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Fake Engine Noise Is the Auto Industry's Dirty Little Secret

Posted by timothy on from the mazda-puts-it-right-up-front dept.

HughPickens.com writes Stomp on the gas in a new Ford Mustang or F-150 and you'll hear a meaty, throaty rumble — the same style of roar that Americans have associated with auto power and performance for decades. Now Drew Harwell reports at the Washington Post that the auto industry's dirty little secret is that the engine growl in some of America's best-selling cars and trucks is actually a finely tuned bit of lip-syncing, boosted through special pipes or digitally faked altogether. "Fake engine noise has become one of the auto industry's dirty little secrets, with automakers from BMW to Volkswagen turning to a sound-boosting bag of tricks," writes Harwell. "Without them, today's more fuel-efficient engines would sound far quieter and, automakers worry, seemingly less powerful, potentially pushing buyers away." For example Ford sound engineers and developers worked on an "Active Noise Control" system on the 2015 Mustang EcoBoost that amplifies the engine's purr through the car speakers. Afterward, the automaker surveyed members of Mustang fan clubs on which processed "sound concepts" they most enjoyed.

Among purists, the trickery has inspired an identity crisis and cut to the heart of American auto legend. The "aural experience" of a car, they argue, is an intangible that's just as priceless as what's revving under the hood. "For a car guy, it's literally music to hear that thing rumble," says Mike Rhynard, "It's a mind-trick. It's something it's not. And no one wants to be deceived." Other drivers ask if it really matters if the sound is fake? A driver who didn't know the difference might enjoy the thrum and thunder of it nonetheless. Is taking the best part of an eight-cylinder rev and cloaking a better engine with it really, for carmakers, so wrong? "It may be a necessary evil in the eyes of Ford," says Andrew Hard, "but it's sad to think that an iconic muscle car like the Mustang, a car famous for its bellowing, guttural soundtrack, has to fake its engine noise in 2015. Welcome to the future."

53 of 823 comments (clear)

  1. Just give the option to turn it off... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    For some, having engine noise is fine. However, the '70s and '80s with the purring V8s are gone, and the vehicles that will be the norm will either be hybrids, diesels, or electric cars.

    As someone who likes modern cars, we don't need any more noise added. In fact, there is something nice about a Tesla or Prius's silence at idle.

    1. Re:Just give the option to turn it off... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      In fact, there is something nice about a Tesla or Prius's silence at idle

      Unless you're blind, or happen to be looking the other way when the drunk in a prius bears down on you. Which is why some sort of fake engine noise will eventually be mandated (if it hasn't been already).

      The "tick tick" of your turn signals has been fake for years, mechanical relays are long past.

    2. Re:Just give the option to turn it off... by Crashmarik · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Entirely different things. In the case of the turn signal that's just part of the UI, not unlike click feedback on keyboards. In the case of blind people that's a safety feature. In either case there is no need for them to be annoying to the driver, which engine noise is to many people. Matter of fact quiet is a feature on luxury cars.

    3. Re:Just give the option to turn it off... by Kjella · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Unless you're blind, or happen to be looking the other way when the drunk in a prius bears down on you. Which is why some sort of fake engine noise will eventually be mandated (if it hasn't been already). The "tick tick" of your turn signals has been fake for years, mechanical relays are long past.

      But not on your internal speakers, at worst you have to install an exterior speaker to deliver "engine" noises. In fact, you can probably do active noise cancellation of it internally so you barely hear your own engine. The turn signal on the other hand serves an actual purpose, to remind you that you're still signaling to other people that you're turning as in some curves it won't turn itself off. For driving a manual car the engine noise serves a purpose too, but it's getting more and more rare even here in Europe.

      --
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    4. Re:Just give the option to turn it off... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The click is there as a safety feature so that you don't have to look down to see that your turn signal is still on.

    5. Re:Just give the option to turn it off... by monkeyzoo · · Score: 5, Informative

      I agree. Acoustic aesthetics are important and worthwhile of engineering attention.

      Quiet (or as quiet as possible) is one aesthetic that may be desirable. For other people (or perhaps cars), a good rumble (as long as it not excessively load and obnoxious) is equally a desirable aesthetic. It's not so different, as you note, than choice of paint job.

