Mercedes expects 'significant increases' in F1 engine sound

Mercedes executive director Paddy Lowe says the new-for-2016 exhaust rules “will work” in delivering “significant increases” in engine noise.

Since their introduction in 2014, the 1.6-litre V6 turbocharged power units have been much maligned, with disgruntled fans bemoaning the lower sound of the current engines compared to their normally aspirated V8 predecessors.

The latest turbos have had only one exhaust pipe out of the back of the car so far, but this year’s regulations state teams must use at least one extra pipe for the wastegate, with up to two additional pipes allowed.

Speaking in Mercedes F1’ latest video, Lowe explains how this will help enhance the sound of the engines.

“In the last two years we've had a situation where the main exhaust goes through one tailpipe,” the technical chief said.

“Then we have a thing called the wastegate, which is a way of spilling out any extra pressure from the exhaust system when it's not wanted to be used by the turbo.

“[Now] we have to duct that air separately through an extra tailpipe, and this is all intended to make more noise, so we're trying to make the engine louder.

“It will work, and we'll see how much louder they'll be. Some measurements have been made in labs and they've seen some significant increases.

“The reason for that is the wastegate was causing a sort of silencing of the main exhaust pipe, so by removing it from the main exhaust pipe we have less silencing going on.”

F1 engine manufacturers recently agreed to keep the V6 turbos until at least 2020 in exchange for lowering the cost of their customer power units.

Paddy Lowe's full interview is available in the video below:

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