Aural pleasure: Britain's best-sounding tunnels
A team of acoustics experts has named the finest-sounding road tunnels in Britain by driving an Alfa Romeo through them and recording the sonorous soundtracks.
Richard King from acoustic consultancy Sandy Brown, which has previously helped fine tune the Albert Hall, measured the exhaust sound, tyre, road and wind noise from an Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio and a devised ‘Sound Tunnel Index’ to rank each underpass.
“The shape and size of tunnels, their length, the speed of the road, background sounds such as other cars, airflow and tyre noise, all have an impact on the sound you hear while driving through it,” said King. “This is heightened in a performance SUV like the Stelvio Quadrifoglio, where the combination of the V6 Bi-Turbo engine and exhaust sound add to the excitement, so this index will help petrolheads and car lovers across the UK make the most of their drives.”
Top of the list is the Penmaenbach tunnel in North Wales, which King said has “ A distinctive U-shaped profile, a good road surface and one way traffic configuration in each tunnel.”
In second place is Saltash in Cornwall which, despite having a low speed limit, still proved to be aurally excellent. “High road speeds are not essential to enjoy a tunnel - as proven by Saltash, which is subject to a 30mph speed limit. Without the high levels of wind and tyre noise that can drown out the engine, the V6 Bi-Turbo was clearly audible with only a gentle throttle,” said King.
Completing the top three is Dorset’s Beaminster tunnel, despite being rather busy. “At Beaminster, the narrow U-shaped design of the tunnel means that drivers can hear the engine sound really clearly, despite the traffic,” he added.
If you fancy taking a tunnel run to all ten then here’s the full list:
Penmaenbach, North Wales Length 658m
Saltash, Cornwall Length 410m
Beaminster, Dorset Length 105m
Hindhead, Surrey Length 1,830m
Holmesdale, Enfield Length 600m
Queensway, Cheshire Length 2,010m
Dartford, Kent Length 1,430m
Hatfield, Hertfordshire Length 1,200m
Limehouse, Poplar Length 1,100m
Tyne, Durham Length 1,700m
Now explore the world’s longest tunnel – the ultimate automotive auditorium.