Crackle tunes - WTF is wrong with people

[Deleted member]

As a eco owner I agree with the op I hate this trend. I have a catless dowpipe and am pro tuned but even on very aggressive downshifts I'll maybe get one pop, but nothing obnoxious.

I see alot of Focus ST's with these stupid tunes and alot of German cars new BMW's, Audis, VW's. I really hope this trend goes away.

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[Twizzty]

I had a crackle tune on everyone of my hot hatches and loved it! It was the first mod I made, turbo back exhaust and crackle tune. Nothing overboard like these YT videos but a couple of pops between shifts was a must for me, hell my RS came like this stock. Now that I have a V8 there is less motivation to do this as the sound is already so good to me with just a cat back. I do think about adding a crackle tune to the mustang, usually it's when i'm riding next to a Jag F-Type and can hear that v8 crackle away!

 

[Dusten]

I see it no different than a "ghost cam" idle. Neither have any bearing on performance.

equally as gay...

And I really wish more of the young crowd would god damn read before opening their mouth.

A kid on a lightning group was asking why no one offers a ghost tune for the lightning... I dunno fuck stick, how about because we don't have variable valve timing?

 

[ugstang17]

equally as gay...

And I really wish more of the young crowd would god damn read before opening their mouth.

A kid on a lightning group was asking why no one offers a ghost tune for the lightning... I dunno fuck stick, how about because we don't have variable valve timing?

Now that's funny right there.

 

[Shifting_Gears]

I see it no different than a "ghost cam" idle. Neither have any bearing on performance.

Yep. I can tolerate the ghost cam tune because it sounds good. However, yeah.. it’s a “I’m faking it” tune regardless. To each their own but I don’t put the ghost cam on the same level.

Thanks for the vid. Yes it does seem over the top.

I wonder if I can get that on my Fiesta.

Lol - I’m sure there’s someone just waiting to write you a tune!

If I didn't know any better I'd say there's something broken on the car.

100% of the time it’s due to a loose nut behind the wheel. Haha.

As a eco owner I agree with the op I hate this trend. I have a catless dowpipe and am pro tuned but even on very aggressive downshifts I'll maybe get one pop, but nothing obnoxious.

I see alot of Focus ST's with these stupid tunes and alot of German cars new BMW's, Audis, VW's. I really hope this trend goes away.

Curb feelers went away, diamond plate rocker trim on pickups went away, this eventually too... and hopefully those damn “Salt Life” stickers. Lol.

I had a crackle tune on everyone of my hot hatches and loved it! It was the first mod I made, turbo back exhaust and crackle tune. Nothing overboard like these YT videos but a couple of pops between shifts was a must for me, hell my RS came like this stock. Now that I have a V8 there is less motivation to do this as the sound is already so good to me with just a cat back. I do think about adding a crackle tune to the mustang, usually it's when i'm riding next to a Jag F-Type and can hear that v8 crackle away!

RS made those noises naturally.. cool with that. Those cars sound great.

A lot of the exotics have what I dub “shift fart”, sounds similar but not the same “LOOK AT ME LOOK AT ME” as the gunshot tune.

equally as gay...

And I really wish more of the young crowd would god damn read before opening their mouth.

A kid on a lightning group was asking why no one offers a ghost tune for the lightning... I dunno fuck stick, how about because we don't have variable valve timing?

Dude I’m glad I wasn’t drinking anything when I read that. Hahaha.

Tell him to go pull a few vacuum lines.. eventually he’ll find the right combo. What a dingbat. Haha.

 

[kluke15]

im glad im not the only one who thinks the "crackle/barble" tunes sounds like garbage

 

[CrashOverride]

I'm going to go with Hack on this one. I had an SRT-4 that had one heck of a nice burble on over-run. I grew up though when cars naturally did this because of carbs and mostly because of lumpy cams. So to me it is simply the earmark of a performance engine. To the same extent, I really despise the sound of the newer direct-injected engines. Even the Porsche engines sound like lousy 4-cylinders at start and idle. I know that fuel injection, VVT and powerful PCM's allow this, but to be honest, I am a huge fan of ghost cam tuning and the crackles.

The ghost cam really isn't a ghost cam either. It really is "your cam" it's just fixed at a big overlap. It's how the engine would have been if these modern technologies exist. I run stock exhaust manifolds and cats, so I don't run these things, but I would if I was willing to run without them. On that note though (pun intended), depending on how well the over-run is done, it can't possibly be too bad for the cats because many stock systems run things like this. Not like the video that was posted (The one that sounds like shots being fired). It has to sound natural to be good in my book. If car manufacturers ever realize that cams themselves are inferior, and move to solenoid-actuated valves like FreeValve, then it will be extremely easy to accomplish very specific sounds. At that point, engines can literally be tuned, turning off certain cylinders and everything. I hope i live long enough to see this technology come out.

