Yeah, it was more high pitched, but so what? The new engines to my ears are more interesting, and it can sound totally different one moment to the next depends on the amount of revs.

    I do think it comes across differently on TV however, and there needs to an increase in engine-to-environment ratio volume wise. Because the pitch is lower it doesn’t quite cut through. I don’t know if they have mics on track side, or if the sound is just from the camera, but they should crank the whole thing up!

  20. As long as the racing is good, I’m fine with the new engines. Quieter engines are probably a good idea for those actually watching a race in the flesh too!

  21. Well, I have some good comparison material
    I have been to the German Gp last year and to the pre-season test at Jerez this year
    I have to say the difference between the V6 and the V8 is huge.
    The V8’s are screaming and the V6’s have a deeper sound, but both are special
    The V8’s were as loud as you could get, but as I didn’t have earplugs, my ears were annoyed after a day of F1 action. Though they were very impressive, you could hear the cars from miles away.
    The V6 is very enjoyable to listen to. You hear much more different sounds. At full speed the cars still sound incredible, not screaming but a more heavy noise. As the cars are breaking you hear a sort of wizz, in the middle of the corner the cars sound like a standing aeroplane , and you hear the turbo and ERS working together with the engine when the cars accelerate.

    Although the sound is very different, it is still unique and impressive in my opinion
    I have to make one remak. TV viewers might be disappointed with the sound, but in real life
    the sound is much better. I think they have to tweak the TV coverage a bit because on
    TV the cars don’t sound at all like in real life.

  22. I love the Merc growl. Seems very different to the other two. These sounds are actually hearable. I think in the past the excitement was about how loud the sound was but not we need to be accustomed to the growl that can be heard in full.

    Definitely prefer the newer ones. This is all based on TV sounds.

    1. The Merc is definitely the nicest in my opinion. The onboards sound great.

    2. Lewis Hamilton does not like the sound on the new Merc

  23. Yes, I would trade them for NA V12 in a second I still like the sound

  24. It’s different, so what, the high frequency, high volume shriek of the V8’s was exciting but quickly became tedious, the new sound might lack a little in excitement and volume but it is an interesting powerful sound that will be less tedious to listen to all race long. I think it is good.

  25. To be honest i don’t really like it, the turbo sounds quite good but it’s just very quiet from onboard. However, i think that this is the direction f1 has to go and recovering energy means less created as noise. In engineering form follows function and is often beautiful as a result and i think eventually the same will be true of the engines. Its better this way than staying with an outdated formula. Maybe they’ll be able to gradually raise the rev limit or something to help.

  26. i love the sound, though that doesn’t mean it’s better then the previous year’s sound. the sound of that turbo is awesome i think. plus u get to here the power of the engine with it being overwhelming (imo better then you could before).

  27. The Blancpain endurance championship cars sounds better

  28. Daniel (@collettdumbletonhall)
    14th March 2014, 14:27

    Onboard they sounded quite good but when you see them on the normal TV cameras they sound quite lame if I am honest. On balance, gave them average.

  29. I’ve never been a fan of having the noise of a Formula One engine rip through your very soul so I find these new engines a significant improvement. Don’t get me wrong, on TV they do sound very quiet, but I like the fact you can now go and watch F1 live without needing ear defence.

    And despite the slightly down heartening quieter noise on TV it gives you a chance to hear all of the other going’s on during a practice/qualifying session or a race. Just watching practice alone earlier I really enjoyed actually being able to hear the drivers comments on team radio as well as the tyre squeals from all around the circuit and the many other noises that you usually can’t hear because of the scream of the engine.

  30. I love the sound, I just wish it they could turn the volume up a bit.

    Although I do really like being able to hear the tyres squealing under braking and the team radios are now a lot clearer.

    1. @magnificent-geoffrey – How odd that we both posted a comment near enough exactly the same within a minute of each other :P

  31. I am a bit on the fence with the noise. I went to Austin GP and you could hear the V8s screaming from a mile away. You just got a sense of power from the sound.

    These new engines don’t sound bad to me, but I just don’t get the same sense of power from them.

    I have a feeling we will all get used to them very quickly though.

  32. petebaldwin (@)
    14th March 2014, 14:32

    I went for average. I like the sound but as others have said, it’s all far too quiet. On TV, you could hardly hear when they went past the camera!

    In general, the sound isn’t that important to me but it has to sound right for the start. Seeing them all sat on the grid reving like mad always made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. I hope that hasn’t been lost….

  33. Pretty much neutral over this.

    I can trade engine noise for engine performance. That is what pinnacle of motor sport should be.

  34. Very, very disappointed with the TV sound. That came as a surprise after the footage from testing, which sounded pretty good most of the times. There must be something wrong in the way they’re capturing the sound…

  35. I voted for “average”, but only because the engines are so quiet (at least on TV). What I got to see on today’s P2 on SKY, I was really disappointed by the pitifully silent engines.

    From what I saw in videos recorded at tests in Jerez and Bahrain, the engines create a nice sound. Yeah, it was different and it will take a while to become accustomed to it. If broadcast sound engineers are able to enhance the volume of the engines, I would cheerfully upgrade my vote to “good”.