      For a company to put attention into this aspect of the user experience is a positive thing.

      There was just a podcast on this very topic, namely the lack of attention that many companies put into the aural experience of their products and how very important that experience is to consumers. http://99percentinvisible.org/...

      Here is an excerpt:

      'Car companies also consider sound in the design of their product. A Ford Mustang, for instance, will intentionally not sound the same as a Ford Taurus, even if their engines are similar.

      In 2008, Ford decided to put out a remake of a Mustang that appeared in the 1968 film, Bullitt. The car sounded like this: [video].

      Ford wanted to make the 2008 Bullitt sound akin to the 1968 Bullitt. They were trying, essentially, to make a new car sound old.

      This proved especially challenging, because cars made in 1968 were built completely differently; the 1968 Bullitt had a carburetor, for instance, and the new model had a fuel injection system. Plus, the Mustang in the movie was enhanced with sounds recorded from a race car—and it’s actually illegal in most places to drive around in a car as loud as the car from the movie would be if it were real.

      With all those factors in mind, Ford identified the key characteristics of the Mustang sounds in the movie. They then figured out how to reverse-engineer those notes as best as they could by tweaking the shapes of the tubes in the car’s exhaust system.

      Brands that don’t pay attention to sound may get punished by consumers.'

    6. Re:Just give the option to turn it off... by BlueBlade · · Score: 4, Insightful

      This "mandated" engine noise concept is so infuriating to me. We finally have the technology to remove both the air and noise pollution at the same time, but you want to add noise to an otherwise silent engine just because people aren't used to silent cars? People will just have to adapt to the fact that you can't trust your hearing to know if a car is coming or not anymore.

      This reminds me of that ridiculous law that there had to be a person walking ahead of a car because unlike horses, cars can't react if something's in the way.

      --
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    7. Re:Just give the option to turn it off... by Coren22 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It sounds like you fell for the sound engineering than.

      --
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    8. Re:Just give the option to turn it off... by Junta · · Score: 4, Informative

      There are plenty of videos now of people doing comparitve drive with the fuse in or out. With fuse out, it sounds much more like one would expect a 4-cylinder turbo to sound. It's not exactly terrible, but it is markedly different than the sound of the V6. The manipulation brings it more in line with a larger engine for people too insecure to be reminded they are driving a 4 cylinder.

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    9. Re:Just give the option to turn it off... by serviscope_minor · · Score: 5, Funny

      Well the thing is, cylingers are a bit like testicles. Real men have 6, not 4.

      --
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    10. Re:Just give the option to turn it off... by Jason+Levine · · Score: 4, Interesting

      This isn't a safety issue at all. A comparison would be: People are used to TVs being large CRT tube devices so we're taking our flat panel display and adding a huge back to it so people will think there's more "TV power" in the giant box.

      This is all about the auto manufacturers thinking people won't like quiet cars and so intentionally making cars make more noise to trick people into thinking "noisy car" = "powerful car".

      --
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    11. Re:Just give the option to turn it off... by rhazz · · Score: 5, Funny

      Car enthusiasts who were also audiophiles were surveyed to find out what they thought about the synthesized engine noise. They all complained that the sound wasn't pure enough without Monster cables delivering the full spectrum of "whooshiness" to the speakers.

    12. Re:Just give the option to turn it off... by bws111 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      What, exactly, was 'ridiculous' about the law that there had to be a person ahead of the car? The reason for that 'ridiculous' law was that a nosiy car could, in fact, scare a horse and cause it to bolt, and a bolting horse is a dangerous thing. The person had to be in front of the car to warn others that it was approaching so they could be prepared, nothing ridiculous about that at all. Once cars became commonplace they were no longer scary as people and animals got used to them. When that happened there was no further need for a person in front or a law requiring such.

      Like it or not, people have been trained for over a century that cars make noise. We even instruct children to 'stop, look, and listen'. The world is not going to suddenly adapt to silent cars. People (and service animals) will need to get used to silent cars - that is not going to happen until silent cars are ubiquitous, which is certainly not true now. There is nothing ridiculous about mandating some amount of noise in the meantime.

    13. Re:Just give the option to turn it off... by samwichse · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I've driven plenty of modern automatics. And modern manuals.

