Why engines sound different?

[MonsterZ4]

Hello folks.
Sorry if this is a daft Q, but I don’t have the required knowledge to answer it.
Why is it that engines of similar configuration sound so different? A TVR Speed 6 sounds utterly glorious, yet a Z4 3.0 or 3.2 although nice, sound totally different.
Why is this?
I love my Z4 but it’s about as close to a TVR as I’ll ever get (yes, I know that TVR’s have their issues, but they’ve always been a dream car for me).
Cheers anyway.
Mark.

 

[buzyg]

So many factors in why an engines sound different. Think of it as a cars voice and equate that to us. We all sound different and we are set up to notice even small differences. Engines breath in and out. Induction and exhaust. They rev at different rates. Some pant like dogs, some howl like wolves. The S54 screams like an enchanted banshee at high revs. One of the thing I loved most about my Z4 was that noise in the dead of night on a cool winters eve. If you want a different sound play with the the way the car breathes and all kinds can be done.

 

[buzyg]

So many factors in why an engines sound different. Think of it as a cars voice and equate that to us. We all sound different and we are set up to notice even small differences. Engines breath in and out. Induction and exhaust. They rev at different rates. Some pant like dogs, some howl like wolves. The S54 screams like an enchanted banshee at high revs. One of the thing I loved most about my Z4 was that noise in the dead of night on a cool winters eve. If you want a different sound play with the the way the car breaths and all kinds can be done.

 

[Zedebee]

I always understood that TVR’s own engines had a flat-plane crank which accounted for their distinctive sound, but this may just have been from reading about the AJP8 once upon a time (hence it sounded more like a Ferrari than an American V8 which all used a cross-plane crank).

 

[sars]

There are just so many different factors of an internal combustion engine and exhaust system that no two manufacturers have identical sounds. One of my favourites is the wonderful 5.2L "Voodoo" V8 found in the Mustang GT350, which for such a large capacity engine, can spin up to 8200 rpm and this is also a flat pane crank and it sounds completely different to the masters of flat plane V8's, Ferrari.

Though, there is another, watch Henry Catchpole driving for EVO in an Aventador SV on the TT and then tell me that isn't the greatest sounding car of all time.

 

[enuff_zed]

Once you’ve heard a Merlin-engined Spitfire do a high speed pass you’ll stop worrying about car noises

 

[Rockhopper]

Brand engineers design the sound to attract their intended market along with making it comply with relevant legislation and so on.
In electronics for example Nikon specifically designed the noise their camera shutter release makes to give a feeling of quality. They could have made it silent if they wanted to.

 

[Hilly30si]

I to love the TVR V8s glorious growl. My Triumph TR6 straight 6 has a sound like no other, then you have the V12s so distinctive. Love car engines