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F1 is continuing to nudge up the volume of its controversial 'power units'. In 2011, in the midst of the screaming V8 era, a German newspaper clocked the leading Mercedes engine at 128 decibels - beyond the human pain threshold.
Then in 2015, for the second season of the much quieter V6 turbo 'hybrid' era, a Spanish publication found that the Ferrari was just 102 decibels. "The pain threshold," said a correspondent, "is around 120 decibels, a figure that none of the current cars are close to."
Now, Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport has recorded the Mercedes and Ferrari 'power units' at between 109 and 110 decibels during recent Barcelona testing. The sports newspaper said that is just 6 decibels louder than at the start of the new engine era in 2014.
The 2017 Renault is just 105 decibels, La Gazzetta added, with 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve declaring: "The sound of these (F1) cars is still not good." (GMM)
The days of the building shaking F1 engines is gone. The old timers need to accept it and get over it. These new engines are amazing feats of technology and the fastest f1 engines ever.
Yup, and nothing says they wont become louder. A problem with the token system was that they couldnt develop the PUs more, this season will change that, and could maybe even give suppliers time to improve sound. Either way, I prefer a nice sound over a loud one.
The sound is a very important part of the spectacle that is F1. But it shouldn't be noise for the sake of noise. I'd like for them to go back to the "rpm race". Where there are no restrictions on rpms.
The thing is, these PU are masterpieces in their own right, but that is lost on the casual fans. I consider myself a pretty big F1 fan, and even I couldn't tell you how they work. But when your own car redlines at 7000 rpm (if you're lucky), you can appreciate how amazing it is when F1 cars redline at around 20.000 rpms. And the sound should follow suit.
I think it's important for F1 to be a spectacle again. It has become quite streamlined and boring over the last handful of years. With band aids being used instead of tackling fundamental problems.
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Ram Samartha
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The days of the building shaking F1 engines is gone. The old timers need to accept it and get over it. These new engines are amazing feats of technology and the fastest f1 engines ever.