But I am glad there are still people that are into cars. Imports, domestics, doesn't matter to me. I think when Hot rodding started after WWII, the idea was making your car faster, using whatever you had to do it. Throwing farm equipment, plumbing adapters, hand porting, etc.... This spirit is kind of lost with the "Stage 1, 2, 3" mentality and the theory that if you aren't running a name-brand part, that you are running junk. The exhaust flow doesn't care if it's flowing through titanium or an old driveshaft, if it's sized right and the welds are clean, then it doesn't matter.

I do have to laugh at the description though of the driver of some of those vehicles. Most of the Benz/BMW owners around here fit that description to a "T". And I have to feel that every single "mod" was done by someone that knew what a piston and a torque wrench is, not by the owner that only knows how to insert the credit card into the slot. All too often "Car guys" will talk to me about How they have "A Guy" who did this and that. While it's better than nothing, again, in the spirit of hot rodding, it's more of what you did than what you had done.

 

[Shifting_Gears]

I'm going to go with Hack on this one. I had an SRT-4 that had one heck of a nice burble on over-run. I grew up though when cars naturally did this because of carbs and mostly because of lumpy cams. So to me it is simply the earmark of a performance engine. To the same extent, I really despise the sound of the newer direct-injected engines. Even the Porsche engines sound like lousy 4-cylinders at start and idle. I know that fuel injection, VVT and powerful PCM's allow this, but to be honest, I am a huge fan of ghost cam tuning and the crackles.

The ghost cam really isn't a ghost cam either. It really is "your cam" it's just fixed at a big overlap. It's how the engine would have been if these modern technologies exist. I run stock exhaust manifolds and cats, so I don't run these things, but I would if I was willing to run without them. On that note though (pun intended), depending on how well the over-run is done, it can't possibly be too bad for the cats because many stock systems run things like this. Not like the video that was posted (The one that sounds like shots being fired). It has to sound natural to be good in my book. If car manufacturers ever realize that cams themselves are inferior, and move to solenoid-actuated valves like FreeValve, then it will be extremely easy to accomplish very specific sounds. At that point, engines can literally be tuned, turning off certain cylinders and everything. I hope i live long enough to see this technology come out.

But I am glad there are still people that are into cars. Imports, domestics, doesn't matter to me. I think when Hot rodding started after WWII, the idea was making your car faster, using whatever you had to do it. Throwing farm equipment, plumbing adapters, hand porting, etc.... This spirit is kind of lost with the "Stage 1, 2, 3" mentality and the theory that if you aren't running a name-brand part, that you are running junk. The exhaust flow doesn't care if it's flowing through titanium or an old driveshaft, if it's sized right and the welds are clean, then it doesn't matter.

I do have to laugh at the description though of the driver of some of those vehicles. Most of the Benz/BMW owners around here fit that description to a "T". And I have to feel that every single "mod" was done by someone that knew what a piston and a torque wrench is, not by the owner that only knows how to insert the credit card into the slot. All too often "Car guys" will talk to me about How they have "A Guy" who did this and that. While it's better than nothing, again, in the spirit of hot rodding, it's more of what you did than what you had done.

Yeah the SRT-4 was definitely a very burbley car out of the box.

Again - not knocking the natural tendency for a vehicle to blurble and pop, just this gunshot tuning fad. Until you hear a car in person tuned to do this it’s almost uncomprehendable how loud and terrible it sounds.. lol. Not anywhere like an SRT-4 crackle or a purpose built performance car crackle.

I agree with ya though.. rather have a car scene with people who don’t see eye to eye on mods than have less people in the scene. To each their own. I agree it’s funny hearing people that “built” their ride with their credit card but talking like they turned the wrenches. Nothing wrong with having a shop or mechanic you trust to build your ride AT ALL, just give credit where it’s due.

I’m a “take pride in your ride” dude for sure and that includes turning my owns wrenches any time possible. So far the only work I haven’t done myself is a gear install and any exhaust work that required welding.

 

[CrashOverride]

Yeah the SRT-4 was definitely a very burbley car out of the box.

Again - not knocking the natural tendency for a vehicle to blurble and pop, just this gunshot tuning fad. Until you hear a car in person tuned to do this it’s almost uncomprehendable how loud and terrible it sounds.. lol. Not anywhere like an SRT-4 crackle or a purpose built performance car crackle.

I agree with ya though.. rather have a car scene with people who don’t see eye to eye on mods than have less people in the scene. To each their own. I agree it’s funny hearing people that “built” their ride with their credit card but talking like they turned the wrenches. Nothing wrong with having a shop or mechanic you trust to build your ride AT ALL, just give credit where it’s due.

I’m a “take pride in your ride” dude for sure and that includes turning my owns wrenches any time possible. So far the only work I haven’t done myself is a gear install and any exhaust work that required welding.

