When we lived in caves, our forefathers were shiveringly scared of the sabre-toothed tiger. Because it was clearly a killing machine? Maybe. But I believe what sent spears of fear through them was the roar of the beast.
Ditto with the lion today. As a killing machine, it is bettered by the speed of the cheetah and the agility and power of the leopard, and probably by the crunching strength of the hyena’s jaws. But no other creature of the wild emits the gut-trembling roar that a male lion does. It’s the terrorist of the savannah.
In the same way, since the first time petrol ignited in a combustion chamber, wheeled vehicles have been judged not only for their looks but for the sound they make. Sound, in a high-performance engine, can verge on art.
Don’t believe me? Then listen to a Ferrari.
All my life I’ve been attracted to the noise of cars. My first car, a Cortina, had a tinny rasp. My mother’s little two-stroke DKW popped and spluttered as it “ning, ding, dinged” its way around town. When still wet behind the ears I heard the roar of the V8 in a Chev Camaro Z28 and thought I’d died and gone to muscle-car heaven. My cousin had an Alfa 2.5 which was a heap of junk - except that the sound of that glorious V6 was pure mechanical seduction.
There are plenty of cars these days which open up the hearing canals: AMG Mercs, the Audi R8, Aston Martins, Maseratis. Lower down, think about Mazda’s rotary RX8, Honda’s screaming S2000 and, surprise, surprise, my personal favourite - any turbocharged Subaru with a big-bore exhaust.
EXPECTING A TREAT
So, when I climbed into a fearsome, R1.6 million (with all the extras) BMW M6 with a 412kW twin-turbo V8 engine, I was expecting a treat for all my senses.
Visual: Tick. Lovely body work and gorgeous alloy wheels. Interior ultra-luxurious and crammed with all the expensive toys.
Capability: Tick. Acceleration that’s truly time-warping. Handling, with all the fancy adjustable shocks, steering and throttle response gizmos, is brilliant. Comfort, despite the sporty nature, is good.
The M6 is truly a stunning piece of engineering: road rocket one minute, GT long-distance tourer the next, economical exec transport after that, if you’re so inclined.
Everything, then, that you’d expect from a coupé/supercar.
Well… not quite.
I drove home on Good Friday evening, having helped put the Saturday Star to bed. A public holiday is a good time to be out on the road. Very little traffic. Just the place to enjoy the soundtrack from an awesome machine.
So I wound down both windows and gave the car a bit of throttle.
That’s odd, I thought. This sounds like a four-cylinder, not a brawny V8. Aha. Maybe it’s because I’m not thrashing it hard enough. Some sporty V8s these days have special flaps in their exhausts which open above a certain rev level to allow the full sonorous power out. So I booted it (only in second gear, mind). And… nothing. Still the same old four-cylinder hum.
CRUCIAL NON-DELIVERY
I do acknowledge that putting turbochargers into the exhaust system of any engine should, in theory, rob it of its sound. Why, then, does a Scooby with a big exhaust – rumbling away in its off-beat way – sound so marvellous? Why can Merc’s AMG cars, even with turbos, still excite the sabre-tooth-influenced goose bumps?
I don’t know. All I know is that, excellent car that it is, the BMW M6 does not deliver in that one crucial, driver feedback area. They’ve even tried to amplify the sounds of the engine and pump them into the cabin via the sound system. But it doesn’t work.
Food seems to taste better if it is appealing to the eye. Hence chefs and good cooks emphasise the art of “plating up”. The BMW M6 is a tasty dish, for sure, but it could have done with a bit of plating up in the aural department. - Saturday Star
SPECIFICATIONS: BMW M6
Engine: V8, twin-turbo, 412kW.
Fuel requirement:95 octane unleaded petrol. Don’t even think of anything else.
Fuel consumption: As with all supercars, use the power and you’ll pay the price. In the city, driven moderately, the M6 will return around 13 litres per 100km. Put foot and that could head to 20 litres per 100km. Keep to the speed limit on the highway and you’ll get 8.5 litres per 100km.
CO2 emissions:232g/km (official data).