The Mazda 787B race car was an instantaneous legend.

Driven to victory in the 1991 Le Mans 24 Hour race, it remains both the only Japanese car ever to win the race, and the only rotary-engined winner too.

Perhaps even more than its shape, the defining characteristic of the 787B is its piercing, deafeningly-loud sound, the result of its four-rotor Wankel engine.

How do you do justice to that sound in a video game? If you're Turn 10, creators of Forza Motorsport 4, you use a lot of microphones--and one hell of a lot of ear protection.

There's a lot more to recording sound than just sticking a mic near the exhaust though. As you can see in the video, the car was surrounded by microphones to capture the sound from all angles.

Engines sound different under load, too. Simply revving a car up in neutral won't replicate the sound you'd hear out on the track. The 787B was hooked up to a dynamometer to capture a more realistic sound, as well as the transmission noises and exhaust crackles the drivers and spectators would have experienced at Le Mans.

And the noise? The highest reading Turn 10 has ever captured, edging out the crazy V-12-engined TVR Cerbera Speed 12.

The results speak for themselves in the video. If you'd like to listen to it some more, the 787B was part of February's ALMS car pack, and is available on Xbox LIVE now.