Enjoy the ASMR experience of a Subaru boxer as it goes through the rev range for a full 180 minutes.
Ever wanted to voluntarily listen to a Subaru flat-four boxer run continuously for three hours straight? Well, me neither. But just for the few who might think that a Scooby running through the rev range for 1/8th of a day is better sounding than say waves crashing on a shore or the gentle pitter-patter of rain drops, you will be pleased to hear that Toyota (yes, we’ll get to that later) recently released an ASMR-style video on exactly that to YouTube!
Now to provide a bit more detail regarding the video above here, this 4K Subaru boxer ASMR experience was produced from a 1.8-litre turbocharged flat-four unit off a Levorg Layback. And to be even more specific than that too, the rumble coming from this jacked-up Scooby wagon has been enhanced slightly from the fitment of an STI performance muffler.
This Subaru ASMR video actually comes as part of a larger story from the Toyota Times discussing how the unique configuration of the Pleiades marque’s signature boxer engine affects the rumble it makes, as part of its ongoing series called ‘Engine Sounds For The Soul’. Those who want to get properly nerdy as to why Scoobies sound the way they do really should check out the article linked here, but the gist of it is that iconic steady and sonorous throb comes from their horizontally-opposed hearts having different lengths of exhaust pipes from each cylinder, which in turn sees should have been four separate exhaust gases from four sequential explosions actually converge as a single combined exhaust coming out of the muffler at once.
The Subaru engineers interviewed by the Toyota Times for its story further details the challenges in keeping the iconic burble alive in this current climate of strict emissions and noise regulation, with the engineers lamenting that fitted muffler and other auditory reduction measures forcing them to make factory models as quiet as possible. The engineers interviewed nevertheless looked back fondly at the time they were let loose on developing the sound profile for the BRZ, with them going into great detail about the proprietary Sound Creator intake sound delivery device first featured on the first-generation Toyobaru sports cars.
In getting back to the elephant in the room meanwhile on why exactly is Toyota’s own official publication covering an engine of Subaru’s, the reasoning stems from both automakers having recently (plus Mazda) recently officially announced a partnership pact for engine development in the upcoming electrification era. Subaru will be continuing to develop its signature boxer to meet future emissions regulations, while Toyota and Mazda will be working on their all-new lineup of inline and rotary units respectively.
Incidentally here too, Toyota actually currently owns a rather substantial 20.42% share in Subaru (as well as a 5.05% share in Mazda).
