16 Porsche 917
The sight and sound of a Porsche 917 at speed is one of the great motorsport spectacles. It was a project designed to give Porsche a first victory at Le Mans and the 917 was quite simply an all-time classic of international sportscar racing.
That first Le Mans win followed in 1970 when
Hans Herrmann and Richard Attwood triumphed in pouring rain in the Porsche Salzburg-entered 917.
Power for the project was produced by, effectively, mating two Porsche 2250cc flat-six engines that the company had used extensively in racing. Dubbed the type
912, the 4500cc flat-12 engine featured twin overhead cams driven from centrally mounted gears and offered the 917 more than 500bhp for its debut in 1969.
The same base engine was later taken out to five-litres as the 917 got quicker and quicker and ran heavily developed bodywork in the ongoing search for highspeed stability at Le Mans.
This is a Porsche racing engine in the very best tradition and the noise it makes is Porsche through and through. The characteristic roar of the flat-12 engine is readily identifiable as one of the sport’s best-loved engine notes. It is a noise that oozes Le Mans atmosphere and history.
A howling V12, in the back of a blood-red Ferrari. Moreover in a blood-red Ferrari of such flowing and sculpted elegance that it ended up in New York’s Museum of Modern Art.
This one is steeped in romance, so it may be a surprise that the engine spec came from the infamous non-romantic Ferrari designer John Barnard. But with naturally-aspirated engines replacing F1’s muted turbos from 1989, Barnard took the cold decision that 12 cylinders could rev higher than 10 or eight.
Also the machine was not just a sensory experience. The engine was underpowered initially, but this was soon sorted and throughout the 1990 season it got an incredible number of updates, to the point that by the year’s latter part it was thought to match the mighty Honda’s top-end power at around 680bhp – though it likely remained shy on low-end punch. The car took six wins during
’90 and was an Ayrton Senna professional foul away from ending Ferrari’s infamous drivers’title drought a decade before Michael Schumacher did. Perhaps too if genius Barnard had hung around, rather than walking when exasperated with Ferrari politics, that also would have been enough to get this one over the line.
Colin Mcrae, the north-west of England and 1995. Need we say any more? The Subaru Impreza is one of the most famous rally cars of all time and its sound is just as special.
Whether it was powering the Legacy, the Group A Impreza or the various Wrc-spec machines that followed, Subaru’s rally machines always sounded a million dollars. The engine was as unique as it was pleasing too with its flat-four boxer formation. This means the cylinders were located on either side of a central crankshaft which, most pertinently, lowers the centre of gravity. And in the case of the Impreza 555, produces a distinctive bark from the exhaust too.
For some, crackles, pops and bangs might be associated with a bowl of Rice Krispies but for anyone with petrol for veins, it could only mean one thing: Mcrae pitching his car into a corner, sideways. However, somewhat controversially, my favourite Impreza in the sound department was the original WRC car produced from 19972000. The chirps from the wastegate play their part, but in general the whole soundtrack is just that bit meaner and more aggressive which does it for me. Either way, I anticipate little backlash by saying the Impreza is the best-sounding rally car of the modern era.
Is there any noise in motorsport that can rival that of a hard-revved Cosworth BD in a dark forest?
Rallying’s favourite engine is a fabulous piece of engineering and even 50 years after its debut, it remains the engine noise that rally fans lust after. The approach of a BDA or BDG through a forest sends a buzz of anticipation through the hardcore fans as its heralds the arrival of a sideways Ford Escort.
Back in 1967, Ford commissioned Cosworth to come up with a replacement for the Lotus twin-cam engine and the new unit, the BDA drew from the Kent,
FVA four-cylinder and
DFV eight-cylinder engines. Belt-drive A series was how it was named and it was a rallying hit in the front of Escort Mk1s.
On the back of the BDA success many evolutions followed, including the two-litre BDG launched in 1973 and offering up to 270bhp. Nowadays, a range of specialist engine builders ensure that the supply of engines and parts is off the shelf.
It is the BDG that sits in the best Escort Mk2s in historic rallying and, after 47 years, it still delivers a noise that tingles the spines of rally fans.