I've seen a few videos like what you showed and yeah that is totally different. To us old guys, that's not a tune, that's a backfire LOL.

 

[BrianGT2015]

Sorry, I can't back you up on this one, bro.

I love it when I see people in traffic who are obviously into their cars. Especially young people. We need more young people who love cars in the world. Yes - sometimes it can be a little amusing or annoying - but usually I smile and feel good. I remember as a kid my buddy had a G body Malibu and driving down a big hill in town he'd dump the automatic transmission in a lower gear so we could hear it pop. I totally loved it.

This has got to be one of the dumbest mechanical trends there is.

There’s nothing that irritates me more than some dweeb cruising around wringing out every gear just to decelerate to sound like his or her car is exploding on deceleration.

Ok cool, you had your car tuned to make loud noises in absence of having real power to show for. It isn’t easy to be cool in the car world sometimes, but dear f$*k, it gives ME a mild dose of PTSD to hear this shit.

Not to mention you look like an asshat, but your stock turbo and your converter are going to hate you and take an early retirement due to all that extra fuel your dumping to explode post combustion chamber.

I had a Focus ST and so many people in the ST world throught this was a game changer. My ST may have occasionally popped between shifts or under deceleration, once. Not for 15 seconds straight.

If the car doesn’t do it naturally, don’t fake it.

/rant.

It's a phase man. I was there at one point. When I got my long tubes with no cats, big cams, and built my 2005 gt I had that same pop and crackle. Thought that was so cool. Being older I still get a smile on my face when it happens. I don't intentionally make it happen but it does happen. I love the smell of gas fumes, burnt tires, and everything that goes along with having a fast modified car. I test drove a turboed subi one day looking for a family car. I couldn't get off of the cute little blow off valve sound. When I had my cobra I was obsessed with the whine.

 

[Shifting_Gears]

It's a phase man. I was there at one point. When I got my long tubes with no cats, big cams, and built my 2005 gt I had that same pop and crackle. Thought that was so cool. Being older I still get a smile on my face when it happens. I don't intentionally make it happen but it does happen. I love the smell of gas fumes, burnt tires, and everything that goes along with having a fast modified car. I test drove a turboed subi one day looking for a family car. I couldn't get off of the cute little blow off valve sound. When I had my cobra I was obsessed with the whine.

Haha “cute little blow off valve sound”. I hear you man. I’m all about mechanical noises and enjoying the sounds of a well tuned car.

I used to run a dumped exhaust on my 2V GT and it was very loud and resonated really, really bad.. and was catless. Looking back, probably not the best decision. I used to exit the car smelling like exhaust, haha.

 

[CrashOverride]

Haha “cute little blow off valve sound”. I hear you man. I’m all about mechanical noises and enjoying the sounds of a well tuned car.

I used to run a dumped exhaust on my 2V GT and it was very loud and resonated really, really bad.. and was catless. Looking back, probably not the best decision. I used to exit the car smelling like exhaust, haha.

My 89 LX was like that. The midwest weather helped me out by rusting the mild-steel H-pipe I had, and it fell off right at the end of the headers. I ran like that for many months until I could afford another one. I loved the smell of raw fuel and the loud sound. To this day, the loud NVH makes me smile and that's why I like manual transmissions. It makes the car a living, breathing machine. No isolation. If I were into yoga I'd say something like "Being one with the car" LOL. The day when cars become politically correct is the day I find an alternate transportation option.

 

[BrianGT2015]

Haha “cute little blow off valve sound”. I hear you man. I’m all about mechanical noises and enjoying the sounds of a well tuned car.

I used to run a dumped exhaust on my 2V GT and it was very loud and resonated really, really bad.. and was catless. Looking back, probably not the best decision. I used to exit the car smelling like exhaust, haha.

I worked at a pizza place. Manager said she hated it when I backed up to her office window. When I took off she could smell the gas through the window. The exhaust almost gave her a heart attack.

 

[BrianGT2015]

My 89 LX was like that. The midwest weather helped me out by rusting the mild-steel H-pipe I had, and it fell off right at the end of the headers. I ran like that for many months until I could afford another one. I loved the smell of raw fuel and the loud sound. To this day, the loud NVH makes me smile and that's why I like manual transmissions. It makes the car a living, breathing machine. No isolation. If I were into yoga I'd say something like "Being one with the car" LOL. The day when cars become politically correct is the day I find an alternate transportation option.

having a car you love is like an abusive relationship. You love her, you buy her things, you beat the ever living crap out of her once or twice a week. Then you baby her and doctor her up. She eventually takes all your money and leaves you crying. Trailer Park Love right there.

 

[Shifting_Gears]

I worked at a pizza place. Manager said she hated it when I backed up to her office window. When I took off she could smell the gas through the window. The exhaust almost gave her a heart attack.

Hahaha - that’s priceless.

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