I have slagged the 20vt off in the past for one reason or another,

Being TOO cheap for only a prestige audience, Being driven by £1k budget boyracers etc etc,

But,

After owning 8 20vt's, Recently an awesome sounding and driving Tuned Civic Type R, Now a tuned Leon Cupra R, I can say none make me smile the way I did when planting my foot in a 20vt with a decent exhaust, The turbo and 5 cylinders make for such a noise, My mate has a 5 pot Focus ST, nice but you dont get that really loud turbo spooling sound, My Leons very subtle, and not sure what oher cars have such a noise, Except a Skyline Turbo etc,..

I think the noise was great! My old decatted 20vt sounded evil, like My CTR with a turbo..

Chrissy

I loved the sound of a 20vt, especially with the right exhaust. My old Coupé sounded great when under load, but imo never really imposing enough on tickover.

Best Coupé sound I've heard is probably Theresa and Cowboy, who both had their exhausts custom built by the same place I think (correct me if I'm wrong!)

Where would this be? I'm thinking about getting a s/s system and want a truely amazing sound.

I think Theresa told me it was these guys, who are based in north Wales somewhere

http://www.hibexhausts.co.uk/

I know there are some decent 4 cylinders around but I don't think you can ever beat 5 or more. I'm on a 5 cyl Coupe now which I love, and in the past I've had a Ford V6 which also sounded great.

The uneven warble of the Coupe 5cyl is magic

<awaits a response from Shabba>



But yeh the Coupé has a great note. I had a Vectra V6 quite a few years ago, but that sounded pretty dreadful tbh. I was also massively disappointed with the sound from the E60 M5, considering it has a 5 litre V10 it really was a let down - or at least, until you stick it into full power mode and really let rip, but that's the only time it really shines.

I'm kind of spoiled these days though, the Monaro sounds amazing - running it through a tunnel with the supercharger whining over the top of that 6 litre V8 through the Wortec exhaust system still makes me grin like an idiot

i'd definitely consider john at motormech - he's close enough to cov, and does stainless steel custom built, including what level of noise you want to hear. good value for money, top workmanship too!!

he's a villa fan though, so don't try and get into any inteeligent conversations with him.....

I have thought about this. I may just have to give it ago when the funds allow. I'm a baggies (WBA) fan so I'm sure there would be plenty of banter

baggies and villa in the same room = 11 brain cells total..... 10 yours and 1 his

That about right I'd imagine

This is the only thing I miss really about the coupe, the noise in a tunnel, love. I will NEVER own a 4pot for the reason they all sound rubbish.

The Z has a quiet engine, but with the sound foam removed (1min job) it sounds pretty awesome, shame its only for my ears as outside it doesnt sound any different (the foam is from a pipe that goes into the cabin).

I do miss the 20vt sound though, it really is a great sounding engine.

I liked the sound of my Coupe.

However my Alfa GTV with a Ragazzon system sounds better.

This is yet another reason I've always wanted a 20vt Coupe, they sound similair to the old Grp B Audi Quattro.

Says something when my Mother borrows the car, always had mini's ( old type ) , metro's etc, finally got herself a really nice Puma ( comparative .. don't start lol ). So hardly an evocative motoring history, but when She drives the Coupe, She always takes the long route to her destination ( unless She is taking it to Scotland 'again' ), always opens the windows in town etc.. I put the standard airbox on just to 'compare' to the K&N 57i cone it has on now, She suggested I refit the K&N, as she noticed the power and noise had gone down

Carlt reckons the stainless system he put on mine is the Peco one.

Give MotorMech a ring matey :

M'Mech

Aaahh you should hear my Argenta at 6000rpm in a tunnel..
Italians knows how to do it.

You are young, and to be forgiven these flights of fancy. One day you will appreciate the sound of the Lampredi twin-cam.

Try an Alfa flat 4 on twin carbs with K+Ns. So much nicer than an Impreza noise.

Yes,they are they are the ones that built mine,cowboys and the one on coupedaves old Coupe.

Excellent build, made how you want it.

They are in Anglesey, North Wales, so may be a bit too far for most people on here to travel.

i love the sound of a well tuned cosworth in a tunnel but the best engine sound for me has to be the B spec rally audi S1 they sound beautiful

Had a Peco sounded nice on tickover, alright on hard acceloration, but restricted flow a little. Now have a Miltek with race cat, super stealth mode on tickover till you toe it then she wails nicley and it pops on overrun
Lucifer, your car's in good hands now, it's in my neck of the woods and now the actuator's been fixed she's up and at em! That's a Miltek system too isn't it?

That's the problem, italian cars are surposed to sound italian and the 20V sounds german, which is so wrong, the 16V is sooooo much sweeter.
And never should a ford or a honda be compared to an italian car, italian cars are GODs and german and jap cars are the devil.
For a truly beautiful sounding engine look no further than the Alfa V6.

Oh, I dunno... 240Z straight six 2400cc, triple carb conversion...

More OT: The problem for me is they are rarely made with passion, if any jap car. The same goes for most german cars (or swedish). They're all too calculated.

Some french cars are/were made with passion though.. be it wine-drunk-passion, so they sadly don't get the logic together. Peugeot 505 TurboInjection '88 will always be a dreamcar, but probably also a nightmare.

Hmm, I would actually argue that a car can be both calculated AND built with passion. Example - Nissan GTR. And I also don't think the Germans lack passion either, certainly not dedication. Perhaps you mean soulless, as opposed to lacking in passion?

Got to disagree, the Capri V6's sounded great and were a complete riot and the old Escort X-flows sounded fab with the twin 45 webber carbs. Ford also built some great performance cars, GT40, RS Escorts and the fantastic Cosworths. I had an ST24 and that had a Duratec 2.5 V6 which sounded great especially when it went past 3,330rpm and the secondary inlets opened up.

In my view the second greatest engine is the Ford - the 390ci V8 used in the original Bullitt mustang. Only beaten by a 440ci from the Plymouth/Dodge muscle cars of the era. No fancy revving, just brute capacity.

Sorry, I stopped listening after this bit

Perhaps you're right there Lucifer. They're both made with passion but passion for speed and passion for beauty are quite different. The Italians just want to make cars which look and sound beautiful - whether they work properly or handle well are almost secondary


Mr L and I were discussing this the other day. The problem (in our opinion) with some coupe owners is that they are not Italian car lovers just fast car lovers which kind of lumps the car in with the rest of the performance soul-less cr@p car scene.

I just thought that was a disease of some kind

It is! I think you can get an ointment though . . . .

I stopped reading after that