    Maybe I’ll have a different answer, when I have the chance to hear them live at the Austrian GP later in the season.

  36. The onboard sound like the horrible vuvuzelas are back.
    The outer microphones I haven’t heard.

  37. A lot is being lost in what you hear on television. I got home in time to watch second practice and the sound was very different. There you can hear the whine of the turbo as they pull out of corners, the odd new noises of the regenerative breaking… I love it.

    Sure it’s different but don’t knock it until you’ve actually been 20 metres away from one.

    That. I find it amazing that people can judge the sound level of an engine when they’ve never actually heard it.

    1. It’s pretty straightforward, to be honest:

      I now have to turn the volume up extremely loud to hear the cars. I didn’t last year.

  38. for onboard sounds, maybe f1 should use the goldstar onboard camera system http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_Nv0NaqNUw

  39. jose kowalsky
    14th March 2014, 14:38

    Regarding the sound of the current f1 engines I heard some silly comments., like: I really like it because I canbe at the track without ear plugs. Are you sserious? Are you happy to save 4 dollars on the plugs!!!
    I am going to make a comment every fan can relate to. Do you remember the first time you went to a circuit to watch a race? You were young, maybe your father brook you. You saw the cars on TV before, but you weren’t sure if they were just part of your imagination, or were real.
    You can’t sleep the night before, because of the excitment, wake up very early and drive. It doesn’t matter how early, you don’t feel three. When you get to the race track, there is already people around, a lot of traffic. Should we have waken up earlier? Would I miss something. It is Saturday, and when you are walking in the parking lot, you hear a sound that’s out of this world. How can this be you wonder. We are so far away from the track and they sound like they are just around the corner. You start walking faster, like everybody else around you. Everybody has the sensation they are missing something important. The sound becomes even stronger as you get closer. You start to wonder, what is the first carmimam going to see live. Would it be senna in the McLaren, or man sell my favorite. The new fans this year I am sorry to see they are going to be deprived of that feeling, that you only get once in your live as a fan.

    1. I went to my 1st. race before we had TV in Australia, there have been many sounds of F1, only in the last few years has there been a unique F1 sound.

  40. It sound good, but not as good as the V10. If they can get rid of the sort of vacuum cleaning sound which I think comes from the electric motors they would sound better. Love the turbo sound.

  41. I like the new sound, sure the scream of an atmospheric V12, V10 or even a V8 will always sound much better but I can see myself getting used to the new sound. Love the sound when they are in low revs.

    I didn’t vote ‘very good’ because that simply isn’t the case, ‘good’ is exactly what these power units deserve.

    1. I’ve got to add this: To those saying they sound silent on TV, listen and look at this, that’s not silent is it?

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ym-mfiJK78A

      1. Michael Brown
        14th March 2014, 14:55

        That sounds fantastic.

      2. The Mercedes engine sounds good, no doubt about it.

        But it’s also beside the point. As soon as you add commentary to it, you’ll have to reduce the volume again. The on-track microphones part of the broadcast is too quiet compared to the commentators’ voices. I’ve seen that with Austrian ORF, German Sky and Sky UK.

  42. Mike (@anotherproblem)
    14th March 2014, 14:49

    I like the sound, they’re just a bit too quiet on the TV – I’ve not been near one in the flesh so I don’t know about that so maybe it’s the way the microphones pick them up.

    As for people saying “F1 is about the screaming engines” just go away and sit in a corner. F1 isn’t about what you want, it is what it is, it changes, it evolves. Get over it.

    1. Don’t think there’s any need to be so dismissive (much alike Claire Williams and Toto Wolff).

      It’s definitely a part of F1’s DNA from the get-go. The volume is simply a part of it.

      It honestly reminded me more of Formula E. I could hear the tyre screetches. It sounded like a go kart when cornering.

      The engines DO sound nice, though. I honestly can barely hear them. It’s very disappointing, and I can’t shake it off.

      And maybe people will ‘get over it’, and start watching endurance racing or IndyCar.

      It’s really not a great attitude to have, and could be quite harmful if they don’t listen and respond appropriately.

  43. Michael Brown
    14th March 2014, 14:50

    I’ve only heard sounds via YouTube and I’m not planning on going to any races this year (possibly New Jersey next year). I like the sound, but it’s too quiet. From a trackside video comparing 2013 to 2014, last years engines made a distinct echo as they went past you which is lost on these engines.

    I’ll save my vote for after the race.

  44. The turbo whines sound like a dentist drill. Sometimes unlistenable for me. The main issue for me is that loudness equates to “feeling it in your chest”. I hope that the new engines are equal to the V8’s in that department. Can anyone at Albert Park comment on that?

  45. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
    14th March 2014, 14:51

    I do agree that the V8 shrieked a little too much BUT it also conveyed the sense of being on the limit.

    The new V6 sound awful on a good home entertainment system. NBC did a comparison of 2013 and 2014 sounds and it’s just awful especially in terms of hearing the gear changes.

