This morning I was picking my nose in a very unhygienic way and thinking about the so-called noise factor in motor racing. I came to the conclusion that I’m seriously obsessed with S2000 rally cars (like the Ford Fiesta S2000 or the Peugeot 207 S2000) – their angry little engines produce excellent noise which I prefer to F1 in many ways.
I’ve never been a big fan of V8 power in Formula 1 because V10 engines sounded considerably better (or maybe it’s something to do with my brain?). I was still an infant in the 1980s, so I’m not qualified to a make judgement on turbo engines or even crazier V12 stuff, although I’ve heard a lot of nice things about that era’s noise levels. I think the Cosworth V10 design circa 2005 could be called my favourite source of noise in motorsport. Alas, it’s no more and we’ll be getting a new generation of engines in the near future which I hope are alright in the noise department.
I can’t really rate diesel-powered or electric racing cars here; with diesel power, the sheer monstrosity of these vehicles is quite attractive despite the lack of noise. It’s possible that I’ll even come to like electric cars… if the EV Cup comes to town later this year.
GT cars are absolute stars in this (virtual?) kingdom of noise, especially the Ferrari F430 (me personal favourite). I don’t debate GT racing any more because these babies are simply cool – no arguments required.
Well, I think that’s it for for today’s edition of “The Verbal Diarrhoea Unlimited” (Iberian style). The Iberian-mobile (aka Renault Twingo S1200) needs a bit of pimping before it’s ready to tackle the distance between Lisbon and Jerez next month where I’ll get my annual dose of noise in style.
PS Check out our Ford Fiesta S2000 gallery (from WRC Rally Portugal, 2010 and Rallye Vidreiro, also 2010) by clicking HERE.
S2000 Rally Cars
iberianmph.com 
I used to love the noise turbocharged V8 Champ Car engines would make round an oval. They were full throttle for much of the lap and the sound would reverberate off the concrete walls.
S2000 cars are great in general. They look pretty neat, and as you said, sound good too. The formula seems to be proving very popular amongst fans.
Eurosport Events need to be careful with the championships, however. The WTCC has become unwatchable for me due to the absurdity of some of the team order decisions that have been made in recent seasons. This doesn’t seem to be a huge problem in the IRC at the moment, though. Sure, we had the Sarrazin incident at the Monte, although that was partially understandable as he won’t be completing the entire championship.
Never been anywhere near American style racing machines but would love to one day. There was this vague talk a few years ago about bringing one of American based racing series to Estoril – of course, it never happened; I suppose I should really spend some time in the US. We’ll get Porsche Brazilian GT3 Cup in April which sounds like a lot of fun and noise with some decent names participating in the series.
WTCC needs more cars and less politics; I’ll try to pop up in Porto this year to check out the new generation of engines they’ve got now. Old BMWs and Chevy Lacetti were great.
IRC is good fun indeed but WRC is coming back strongly with some interesting propositions: lovely new cars and a special stage right in the centre of Lisbon for the Portuguese round. It remains to be seen whether they can arrange a star similar to Loeb in the future. Previous generation of the WRC cars was pretty awesome, I loved it but Fiesta, DS3, and MINI Countryman are probably more contemporary in a way, dunno, they should be interesting to watch.