Does anyone know if there is a muffler that will make the kitty kat V-12 sound somewhat like a Maserati?

I have removed the original 4 Cats and replaced them with two after market ones. I have also removed the resonators. The car definitely has a beefier rumble to it but I'd like to see if I can get it to sound a bit different.

 

Hi Brad

I was wondering exactly the same thing!

There is a Guy with a Maseratti near me, that has the best exhaust note I have ever heard,

 

Good lord they really do.

 

Betrayal, Treason!! Your car will exact its revenge Alex, depend upon it!

 

Going to be a hard job... 4 valve heads always sound different...

 

aahh....great point. Not knowing a thing about Maserati's I overlooked the fundamental engineering differences of the engines.

 

Big pipes, X pipe. Borla pro xs dual outs. Should be in the ballpark, but modern stock Maseratis are not far off the quiet tone ( different of course ) of the XJS. But there are a lot of really awesome exhaust systems available for them. Several have partial or full bypass systems to switch from civilized to full barbarian.

 

I've long forgotten the details but someone once explained the science behind the Jag V12 not sounding like an old classic Ferrari/Maserati V12. As I recall even the firing order enters into the picture.

There are many threads, here and elsewhere, discussing how to make the Jag V12 sound 'right'. From my own experience I can say that, with low restriction exhaust, the Jag V12 has a rather odd sound....more like two straight-6s than a V12.

Legend has it that Jaguar used a balance pipe on the old E-type V12s simply to tune the exhaust note. I'll be having exhaust work done on mine in the next couple weeks and I'll be adding a balance pipe. I'll let everyone know how it turns out.

Cheers
DD

 

I'm remembering (or misremembering) that it might come down to Ferrari/Maser v12s using a flat-plane crankshaft rather than cross-plane crankshaft?



Cheers
DD

 

Whew, oh yeah, Some old Ford V8 racers went to flat 180, cranks. Really howled when revved. No silencers at all.


I still recall the awesome sound of the "Tucson Speed Sport Special". Circa 1959 we went to a drag meet at the former Holtville, CA naval air station. The memorable car.
A 27 Ford Roadster body. Rear engine. A 331 CI Chrysler Hemi V8. 8 flex pipes, rather short going aft. Big time version of ripping silk....


Carl

 

Let me know when you figure it out.


I'm going to do tubular (non equal length) stainless headers and full 3" thin wall pipes no cats. May experiment with a cross pipe.

 

all of the above !

that Ferrari sounds OK ,but still a little harsh/raspy not enough BASS.

my 12 cylinders ALL exit from ONE Big Bassy outlet!

but in all fairness , exhaust sounds are like opinions, everybody has one!!?

i should make a video, you should hear Jag 12's at 7000 revs!

 

Exhaust is on my short list, I look forward to hearing how that balance pipe works out. It may just be the deciding factor on whether I go that route.

Of course, my bike has to sell first to fund the madness.

 

You mean it hasn't done that already, with all the problems I've had.

 

I have absolutely no idea what any of that means. LOL It must be important though since our highly experienced members mentioned it. Any elaboration for us less experienced.

 

This explains it better than I can

Engines Exposed: What is a Flat-Plane Crankshaft?

As to the science of how this changes exhaust sound, well, that's beyond my pay grade

Cheers
DD

 

That's very kewl and interesting. So if I am interpreting this correctly the Jag V12 is a cross plane design.

 

I know nothing about the XJS's but I am very close to exotic sounding on my '07 XKR. I really, really need to do a video of it moving. I stayed with small pipe, 2.25" off the manifolds to 200 cell spun cats. Then a 1/3 opening X pipe to the stock 2nd resonator on a XKR. Then I had to make a new muffler and chose a pair of @ 12" long resonators for the outer tips. On my inner's I played with different sized pipes to get rid of some dreaded 2k drone from the outer's and ended up with a pair of 1.625" inlet pipes that then needed hand fab'd 'muffler' inserts made. It's close and the sound almost forces me to rev it between every shift. With both windows down it's stereophonic where the exhaust pulses seem to go from side to side as it revs. Very unique sound but it's about 2x the volume that I'd like. There's a bunch of pics and story in my build thread that might be worth reading.

 

Brad
Balance is vital in a road car engine. The Jaguar V12 crank is in effect two six cylinder cranks, and the throws of the crankshaft are so designed to even out the firing stroke pulses so as to reduce vibration to the minimum. The six cylinder engine (and hence the Jaguar V12) being uniquely wonderful in resolving vibrations, as most of them are cancelled out by equal masses moving in the opposite direction.
Flat plane cranks are used in V8s mostly, and they (so I understand) give firing pulse advantages to race engines; but at the expense of horrible vibration.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engine_balance


Greg

 

Technically, a flat plane crank is totally useless for a V12...

For an engine with 4 or 8 cylinders, it is totally okay. But anymore and you'll have some cylinders firing at the same time. With a normal 6 cylinder crank (which the V12 shares in a longer form), you'll get that smooth power. If you have a flat plane, you only have the choice: piston up or piston down. So if you have a flat plane, you'd have 3 pistons up and 3 down. Doesn't give you much choice for a firing order. 2 will always be firing somewhere along the lines...

And if you have that in a V12 form, you'd have 4x 2 cylinders firing at the same time. A dreadful idle and probably disastrous power output. And loads of imblanences...