    Here’s a great idea to at least salvage the fun for TV viewers – the FIA can use some “equalization” to improve the sound until they correct it in 2015.

  46. No option for, “I like the sound, but too quiet!”

    That’s how I would have voted… I liked the commentator idea of adding megaphones to the back of each car…

    1. This.

      I didn’t vote because of that.

  47. The sound of the new F1 engines sux big time. Even our V8 Super cars sound better And louder. What a let down!. Some comrades of mine and I are considering whether to attend the sessions tomorrow or for that matter Sunday. :(

  48. They sound like the high tech machines they’re now. The V8s were really annoying for me. Specially from the onboard cameras. That mosquito sound they made was awful. No comparisson with the glorious V10s. Im really happy with this new formula.

  49. I really, really like them! Sounding good and sounding loud are not the same thing. Formula 1 should be the pinnacle of technology and, for the first time in decades, the engines sound that way.

    For my money, the best sounding race car in recent years has been Audi’s LMP1, and anyone who’s heard that car will know that it’s one of the quietest race cars around. But when I first heard it last year, I thought that futuristic jet-like whoosh produced by the Audi was a thousand times more interesting than the relatively ancient V8 whine you’d hear at an F1 race. I must say, the new F1 engines sound very close to the Audi.

    There’s no denying that F1’s new engines are somewhat less atmospheric than the old ones. Certainly, arriving at an F1 race and hearing the engines revving before you’ve even parked your car won’t be the same. But the fact is, the new engine formula is a change that F1 really needed, and you can either embrace the new noise or complain about it.

    1. For my money, the best sounding race car in recent years has been Audi’s LMP1, and anyone who’s heard that car will know that it’s one of the quietest race cars around. But when I first heard it last year, I thought that futuristic jet-like whoosh produced by the Audi was a thousand times more interesting than the relatively ancient V8 whine you’d hear at an F1 race.

      @jackysteeg +1

  50. Carmakers can now promote their supercars as “sounding better than F1”. Before it couldn’t have been true, now it can be done.

  51. I voted for poor. I don’t miss the high screaming sound, i like the the new turbo sound, but it’s just so quiet. I was expecting to be like 80’s(McLaren MP4/4) with a huge roar, but… :(

  52. They sound great.

    Trouble is, I can barely hear them.

    All I can hear is the commentators talking far, far too loud where I have to turn my TV up so much.

    I’ve tweeted Sky/Brundle a few times simply suggesting turning up the FOM feed’s volume.

    It’s a simple, temporary fix.

  53. I voted poor. I was going to put very poor but then I listened to some modern footage of the 80s V6 turbos and it sounds very similar. I hated 18k V8s, 19k was ok, 2006 unlimited V8s were acceptable but nothing will replace the V10 screamer.

    1. I don’t think they sound similar and this is the problem. Watch this –
      McLAren MP4/4. :)

  54. I agree with Travis Humphrey, who said in the OP : “you can hear the whine of the turbo as they pull out of corners…”. I’ve only heard the new noise on youtube, and it’s sounds particularly interesting to me. The “Whizz” of the turbo engaging, and yes all the regenerating items which make the sound completely different, but appealing. I’ll judge tomorrow morning during the qualies.
    Just a comment, I was in Zolder in I believe 1978/79, and there, there was the noise of the Matra 12 cylinder. No one didn’t put his hands to his hears because it was so loud.
    I think today it will be better for the public, certainly the ones traveling with their children to visit and watch a GP w/out being scared of becoming hearing impaired…
    Let’s see tomorrow !

  55. Don’t think the cars are loud enough on the TV?

    You see that button on your remote with +/- and a triangle next to it?

    Hit +

  56. WilliamB (@william-brierty)
    14th March 2014, 16:21

    Certainly, the sound of the V6s is a lot better than I expected, and I really do like the sound, especially of the soulful wail of the Ferrari engine of the straights. In my opinion, following the ban on exhaust blown diffusers at the end of 2011 we had two seasons of F1 sounding the best it has ever sounded, and yes, I am including the V10 era when I say that, which I personally thought was at times slightly tinny and didn’t think was a patch on the quality of sound the V8s managed, ranging from deep and clearly defined downshifts through to an utterly glorious and blood-curdling scream that vibrated every seat in the grandstand.

    However the problem with the V6s is not the sound, but the noise, or rather lack of it. Not being a fan of loud noises (I am the one that asks the DJ to “turn it down a bit” when he asks if there are “any requests”) the noise was what worried me the most before I attended my first race back in ’85, but it subsequently became the reason I went to races. Twelve, ten or eight cylinders compelled me to keep going to races, and the intoxicating vibration from both the grandstands and the garages, for me, transcended the experience of spectating F1 from a merely visual hobby to a physical experience. I hope six cylinders manage to keep me hooked…

  57. I don’t mind the sound that much. It’s okay, and its quite fun with the different wuush and purr noises coming from them. Rather then just “WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA”.
    But it’s just not loud enough.
    So far I haven’t, not felt let down, when I heard the cars. It’s simply not as impressive.
    And it’s not terribly unique either. It’s not much different from a lot of other racing series in terms of sound.
    The old 18000 angry wasps a minute certainly were. I miss them.

