What physical difference makes an LS sound so much better?

Rick#7 said:

As someone else said, every engine sounds different, the reason for that is virtually every detail inside the engine has an affect on the sound it makes. Bore size, bore to stroke ratio, firing order, number of valves, valve size, valve angle, port shape and port volume, and that's just the tip of the iceberg, there's also cam timing and the obvious things like manifold design and the exhaust itself, the list is nearly endless!

I'm very old school in my sound preference, for me nothing sounds better than a 351C, although the 429SCJ nearly equals it. These are both VERY over-square engines (meaning the bore diameter is significantly larger than the stroke), both have 2 very large valves per cylinder in a canted valve angle configuration.

While canted valves are fairly unique these days, what most old school performance V8's have in common is the large bore and 2 big valves per cylinder, coincidentally the LS series in Vette and Camaro dress also have larger bores with 2 valves. I'm not a sound engineer, but my guess is this has a lot to do with why the LS sounds the way it does, and why that sound is more like old school muscle than the coyote.

Now if you want a modern engine with real old school muscle car sound, find a Raptor 6.2 with anything other than the factory F150 exhaust, It sounds amazing! And it happens to have a relatively large bore, and 2 very big valves per cylinder in a canted angle configuration, but maybe that's just a coincidence ;-)

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RaceRed5.0 said:

Can't we all agree that anything that is NOT a 4 cylinder generally sounds good especially V8's?

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H@mmer said:

I can't. V6s are terrible, straight 6s are good, flat 6s are great. Some 4s are good, especially Boxer 4s.

But yes, just about any V8 is the best sounding engine configuration out there.

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BmacIL said:

Or V10. Or V12.

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scoggy_doogan said:

One of my neighbors a couple houses down has an Aston V12 Vantage. That thing sounds like pure sex on startup. I'm still trying to figure out what he does for a living since he has an Aston V12 Vantage, Rolls Royce Phantom, Maserati GranTurismo, Tesla Model X, and a '63 Impala, but lives in a $250K house. :shrug:

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