Which Cars Sound the Worst:
Last week, I gave you my top ten best sounding cars. Yours may be different than mine, but that’s ok. Everyone has different tastes. As I was researching for this article, I noticed something very interesting. Many of the cars that I listed, especially the Subaru WRX and the Nissan and Infiniti, were on just as many “worst car sounds” lists than were on “best car sounds” lists. Oh well… this just goes to show that even the top people in the industry have different opinions.
This week, I’m going to give you my list of the worst sounding cars you can buy, and discuss a little bit about why each one isn’t the most pleasant to hear. As with last week, I encourage you to find a sound clip of each of these just to see if you agree. Without further ado, let’s get into it and have some fun, shall we?
Honda Civic:
What a great way to start! I’m going to preface this by saying that, if tuned properly, a Honda Civic doesn’t sound that terrible. In fact many would consider the Honda inline 4 cylinder engines found in the Integra, S2000, and Civic Si to be some of the better sounding engines on the market. The problem is that too many people take that and flip it upside down. Many people try to tamper with the sound by putting an aftermarket muffler on the car. The result could be described as hearing an angry, oversized mosquito trying to get off the ground. Everybody has probably experienced this one, so all I have to say is that if you have or are going to get a Civic, either leave it alone or tune it correctly.
BMW M3/M4:
Many would argue that the BMW M3 could be one of the greatest cars the world has ever seen. I would be one of those people. Unfortunately for the M3, it’s most recent versions have begun to lose much of what has made them true “M” cars. In other words, their “M-ness” is being lost to modern technologies and creature comforts. Many would even say that the most recent model has lost it altogether. I would have to agree. One of the elements that has been lost, is the sound. There have been a variety of engines in the M3 throughout the years, but they have all produced music. Since 2014, all that the M3 and M4 have produced has been noise. The best way I can describe this one would be fake, flappy, and annoying.
Ford Focus RS/ST:
More vehicles with four cylinder engines grace this list than the list from last week, but wouldn’t you kind of expect that? The Focus RS was one of the most highly anticipated cars of this decade, and make no mistake, the RS is a fantastic car. One complaint I have is the sound. It is raspy and harsh and it kind of doesn’t really fit the car… It’s trying too hard. The Focus ST, the RS’s little brother, is also a fantastic car… one of the best you can buy at the price point, but it suffers from the opposite problem as the RS. There is almost no presence the ST brings as it pulls into a parking lot. You can’t hear it! For a car like the ST, it needs more presence. It deserves more presence. A Cobb aftermarket exhaust does the trick just fine, but you have to reach into your pockets and shell out some more cash to upgrade.
Mazda RX-7:
This is an interesting one because as many people love the sound of a rotary engine as hate it. For those who may not know, a rotary engine doesn’t have any pistons. Rather there is a triangular rotor that spins inside of a chamber. This causes rotary engines to be a bit inefficient, but it also allows for the engine to reach higher RPMs. The result is, depending on who you are, one of the best or one of the worst sounds you will hear come out of a car. It is certainly one of the most distinctive whether you love it or hate it. In stock form, the car “buzzes”. With an aftermarket exhaust, the car buzzes even louder, and you can hear the distinct “brap, brap, brap” at idle from several blocks away.
Ford Mustang EcoBoost:
In a prime example of what many enthusiasts would call a travesty, Ford decided to introduce a four cylinder turbo Mustang in the most recent Pony Car lineup. The car isn’t terrible, although there were some early issues with the turbo, but this one is mostly based on principle. While the Mustang has never truly been considered a “muscle car”, it has traditionally been an affordable performance car. This isn’t the first time a four cylinder mustang has been available for sale, but it is also a bit of an unspoken rule that if you don’t have the V-8, you don’t really have a Mustang. Even the V-6 engine offering, which is actually very good, is looked down upon as a “lesser version” of the car. While the four cylinder EcoBoost does deliver good performance, it doesn’t deliver sound to go with it. Some describe it as sounding like a Honda… That’s a bit of a low blow for what the Mustang name means to so many people. I personally think it doesn’t really sound like anything. It should, because… it’s a Mustang!