  58. It’s not that quietness in itself is not impressive. The silent LeMans diesels are unique for their quietness. The question is, how important is the spectacle?

    I think it’s clear the sounds on television are distinctly underwhelming.

    But even live – for me the thrill begins a loooong way from the track. If you arrive during practice, you can hear the shrieking engines from inside your car as you near the circuit. These new cars will not make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, nor will they cause newcomers eyes to open wide and mouths to gape as they wonder “What is going on in there? What have you brought me to?”

  59. As others have said, it’s not the sound, it’s the volume. Then again, my first exposure to F1 was in the 1980’s, and that sound registered in my mind as what an F1 car should sound like.

    Then, 1989 happened, and the big V-12’s came out. VERY nice, and I’d say that particular sound is gorgeous. After that, the shriek of the V-10’s. I remember waking up to a practice session nearly a kilometer away from Indianapolis, the scream was so loud, (which in my view is the best alarm clock created), but again, it woke me up from nearly a kilometer away. Stunning tone, but too loud to attend without earplugs, which dull the experience when attending.

    The last two races I’ve attended were both IndyCar events running turbocharged V-6’s through city streets. Despite the echoes against the skyscrapers, the engines were quiet enough to eliminate the need for earplugs, allowing me to hear the announcers over the PA system and hear some of the comments from those in the stands around me. The more guttural V-6’s used in F1 do sound slightly better, at least over television, than IndyCar’s

    Compounding all of this though, is the potential mentioned previously. Had the manufacturers been given one more year to develop the engines, we could have had the best of both worlds. Reliable engines capped a few thousand RPM’s higher, producing a more appealing tone.

    In any case, I’ll take the V-6 over the V-8, but not the V-8’s predecessors. I just hope the fans in attendance get to hear plenty of the engines still running in the closing laps.

  60. I would like to point out that the old F1 cars from the 1960s aren’t very loud either, but their tone is very nice, almost musical. Combined with the slippery handling and simple, narrow bodies, they are my favourite F1 cars. of all time.

    Also, I think that most fans have been spoiled with the ridiculously loud engine noises from the late 1990s, early 2000s. I was moderately happy with my old, outdated phone. Then I bought a new one, but it broke down within a week. I had to revert to the old phone and suddenly it was an awful piece of machinery. See what I mean?

  61. I always felt this is the best sounding car on the grid http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqRfwix-ntg

  62. I like the sound, just don’t think they are loud enough, was thinking of going to Silverstone this year but not sure now as the atmosphere will not be the same. I loved the sound of the old F1 cars going round Silverstone.

  63. Sure it’s different. Quieter means nothing in terms of TV viewing, that’s a function of the mixing of the broadcast stream and the characteristics of your sound system. The rumble, growl and hiss of the new power units works quite well with tiny laptop speakers and earbuds – the howl of the v8s sounded quite buzzy through those. Will probably sound epic with surround sound and a big sub.

    An interesting thought, with the quieter cars does this mean one can enjoy the sport without ear defenders? Personally I’ve always got ear plugs on me as wind noise in my bike helmet is a thing, but in recent years going to events where I can talk to the other half without resorting to sign language, and being able to perhaps take children to a grand prix without much complaints that it’s too loud.

    Food for thought is that arenacross is growing and part of that must be the fact that the bikes are quieter than some road bikes.

  64. Yes, the new engines sound good, if only I could hear them.

    I watched FP2 on BBC yesterday and if not for the BBC commentary, I could have watched on mute.

    Very, very disappointed. (And I am a recent fan not an old, stuck-in-the-mud diehard).

  65. I will trade slightly dull sound for unpredictable / exciting racing every day of the week. Does anyone really think that the sound of a Ferrari V10 made up for the dullness of Schumacher domination? the sound of a Renault V8 for Vettel’s?
    Who gives a cr*p what it sounds like – the vast majority of us watch it on TV. Watching V10’s/V8’s was fun at the circuit – I loved it – but not at the expense of knowing who would win as soon as quail was done.

  66. Don’t like the new sound.

    The old sound was a single animalistic scream, like the driver was trying to control an angry tiger. Now it sounds a like small mechanical parts working away in a plastic housing, with the driver tapping away at a keyboard. Totally different feel.

  67. I was one of whom thought that it wouldn’t matter, and that the sound of Formula One wouldn’t matter so long as everything else that I love about the sport stayed roughly in tact. However, after watching practice, I did feel like something was missing.

    In previous years, the cars didn’t only look fast, but sounded fast. The cars in practice today, just didn’t look fast. Somehow the sound detracted from what I was seeing on TV and making me think that they looked slower because of it. I don’t know if the power was turned down a lot today, and that the cars will sound a little better come Saturday and perhaps Sunday, but maybe it would be a good idea, as Martin Brundle suggested that a device be implemented to increase the sound artificially.

    Anyway, having said that, I did like the sound during the on-board footage, so there is hope yet and maybe I will get used to it. For now, I’ll hold judgement, at least for a few more races.

