The GT350 and its Unique Sound
We’ve seen the articles on it, and we’ve seen videos of it screaming down the Nürburgring, but why does the GT350 sound different? We’ve got a couple of videos that could explain what’s going on, and we’ll do a little detailing here as well.
If you haven’t seen the video that Mustang6G has posted on YouTube of the GT350 driving around the legendary Nürburgring, then check out this video first:
Now, we’ve heard Mustangs with custom exhausts from the 4.6 to the new Coyote, but there is something very different about that exhaust note. The way the exhaust sounds is nothing like most DOHC V8s that have been domestically produced. It actually sounds very exotic and the thing that could cause that sound comes from racing and the exotic car world: the flat-plane crankshaft. It’s exactly as it sounds: the crankshaft is on a flat plane on the crankshaft centerline. Normally, we’re used to the cross-plane crankshaft that has a ninety-degree separation. A flat-plane is 180-degrees and you’ve seen it before if you’re familiar with four-cylinder engines.
The benefits of a flat-plane crankshaft are reduced weight, better engine response, and better exhaust scavenging. Oh, and that really awesome exhaust note. However, it does come at a sacrifice of being harder to balance. Thanks to Engineering Explained, we have another great video that details the differences between the two.