Is there a biological reason why we find the low-frequency rumble of a V8 so addictive?
There is more than one type of V8 engine in the world, of course, but when people say they like V8s, I think we know what they’re mostly talking about.
They don’t usually mean high-revving, flatplane-cranked V8s like those you will find in many supercars or racing cars – the ones that sound like two four-cylinder engines welded together, which is not surprising, because that’s essentially how their cylinders fire.
No, they usually mean old-school, fat (in both the ‘f’ and ‘ph’ versions of the word) crossplane-cranked V8s, often of Detroit descent, with a low rumble, a broad and responsive powerband and often a shouty upper range.
These are the noises of Nascar, Mad Max and the drag strip, and yet also a luxury sports car or off-roader or speedboat. This kind of V8 engine is as versatile as the breadth of its torque band. And if you like them, I think you probably really like them.
Seemingly a lot of people do. Start typing ‘why do V8 engines’ into a search engine and ‘sound so good?’ is one of the top suggested sentence completions.
Exactly why they sound so good is hard to say, because the precise sound that one makes depends on a lot of factors, from firing order to engine size, vee angle, bore and stroke plus everything ancillary besides.
Whatever, though, there is a particular character to them. I did read that at low revs the offbeat rumble, which comes because two cylinders on the same bank will often fire one after the other before the firing order swaps banks again, is redolent of a heartbeat, so a softly pulsing vee can be soul-soothing, like being back in the womb.
Call it redneck floatation therapy. But there might be nothing in that. If it wasn’t in the womb, I can’t tell you when I first heard the sounds of a V8 engine, because, as with you, it will have been present throughout my entire life.
The first known V8 was made in 1904, designed by Léon Levavasseur for French engine maker Antoinette.
So in the same way that I don’t remember first hearing Beethoven’s Symphony No 7, the V8 has always been there. The two are among my favourite sounds, and it would have been extraordinary to be fully conscious when I first heard either so I could remember the shock of it.
Such was the success of Beethoven’s seventh that when the composer finished conducting the piece at its premiere, the audience demanded part of it was played again immediately as an encore.
I can imagine that when the Antoinette was first shut down there might have been bravos from onlookers too. ‘Hey Léon, fire that up again, won’t you?’