  68. underwhelmed…. sounds more like a road car commercial. Pinnacle of what again?

    1. Yeah, whats more frustrating is listening to the team ‘bosses’ justifying themselves as using F1 as a billboard for car manufacturers who want to introduce ‘hybrid systems’ in order to increase sales via increased hype. If it is really progress, the teams would not be forced to introduce the “new technology” because it would be a move in the right direction :)

      Progress is not being told what to do, but some people think it is :) And some people like it that way unfortunately.

  69. I was one of the people who poured scorn on those who were skeptical about the sound of the new engines. However, having heard them in FP1 and 2, to me, it kinda sounds like they are not trying, and just cruising round the track.

  70. I don’t like it. A friend attending said they are considerably quieter than the V8’s. The turbo sounds like a dentist drill. F1 is the pinnacle of MOTORSPORT. An F1 car should NEVER be confused with any lesser formula. There is a line for me where “road relevance” just doesn’t apply to SPORT and EXCITEMENT. People that complain F1 is “green” enough should look at the Tour De France which creates more CO2 than the entire formula 1 circus does all season (including the cars, freighter jets, everything). BTW I am 100% in favor of electric and hybrid road cars and frankly those development lines are highly developed industries that no longer depend on motorsport to learn anything from.

    I see the F1 regs as taking us one step closer to this supreme blandness:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omV6-tTiDE4

  71. i like it!

  72. They sound Amateur.Lower level.

  73. I think they sound average – but that means they are more suitable for watching F1 on television at unsociable hours like 01:30 and 05:30 this morning!! :D

    It’s more about the technological implementations for me that give these V6-turbo-super-KERS units a WOW factor!

  74. I quite like it. Yes its not as loud as what we have had before but I don’t think that automatically makes it worse, Just different.

    Sticking with the V8’s or going to something like a V10 or V12 just to keep it loud is silly, Its not how you keep the engine makers interested & if they don’t like the formula or don’t feel its relevant to them there not going to enter F1. And I know many fans think the idea of F1 been relevant to anything outside of F1 is dumb, But were not the ones who have to convince people in a board room to give us money to Research, Design, Build & Develop an F1 engine & everything that goes with it.

    Also remember that were at the start of development, Things will change over the next few years as what can be changed within the engine is improved & the exhaust designs will also change. In a few years they may be louder & sound better than they do right now.

    Something else I’d also point to is that I think Sky had the Track Audio turned down too much which made them sound worse/quieter than they really are.
    For example the OnBoard shots on the main SSF1 program sounded pretty quiet, However on the raw OnBoard feeds on the red button they sounded much louder & a lot better.

    Some OnBoards from the OnBoard feeds:
    https://www.mediafire.com/folder/ad3bbp3qxzp39/01_-_Melbourne

    1. Just to add that regardless of what they sound like, The new power units along with the reduction in downforce make the 2014 cars more fun to watch, Especially from the OnBoards with drivers fighting wheel-spin under acceleration as well as the cars just moving around more in general.

      Much more spectacular to watch than the V8’s which with so little torque were pretty unspectacular to watch.

  75. Th engines are simply not as exciting. That wonderfully satisfying V8 shriek of power is now missing.. Sight AND sound, that is the spectacle that is F1.. When F1 drivers and drivers of other racing series could point out the mediocrity you know there is something missing. It’s just a positive sign that the fans will defend the new engine sounds almost out of duty, just like they did the awful nose designs. And just like those awful noses, which the FIA will address, because they ARE awful, these V6 turbo acoustics are a step backwards from the V8-10-12 acoustics of yesteryear… Yes it does matter. You can’t touch F1. You see it, and you hear it. Or not, as it were..

  76. I’d imagine that the experience was probably different at the track, but watching on TV I was very underwhelmed. I was cautiously optimistic after watching some of the testing (with earphones) on my computer, but on TV these cars sounded flat out anemic. For the casual viewers and potential new fans, there is really nothing setting F1 apart from several other series now.

  77. I prefer the new sound of the V6 turbo. I also like we can hear the tires, this is a great plus IMO.
    The screaming of the V8 was impressive but it was getting old very fast on track side.
    I hope I will be able to enjoy the track side without ear plugs :)

  78. I like the tones of the engines, but overall volume is a bit lacking. The onboard sound is quite nice though, I’d always hated the pointlessly loud V8 onboards.

  79. Wow, I just did the poll and was surprised to see I’m in the majority with “good”. They say the best looking cars are usually the fastest — and yesterday I was thinking maybe the best sounding cars might be the fastest too. THere’s a big range in how the different engines sound but from the few onboard shots I saw, the McLaren sounded best — higher pitched than RB’s renault.

  80. The new sound is JUST AWFUL!!! Will Buxton saying he liked hearing the cars “Whizz and pop and whir as they go by”…..oh good grief! They are FORMULA 1 cars, not cuckoo clocks! YUCK! I am almost dreading Sunday’s race where we’ll hear a full starting grid of these weed-whackers with steering wheels. Ugh…

  81. No. The sound looks like we’re watching Moto GP :(

  82. there are better sounding cars in NASCAR. Wolf said people would forget about the sound thing altogether, but one of the reasons I fancy F1, and playing it on the PlayStation is running through the gears and listening to the clear and distinct pitch of the motor, now it sounds like a Dyson on the back of a commuter, w/ a turbo.

