Ask those 900,000 people that purchased Miata.
S.
ps. My answer would be:
-it looks great
-it will handle amazing (2600 pounds)
-not everyone wants to own 11sec. car

 

While I haven't driven a Porsche Boxster, I hear them all of the time. While it is certainly better than listening to an EVO with a full exhaust, it still does nothing for me. I still hear people telling me how great the VQ35 in a 350z sounds and can only shake my head. Again, sound is only one aspect of a car however and I wouldn't let that be my only guide when buying a new car.

I brought up the fact that the car weighs in at 2600 lbs because that is very impressive to me. While I would also choose the Corvette, it still wouldn't be the same as throwing around a tiny 2600 lb vehicle, 4 cylinder or not. I mean, if you are in the market for a sub 3000 lb car, I think this Audi would be worth taking a look at, diesel or not. That is all I am saying.

 

Not sure about the Porsche, but the Subaru sounds different because it has unequal-length headers, not because it has horizontally opposed cylinders. Put equal-length headers on a WRX and suddenly it sounds just like any other four-banger.

Having said that, I agree -- the Subaru flat-four sound (w/ unequal length headers) is the best four-cylinder sound out there.

Still, all of the above sound significantly better than any diesel.

 

Firing order and the arrangement of the cylinders matter as well. The Legacy has basically equal length manifolds and still sounds different than a typical I4. On the boxer 4 the cylinders are fired on one bank and then the other, these are collected into separate manifolds which then merge. You could get closer if you had four separate primaries that came together in one collector but it probably wouldn't sound identical to an I4 with a 4 into one manifold. Flat-plane and cross-plane V8's are very different chiefly due to the even firing order with the flat crank versus the uneven burble with a cross-plane crank.

 

5 HP and 93 ft/lbs of torque on our Solstice? What's not to like?

 

Along with a pretty large weight reduction.