Dodge Neon SRT-4:
Dodge doesn’t make the SRT-4 anymore, which is actually a little sad. As bad and ubiquitous as the Dodge Neon was, the SRT-4 variant was and still continues to be a tuner’s dream come true. The little front wheel drive car was very fast too… when tuned correctly. In a word, it was, and again, still is, underrated. The noise this vehicle makes is not at all underrated. It is loud, obnoxious, and very distinctive. The turbo is very easy to hear in tuned versions, adding an airy whine as an undertone to the car’s bubbly sound. I like to think of it as the sound of a car that is running on water rather than gas and is about to drown in its own engine.
Toyota Tacoma 4 Cylinder/V-6:
The first truck on the list, everyone knows the Tacoma and loves them for their bullet-proof design and legendary durability. Resale prices for the truck are sky high because of the demand, and it isn’t uncommon for a used one with upwards of 200,000 miles to fetch a price of well over $10,000. People don’t buy them for the way they sound though. Never really having the “built Ford tough” feel or needing to be in a commercial with heavy equipment, dirt, and rocks being dumped on top of it, the Tacoma is just content with the reputation of reliability it has built for itself. That being said, it doesn’t need to sound big, bad, and grumbly. It definitely doesn’t sound like any truck though. You might think it would sound at least a little gruff as it doesn’t need to sound mean like some of the F-150s and Silverados of the world. It doesn’t. I would describe it more like bad… just bad.
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X:
The Mitsubishi is another example of car that should sound better than it does. The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution has fought an ongoing battle with Subaru for rally racing supremacy. That battle has made the car a truly great vehicle that would fit perfectly in the “automotive hall of fame”. It was also really the only other car to truly compete with the Subaru WRX or Sti. I use the past tense, because sadly, the Lancer Evolution is not being made anymore. Its raw performance, driving experience, and tunability are all missed. The noise that the car made won’t be missed. The airy, lifeless exhaust note in its stock form, and its increasingly whiney and buzzy character as the car is tuned, doesn’t lend to pleasurable listening.
1st/2nd gen Ford Taurus SHO:
The Taurus SHO is a car that isn’t seen very often. It’s basically the closest that a normal person can get before buying a purpose built police interceptor. That is today. The first and second generation Taurus SHOs were just sportier, more powerful versions of the regular family sedan. I don’t believe that the Taurus has really ever been a truly bad car. Admittedly, the design was a bit lacking with the whole “oval model”… you know… the generation where the car looked like a giant, rounded piece of metal and plastic from every angle, both inside and outside. I digress… back to the 1st and 2nd generation Ford Taurus SHO. It had a V-6 engine that sounded like it had come undone from its engine mounts and was rattling around under the hood. On a good day, to the right person, it was annoying. To everyone else, it sounded loud, unrefined, and gaudy.
Chevy Volt/Bolt, Nissan Leaf, Tesla:
For me this is an easy one. To others, it may not be. The majority of people really don’t like the sound of a car. They like to sit in peacefulness, maybe with some quiet music playing in the background on the way to work or a family gathering. There is a time and place where everyone enjoys that. For me, the times I would enjoy the silence would not outweigh the times that I enjoy just listening to my own car traveling down the road. It’s fun to blip the accelerator a little bit when passing somebody. Doing that lets me know that the car is alive. It communicates with me. It tells me what’s going on. Electric vehicles don’t do that. You get the sensation of the acceleration but there is nothing else. There is no engine. There is no other sensation to accompany the feeling you get as you just speed up and slow down. As good as electric cars are and may become, they will always be missing the element of sound. It’s the crucial element that really makes the experience of driving complete.
Well… that’s the end. This list has definitely been a harder one to put together, because there are so many vehicles that are being made, that have been made, and on top of that, this is still such a subjective topic, that anybody could put any car here. That’s just my two cents, but you can go and decide for yourself which car doesn’t sound the best to you. Have fun!!