    I have no doubt that with time, the boost, and some work on the tires, they will make better times than 2013, after all F1 has kind of been going no where for the last 10 years in terms of speed/performance, but it really isn’t the same.

  83. The real noise of F1 has been dumbed down for much longer than most of you think. If you all think the V10’s/V8’s are missed, just go back to the origins pre war, and listen to the Mercs and Auto unions from that era. This is what we came up with in the UK (http://youtu.be/OnEA-m8cVcE) which sounded great but was rarely seen although not bad for a 1500 cc engine. Go back and listen to the 250f Masserati, the Ferrari 156 and the Matra V12,s. if you want a real insight into what has happened since the early 70’s.
    This is kids stuff these days.

    1. a V16, nice. It’s amazing how much character you can get by messing with the valves, and adding pistons. almost sounds like an airplane ;) a shame the rules are focused more at consumer autos instead of air/space age goodness.

  84. They sound like the future….although they do sound better in the pit lane now…almost space age!…I do wonder though why couldn’t a V8 have been used…as the manufacturers have so much know how on this type of ICE for the ‘powertrain’….plus theese engines mean we might see some F1 manufacturers in the WEC & Le Mans….which would be rather epic

  85. After watching on TV I’m really not a fan. They seem extremely quiet which f1 cars should not be. Also, from the red bull in car camera the sound I heard sounded like a sped up track of a canal boat with turbo noise dubbed over it

  86. I must say at first I was quite disappointed, they are very quiet on TV. I think the broadcasters certainly need to alter their sound levels, increase the trackside mic volume to make more of the sound. Once I got over the shock at that I started hearing tyre squeal on lock ups and then I realised, this might be far far better for our sport. With the old shriek everything else became inaudible, we never hear the crowds on TV, which makes you think people just sit there quietly observing when in reality its a very lively atmosphere, at least at the British GP which I’ve been to twice. Maybe now we’ll hear far more of the atmosphere as well as hear the drivers struggling for grip etc. Can’t wait to hear the GP start tomorrow to see what its like, but for now I’m cautiously optimistic it will be an improvement overall.

  87. At the moment, No, until the whole field takes off on Race Day it’s hard to judge.
    Having said that, if they sound like leaf blowers and we finally get some sharp end RACING I’ll be happy.

  88. When I heard the sound of the new engines I got really scared as I thought that I was suffering of presbycusis being unable to listen the high frequencies. Yes, I’m old. I’ve been watching F1 for 51 years so that was possible. But no, my hearing is still 100%. Do I like the sound of the V6’s? No way, it’s horrible!

  89. Curious that these V6 turbos are sound ‘like motoGP’. Would that be the tearing metal of a RC213V or the rasp of the crossplane I4 YZR-M1 or the growl of the Desmo? I don’t hear turbo whine in any of the motoGP bikes.

  90. Log into formula1.com and listen to the intro … they still have the ol’ good screaming V8 engine.

    Although the V8’s were more “dramatic” the new V6’s aren´t that bad, considering that they must have run at what, 80-90% of their full power? And we haven´t listen the full grid on Sunday.

    What I’m really liking is that you can distinguish a Mercedes Benz, a Ferrari or a Renault engine.

  91. Don’t understand what happened since Jerez and even Bahraintesting and how the exhausts were made quieter … looks like something stuck on the end of it.
    FIA says not much quieter but I read about a 30db reduction which is 10x quieter. In the end I think TV viewer figures will show whether the sound is ‘good’ enough because its really lame on TV … for me the ‘goosebumps’ are gone :(

  92. Im shocked by the sound TBH. I think they should do something to fix this.

  93. it’s the sound of the future – imagine sci fi, space ships…! And more important, drivers are winning their pay needing to fight and grab the car around. I missed that in Formula 1… It was like cars on rails… And the reliability was always a question mark, until recent years were all car that start… finish… I like to see driver mistakes, mechanical malfunctions and so go. In all this the sound is not important – there are a lot of positive things for the fans this year.

    Go HAM! Go BUT! Go MAG! Go BOT!

  94. Graham Mosdall
    15th March 2014, 4:33

    I’m sorry but quieter engines sound rubbish, they sound like high performance lawn mowers, the true sound of F1 has been truely lost, on board sound on most of the cars sounds like a nascar that’s missing a few cylinders and some sound like an indycar, Mclarens have the best on board sound but the new engine sound is rubbish, the ear pearcing sound of the F1 engines from last year and years before that were brilliant, sitting there and not needing ear plugs to watch an F1 race? No thank you, the engines should be screaming as loud as possible, the new engines I’m sorry but that’s not the pinnacle of motorsport, that’s F1 dumbing down and dumbing down way to much, quite frankly the F1 engines we have now are pathetic, bring back the V10’s and leave road car technology to the racing series which actually race road cars such as touring cars, that’s where this hybrid stuff should be going to, not F1

    1. Next, we’ll see a green leaf pop up on Vettel’s steering wheel when the team orders him to save the tires and conserve fuel. What an utter disgrace. I couldn’t watch live but later on Sunday I watched about 20min and then fast forwarded to the end to see who won and turned it off in disgust. These people should be ashamed of themselves as well as all the pseduo-engineers on here trying to convince everyone that quieter is more F1. I’m sure I’ll like a concert much better if they just turn down the music so I can talk with my friends. I went back and listened to the difference from V12, V10, V8, and now V6. This most recent change is the most dramatic and I fear damaging to the sport. What a shame.

