c230_kS

i read on Motor Trend today, and they talk about the pros of the c230 kompressor sedan having a v6 like quiet engine....what do u guys think about that.... (personally, i don't think so)...

jpb5151

Where on Motor Trend?

The 230's engine seems quiet enough from the inside, but has too much whining noise to be as quiet as a V6 from the outside.

c230_kS

this month's motor trend mag. comparing with acura tsx, saab 93 (arc)

C230K

Having owned the C230 and now the C320, the six is a
quiet, very smooth engine, the exhaust sounds better, more like a small v8 when you stand on it otherwise it's quite.

BenzC240

Maybe the guy testing it was alittle death, who knows.

electromethod

Even the 1.8 is a little loud outside of the vehicle but quite frankly I really never cared because i am always IN the vehicle.... food for thought...

BenzC240

this is really dumb people u know, who cares if its louder or not, the C230 is better than the C240, end of story

FrankW

my friend's 03 C230k sedan seems quiet enough...better than my v6k.

Outland

The 1.8 is quieter than the 2.3...and in use its quieter than the Honda motor. The Honda motor makes some serious growl...and plenty of vibration. However, outside both vehicles at idle, the Honda is quieter.

So I sorta agree with the reviewer...from the drivers point of view, its very quiet.

bzcat

so Motortrend says the 1.8K is quiet like a V6 but C&D says the 1.8K makes farting noise... who is right?

I think Motortrend writer must be def... either that or they didn't actually test drive the car and wrote the piece from the desk. Because there is no way in hell anyone will think the 1.8K is quiet like a V6... unless that V6 is idling loudly with a lose wheel bearing inside the crank. My 230K sounds like a pack of hungry wolf barking at idle and with increasing RPM comes various degree of hawling...

BenzC240

keep in mind it is a V4 after all

Outland

V4...

BenzC240

thats right a V4, deal with it. poor guy he is loosing it going crazy with all the icons

Matt230K

No, he's making fun of you because it's not a V4. It's an inline 4.

FrankW

anyway, I think the new i-4 is pretty quiet compare the the v6 at idle.

Matt230K

Yeah, it is a pretty quiet engine, although it does seem to have some strange noises and vibrations sometimes. Maybe this is just because I am around the ones that are brand new and rarely get started.

Outland

It seemed to me that in the Coupe the 1.8 made a little more noise than it did in the Sedan...might have just been the fact that the 1.8 Coupe I drove had the panorama roof, and with it open and the windows down you heard everything at idle.

My only complaint with the sound on either motor is that just off idle 'thhp- thhp' it makes when you go half throttle or more till around 2500rpm. The 1.8 did it as well... so, ??? But once underway the M111 makes some nice supercharger whine, and the M271 is just silent.

My Saturn Coupe had a twin cam motor that was notorious for its unrefined NVH, but its off idle sound was like a race car in comparison to the MB fours. At its worst(or best, depending how you look at it) when I had the open element CAI, overbored TB, and free flowing exhaust on it, the car made the most incredible, deep "vaaooohroooom" noise when you floored it off the line, and making some boxster like intake and valvetrain noise as you passed 4 or 5 thousand.

And boy could you feel it...vibration city

FrankW

i doubt the mag would roll down the window and check for loudness of the engine. If they were inside of the car it is very likely that the 1.8 is quieter than the 2.6 or 3.2 v6 at idle of course, judging from my own experience from riding and driving in various MB. at speed, i think any 4 cyclinder engine will be louder because they have to rev higher to get the same car to go at the same speed.

anywayz...talk about quiet...i was standing next to my friend's 3.2TL, I didn't even notice his engine was running. he even told me that a few time he tried to start the car when it's been on.

Outland

Not quite. Its all in the gearing, not power, not RPM. More gears allow you to turn slower at highway speeds. It only takes about 8HP to push the car along at highway speed- even the lowest Kia can swing that. My car turns like 2600RPM at 70. Where's your C32 at? I had a pontiac that used to turn 1400RPM at 60 . Frankly, in addition to slightly higher first and second gears, I'd like to see a taller 6th on the MB manny. There's enough torque available.

Quote:

anywayz...talk about quiet...i was standing next to my friend's 3.2TL, I didn't even notice his engine was running. he even told me that a few time he tried to start the car when it's been on.

I did that a few times on my Accord. It was very quiet at idle. The whole time you couldn't hear it leaking oil and antifreeze all over my driveway either

FrankW

power relates to rpm. smaller engine has to turn faster to create the same power from the bigger engine (in general), with the same amount of gear you can use in mind. say C320 6-speed vs C230k 6-speed. of course gear ratio would take part too.

never really pay attention to the RPM at 70 for my car. I know it's little less than 3k when i'm going 80-85 mph. I'll check on that later and get back to ya...

pretty sad case for a honda that usually have less problem when it's new, but that's better than our family minivan. The damn belt tensioner broke off and fell right through the engine bay to the ground after a little over a year my parents got it. my mom had to borrow one of the neighbor's car to get to the woodshop class my parents were taking. btw, it's 96 grand caravan...go figure

moomeh

i sneak up with people with my c240. then i honk at them to pay attention and look out.