2013 Car and Driver Lightning Lap

UNKNOWN_370

Noise levels had to be the stupidest major complaint of the Z. Completely normal for a dedicated sports car platform. No offense to the sound deadening crew. To each his own, but to make it a topic in sports car reviews is insanely retarded.
Any real sports car's charm is NOT having a quiet interior. Tire roar can be a little annoying, but the engine being harsh is ridiculous. Review only Cadillac if they want quiet engines. Speaking of which, The ATS turbo has a loud azz bov/wastegate for a luxury sedan. I wouldn't complain about it but, by reviewers standards... Why aren't they bytchin' bout the loud azz ATS 2.0 Turbo?

There's definitely a double-standard in this country for JDM sports cars.

__________________
Favorite Quote.
"I'm not gonna kill you... I'm just gonna Bash Your Face In" Jack Nicholson-"The Shining". 1980

Red__Zed

It's all about the quality of the noise, rather than the raw volume.

It has nothing to do with country of origin--if anything Japanese cars get favorable treatment in nvh commentary (s2000, the whole Lexus line). The Z just happens to have a lot of less-pleasant noises (and a terrible stock tire)

UNKNOWN_370

Some people can't handle raw. I like raw... Raw and Real rather than fake and synthesized.

__________________
Favorite Quote.
"I'm not gonna kill you... I'm just gonna Bash Your Face In" Jack Nicholson-"The Shining". 1980

Red__Zed

Raw means different things to different people.

I don't mind a raw experience if the whole car is raw, but I don't want a dead silent exhaust and a ton of insulation up front alongside diff whine and tire noise.

UNKNOWN_370

Tire noise can be fixed. Diff whine??? I don't have that or don't hear it? And you don't drive a Z so you don't have to deal with it. Owners will tend to find it less of an issue. That's why we haven't traded.

__________________
Favorite Quote.
"I'm not gonna kill you... I'm just gonna Bash Your Face In" Jack Nicholson-"The Shining". 1980

Red__Zed

I never really cared about the noise, but then again I was coming from a convertible with an exhaust that sounded like the space shuttle, that rattled like a tool chest on a shaker table.


I'm simply making the point that the NVH in the Z is unpleasant to many, which is why it's a discussion point. It's not really any louder than most comparable cars, it's just a different type of noise.

The Z noise is far from "raw." I'd recommend hopping in the roadster of your choice for that experience--you'll find the noise to correlate more closely with what the car is doing. Hell, even the Cayman manages to do a good job of providing audio feedback.

The good news is, audio quality is low on the list of most potential shoppers, and exhaust and stereo pretty quickly get things into a better place on that front.

UNKNOWN_370

Not so much low on peoples list, but its a simple and repairable issue. We have quality exhausts ranging from $600-$5,000+. There are at least a dozen if not more exhausts for the Z that make it sound awesome.

The Porsche has a better sound? At $61k starting.... I hope so. The Z isn't the best sounding car out there. But its overexaggerated how bad it is. It isn't even bad. Non-owners and people desperately getting into other cars for whatever reason will nit-pick these things at greater volume than needed. It is what it is.

__________________
Favorite Quote.
"I'm not gonna kill you... I'm just gonna Bash Your Face In" Jack Nicholson-"The Shining". 1980