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Tuning the Sprite

SaxMan

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No..it's not what you think.

When I was out driving Baby Blue on a beautiful weekend, I noticed that the exhaust definitely makes a discernable note. When you have the radio on, you can actually "tune" the exhaust note to be a subwoofer of sorts for the radio. For instance, I found that in 4th gear at about 2600 rpm, the exhaust note is a Low E, which is perfect as many rock and roll songs are written in E (**** Guitar players!). "Who Are You" by the Who came on the radio and I was able to "play along" with the Sprite. Next song was "Don't You Want Somebody" by Jefferson Airplane, which is in F# minor. To get the Sprite to play in tune, I had to speed up to bring the engine up to 2750 rpm, which produced the F#. It also works at lower rpms, but there are a different overtone series. For instance, 2000 rpm in 3rd gear creates a Low C, which was good enough for Tom Petty's "Learning to Fly".

I wouldn't recommend trying this on anything except a deserted road, as you're likely to tick off the people riding behind you. I imagine you probably want to watch your speed as well. I don't think a police officer would like the explanation "Well, I had to speed up to keep my exhaust note in tune with the radio".

Anyway, just enjoying the spring weather and knocking out the usual minor glitches that are a part of these little car's personalities.
 
Check this out.

 
That's awesome! I'm not quite yet that accomplished at playing the Sprite.
 
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