  95. People hated the v8’s when they first came in, as the v10’s were so much better sounding. Now, people are hating the v6’s as the v8’s were so much better sounding.

    Makes sense…….

    Also, I think the Audi Diesels sound phenomenal, so volume isn’t everything. The v6’s sound good to me.

  96. There was a guy who noted that, at the race, the V8 car was the only thing that existed in the moment it ran by. I pay almost $200 just for the race day ticket, and I do not want to be distracted by the mundane trivialities of everyday life. I want F1 to seize my attention, whether or not I want it. That is the magic of F1 that drew me in when i had absolutely no interest in racing of any sort. something about the sound that announced, demanded, that I was stepping into another world. I don’t get that any more and I fear I may lose interest. Especiallly If it ends up being another Red Bull year.

  97. Travis Humphery (@)
    15th March 2014, 6:33

    Why does the sound matter?

    A 1990’s Corolla isn’t any slower then a 1990’s Corolla fitted with a massive exhaust pipe.

    1. @travis

      Because just like the looks, the noise of a car is part of the excitement.

  98. I’ll wait and see what it’s like when I’m at the track later this year. From what I’ve heard so far I don’t think it sounds too bad actually.

  99. After a terrific qualifying can we all now put this debate to bed and move on. If there is one thing that is a constant in this world it is change and engine notes are one of them. The 2014 sound is throaty and sometimes a little bit sci-fi. It’s not better nor is it worse than the 2013 sound, it’s just different. One upside was to be able to hear the crowd. We are the people that keep the f1 wheels turning so it’s good to hear the cheering above the noise of the cars. Long live f1, the best sport in the entire universe!

    1. I agree. Hearing the crowd makes you feel more involved watching at home and as for the engines being less quiet, I think, for me anyway, it makes no difference. Last year I went to Silverstone and had ear defenders that dampened the sound anyway, this year I won’t need them so will get the full feel of cars and crowd

  100. After just watching the qualifying, where has Formula 1 gone, the sound of the cars was very disappointing to say the least. Yes the new changes will spice everything up, the new torque of the engines shows driver skill. But I could get very similar thrills from lesser levels including Karting. The loud screaming sound of the V8 at 18000 revs added so much to the experience. The adrenaline rush from that wonderful sound has gone. Pinicle of motor sport? hmmmmmmm Maybe GP2

  101. Best sounding cars ever! Who doesn’t like the whine of a turbo?…

  102. If the TV audio from the track was about doubled, it would help tremendously for us at home. But I fully understand why people miss the screams. High-revving and loud notes to go along with the flowing beauty of a car on the limit is akin to the artful building of musical form.

    So while the pure engineering nature of F1 argues that beauty comes from form and function, there is no question that a more primal art-form is lost with quieter engines. I’ve driven an 2-cycle go-kart as well as an electric one, and I have to say the speed of the kart was only one aspect of the enjoyment. For this reason, I really think that in the future (when fully electric cars will be an inevitability), artificial noise should be looked at – or else this aspect will be entirely lost.

  103. Formula 1 is headed down the wrong path, in my humble opinion. I don’t mind changes, but the changes made have rendered the cars limp and the drivers impotent. The ridiculous tire situation from last year turned the drivers into the world’s most highly paid babysitters, and the saving of fuel instead of pushing hard to get an advantage is a slap in the face to racing fans everywhere. Saving fuel. What a joke. To top it all off, the v6 turbos sound uninspiring, and quite bland, at least on TV. I have a nice a/v setup and always look forward to turning up the volume to enjoy the sounds of F1, and what I heard made me sick, and sad. Formula 1 engines now produce a sound that is far less impressive than those found in nascar, indycar, motogp, you name it, it sounds better than F1. Where is this sport going? What a disappointment. I think the season will be interesting, and I am glad to see new names and teams getting an opportunity to compete for wins, podiums, and points, but isn’t there a way to achieve this level of competition without neutering both the cars and the drivers?

  104. I feel that it’s harsh to say that the new V6 engines sound poorly, it sure is different though. Of course whether one likes this new sound is a personal thing. Personally i’m not that into the new sound, not that it’s a bad sound, I’ve just grown fond of screaming high revving engines, whether they be V8, V10 or the old V12s, they sound like power to me.

  105. Can’t help but think people are slightly over reacting about the new sound, sure they’re different but its not enough to make you loose interest

  106. Do you know, guys, that the best engine would be the quieter one? Noise is energy wasted. So a perfect F1 engine would transform the chemical petrol energy into kinetic energy, without thermal and noise energy wastings.

