BRM - full track.mp3 3.46 MB

The is one is the full recording of the BRM running around the track, but with *slightly* less audio 'detail' to keep the size down. It has the car being push started (they have no on-board starter) then doing two laps before returning to the pits. The same thing is then played from a microphone inside the cockpit. Note that while the car is running around the track, as soon as it starts to warm up, the engine begins to miss, unfortunately ... Here's a quote from the driver - "Once the needle reaches six, it is as if you have just pulled away from the start like any other car, because six is where the BRM begins to work,. From there until 12,000rpm, the power almost doubles with every 2,000 revs. Or at least it did. I could get to about nine by gently coaxing and tickling the accelerator. Then the engine would cut dead as if someone had switched it off. Pull my foot gently from the pedal and the 16 cylinders come back to life one by two, by four by twelve. Accelerate again and they cut. Too much pedal too soon and they cut. Various theories abounded. Perhaps the methanol from the big carburetor that feeds the supercharger, designed and made by Rolls-Royce, was freezing somehwere between the blower and engine. Maybe the vegetable oil that burns with that unique, savoury tang was oiling the plugs. Maybe one or two or three of the four magnetos were shorting inside themselves once the sparks grew too frequent with rising revs. Maybe ..." And later this - "We would try just one last time. The engineers removed and soaked the rows of spark plugs in petrol to remove traces of oil, replaced them and gave me an immediate push start. I was to drive off with the engine under load in the hope that this would make the fires burn hotter and keep the plugs clean. It worked for just half a lap before the stalls started again, but it was enough to see how fast this car could be. So powerful was the engine even in this hesitant half-throttled state that the rear tyres would light up every time the engine passed 6,000, whatever the gear. Every time they smoked and spun, the rear end would dip on those oleo struts and the car would snake and slither. The engine is vastly, ludicrously powerful for a pair of tyres just ten inches wide."

BRM - in car.mp3 1.75 MB

This is the in-car audio, recorded at the same time as the external audio.

BRM - loud pass.mp3 515 KB

The BRM coming down the straight, past the pits, and going down a few gears into the next turn.

BRM - push start.mp3 983 KB

The engineers push starting the car, it gradually firing up, then blasting off. Listen to that supercharger scream!

BRM - return to pits.mp3 402 KB

The BRM coming down the straight for the last time, then pulling into the pits with the driver blipping the throttle.

F1 - off start line.mp3 486 KB

1983 Tyrell 011 Cosworth DFV Formula One car recording - This is the car doing a full-race start. I'm amazed at how quickly the engine revs pick up.

F1-startup.mp3 593 KB

This is the car starting its engine in a pit bay.