If you haven't heard the sound of a 235 with a split manifold barking through a set of dual glasspacks go and find one and experience one of the best hot rod sounds ever. Frank
Good, or like a V8? Just think of the old "splits" and Hollywoods of the old days on lots of inliners. I had snarly 231 V6 in the late 70's with headers, large pipes and through a turbo muffler, sounded like an angry rhinosorous in heat... Beauty is in the ear of the beholder, eh! Loud and prowd or cool and collected, ya may want to decide on the car's theme or character and follow that. That's my thoughts on that... hotrod tommy
No. A six-banger whether it be a V6 or an inline six has it's own distinct exhaust note. There's no mistaking that V8 sound, a six just can't sound like one.
Nope, it will always sound just a little bit higher pitched. v6s can sound cool though, but you jsut cant beat a true v8 sound
The reason I ask is that I'm building a bobber pickup and was planning on installing a SBC350 I have. But with fuel prices I was thinking that it would be a cool project to install a V6 and try for 25 to 30 MPG. I've never cared for the V6 sound in many cars, however, a while back I had a Chevy Lumina Euro with the 3.1 V6. The exhaust was quite throaty and sounded pretty good. Maybe a Ford 260 or 289 would be the waty to go??
mpg can be gained by a 4 speed auto - or some more "forgiving" rear end gears - a bobber shouldn't wiegh that much - go with a mild V8 and you'll be fine
I agree with this ^^^ I'd never even consider a V6, when you can actually squeeze GOOD mpg out of a mild V8 in a lighter vehicle. SBF is a good candidate.
Well, the best way to know how a V6 will sound is to listen to some of them. To start you off in that direction, here's a link to a video of a 60-degree Chevy V6 powered Lotus 7 clone. It's probably got a small 4 barrel carb, over-the-frame long tube headers, and fairly short glasspack sidepipe mufflers. Brunton Auto Stalker video And as an alternative, here's a link to a supercharged Buick 90-degree V6 with a similar exhaust system. I think the blower whine is annoying, but I don't doubt that some folks will differ with me on that. But annoying or not, that little f###er really scoots around the track. Watch him chase down and fly past cars that cost a heck of a lot more. Superstalker Video Whether or not you like the way various V6 engines sound is really a matter of personal taste. Listen and decide for yourself. By the way, in case you are curious, you can read about and see pictures of the cars in in the above videos HERE.
I have owned a V8 that was a real slug, and a V 6 that sounded great passing 7500 RPMs. Each is very distinctive. The price of fuel may never come down, research!
Well, then let me ask this. In my 48 Ford Coupe I'm running a Goodwrench 350 with a 700R4, 3:55 gears and 235/70-15 rubber. The engine has an Edlebrock Performer series intake with a Edlebrock 1405 carb. Ramhorn exhaust manifolde with 2.5 duals with Flowmaster 40's. Now I'll admit that I have a hard time babying the throttle, but even if I did, I don't think I could get more than 15 MPG on the highway. I have people telling me that they are getting 20 mpg. I have suspected the 1405 is too rich .Any comments????
The best time and money spent would be to find a shop with a chassis dyno and get a good idea of where the tune up is and go from there.
A significant contributor to reduced fuel economy is, of course, speed and poor aerodynamics. A '48 Ford is not aerodynamic (don't get pissed, I've owned '46 & '47 Ford). Since aerodynamic drag (wind resistance) multiplies with the square of the speed, a few miles an hour one way or the other can make a significant difference. For example, if your wind resistance at 30 mph is X, doubling the speedto 60 increases the wind resistance by 4 times or 4X. You can apply that to other mph comparisons, but "on the highway" is kind of a vague term. Is "on the highway" 75 or 60 mph? Makes a difference with any vehicle, but more so with a 'draggy' one. Ray
no. our shop deals with v6 owners that bought the cheap mustang or camero and spend mucho cash to make them sound like v8. with out much luck
The Jalopy Journal