    So maybe quieter engines are more efficient and more F1.

  107. Probably not going to attend the race again , I left after 26 laps was very disappointed. I really miss that v8 grantie thrust sound they produced then the new turbos.

  108. F1 is about who gets first past the finish line not about who has the louder engine. Quieter is better so I don’t have to wear earplugs when I go watching F1 at the track and I can talk with the people around me.

  109. I was so underwhelmed by sundays race, I passed out before finishing my 1st beer !!! That never happened, gad damn it. Been an avid armchair F1 fan for nye on 40 years, but now thinkin it’s time to find something more exciting to do on race day, maybe tip a cap of castrol R in the hedge trimmer….
    RIP F1, was nice knowin ya

  110. Some will like the new sound and some will hate it. In my case I hate it. The blood rush i used to get when the race would start from the grid line is gone. I am not blessed like so many of you where I can buy a ticket and go see the race live. So either i have to watch it on TV or mostly online on the internet. I was so excited on Sunday for the first race but then i could hardly hear the sound of the cars. It was more like Tesla cars running instead of F1 cars. I have been watching F1 since the 80s. Sure v12 were the best, but scaling down to v10 and v8 did not make a huge difference sound wise. But now, there is nothing except that whistling sound which i couldn’t even hear over the commentary. Speed wise i dont care if there is a difference or not, but there has to be some sort of screaming sound which relates f1 to f1, not hybrid green racing.
    Will i continue watching F1?…Yes, but will i enjoy it as much i did?…not even close.

  111. Formula 1 ignored the importance of the unique visceral sound experience to its fans. This is what happens when health and safety meets preventing pollution and political correctness. Hopefully F1 will restore normal service soon.

  112. Formula 1’s rule-makers, designers and broadcasters need to get together to deliver glorious visceral sounds as soon as possible otherwise F1 will lose its fans.

  113. We’ll get used to it but that’s no excuse to leave it, I’d get used to crappy coffee given time. My head kept saying to itself come on, change up, floor it. I think allowing revs to climb above 15000 rpm may help. Deeply disappointing and that was just on telly. Not looking forward to Spa or Silverstone when it’ll sound like the careera cup has come on again, sort it Bernie!

  114. You have to admire the technical brilliance of the new power unit and I’m sure it will benefit the cars of the future but why do we have to have that applied to F1?. The noise the older units produced could be actually felt at trackside, these new engines sound bland, there is more noise on your local motorway. Lets get the spectacle back , its the elite of motor sport and should have the roar to go with it.

  115. Up until 2013 there was nothing on the planet that sounded like an F1 race car and that is what made F1 racing unique. It was worth going to the race track and spending all that money just to experience the roar of F1 cars flying past you. F1 cars now sound quite average. Who wants to speed a lot of money for something average. Fans should boycott F1 this season so that the organizers will get the message that we are very unhappy and force them to go back to the V8 engines of 2013.

  116. Why is it people insist that F1 is rubbish unless ear defenders have to be worn? The 80`s were seen as a golden era with Mansell, Senna et al and the Williams FW11 and the dominating McLaren MP4/4 did not burst the ear drums. They haven`t always screamed at 18k you know!

  117. AussieFanGal
    26th March 2014, 1:00

    Bitterly disappointed. Took two friends who hadn’t seen live f1s and I was embarassed. The noise vibrating through you during practice, qualifying and the race is a huge part of the onsite experience. Had great experiences at Barcelona and Suzuka. I won’t go to the track to watch again. Was planning to fly to Singapore but not after Melbourne. Porsches and V8s were much more exciting.

  118. If I wanted to hear noise like the new cars make, again….I’ll go to a tractor race.

  119. I was thinking about a solution to the sound problem that might work. If we replace the turbos with Superchargers (cant remember which one works like a turbo). You could then use the ERS to power the Supercharger so it doesnt waste power from the engine. This takes the ‘mufler’ off and makes a louder sound. Please tell me if this would work and wheather it still reaches the FIAs goal of hybrid technology and fuel economy

  120. I am sooo happy that I could take my two sons to Spa 2 years ago. They experienced what F1 really was (although too much driving assistance, but this is another debate)…we went to Spa for the F1 GP again in 2014 an they were bitterly disappointed about the “new” sound. “They” should bring back that F1 sound it is what the fans want , including the fans who will fuel F1’s future. If this is not done urgently, F1 will die (and too much driving assist will make it die too, when a boy of 17 with not enough racing experience at the highest level can make it , it tells it all). Sound is part of the F1 “magic”. What would the connoisseurs think if suddenly the colour of their classic wines would be changed to green ? Winemakers could tell them it is still the same, I bet many of them will think differently.

  121. Patrick Cannady
    23rd March 2015, 18:54

    I think they just need to turn up the revs, boost, and fuel flow plus slightly larger fuel cells…IOW bring back the “grenade” engines of the mid 80s and a lot of the whining about engine noise will go away. Those things were properly loud and a little frightening.

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