      I still can get significantly better gas mileage in a MT than an auto (no matter what the EPA ratings say... those are dumb anyway because they mandate shift points).

      And I can look ahead and anticipate what gear I want to be in. Even these manumatics with paddle shifters or whatever feel terrible when you say... approach a curve and want to preemptively downshift for engine braking and pulling out of the curve. They simply don't know your intent, and don't seem to have the wherewithal to do it smoothly.

      I'm not a race car driver, but I am someone who likes their car to be responsive, and M/T is still the only option for me AFAIC.

      Sam

    14. Re:Just give the option to turn it off... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

      It's more about the sound of a four cylinder turbo engine being annoying as hell. People hate teenage kids with fart boxes on their mom's civic for a reason. A lower exhaust note is more pleasant to the human ear.

      Also, anyone driving a manual, or even an auto-manual, needs to hear the engine to know when to shift, because they can't be staring at the tachometer when driving.

    15. Re:Just give the option to turn it off... by bobbied · · Score: 3, Funny

      Yes, all those blind drivers need tactile feedback on the turn signal.

      I see what you did there....

      --
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    16. Re:Just give the option to turn it off... by rnturn · · Score: 5, Funny

      My hope is that there'll be a way to define your own fake car noise. I'll want my silent electric car to emit a sound like George Jetson's "car".

      --
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    17. Re:Just give the option to turn it off... by bws111 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Just because something was not designed specifically to be a safety feature does not, in fact, mean it is not a safety feature. Noise IS used as a safety feature.

      Let me guess, you are one of those people who are so superior to everyone else that you can rely solely on vision to determine when it is safe to cross a road. Even at night with a moron driver who 'forgot' to put on his lights. Even when your vision is momentarily distracted by something. Even if you are blind.

    18. Re:Just give the option to turn it off... by Jarik+C-Bol · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Honestly, most modern cars these days are already so silent, the only sound you hear from them is the cooling fan and the tire noise. It is only the 'muscle' type cars, that make noise, and like the article says, its just because people expect them to. Hell, the 'Harley Davidson' edition Ford F150 magically sounds like a motorcycle, because they can make it sound any damn way they want now. I agree, the idea of mandating 'fake engine noise' is preposterous, because its pretending this is a new problem, when cars have already been nearly dead silent at parking lot speeds for years now.

      --
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    19. Re:Just give the option to turn it off... by hey! · · Score: 5, Informative

      As a cyclist, I can attest a Prius is not a totally silent vehicle. Nor, I am sure, is a Tesla although I've never encountered one on the road. The reason is tire noise.

      For a modern car traveling at 20+ MPH and not accelerating, tire noise is the dominant sound. You can easily hear a car traveling at speed from a hundred yards or more away, almost entirely from the tire noise. The engine of a well-maintained car traveling at a constant 30 MPH might as well be totally silent.

      At low speeds such as would be encountered in a parking lot or congested city street the engine noise is dominant, particularly because the car is doing a lot of accelerating and decelerating. At those speeds I think a modest synthesized engine sound is a very good idea, especially when you consider blind people and even more especially service dogs, who would have to be re-trained for some other kind of noise. There would be no need for the artificial sound once the car is at cruising speed.

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    20. Re:Just give the option to turn it off... by swillden · · Score: 5, Informative

      In fact, there is something nice about a Tesla or Prius's silence at idle

      Unless you're blind, or happen to be looking the other way when the drunk in a prius bears down on you.

      My Nissan LEAF has a speaker mounted in the driver-side front wheel well which makes noise (a tone that sweeps across the frequency range, to cover people with frequency-limited hearing) whenever the vehicle is moving below 20 mph. It's not fake engine noise, it's better.

      As to the article... I have learned to really enjoy the silence of an EV. Engine noise annoys me.

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    21. Re:Just give the option to turn it off... by rock_climbing_guy · · Score: 4, Interesting
      Interesting...

      I purchased a new Nissan Versa a few years ago with their continuously variable transmission. It runs awesome. From an engineering point of view, it amazes me that they can build a car with such a small engine and make it perform at highway speeds.

      However, I did read that when the CVT was new, some people in their focus groups didn't like it because it *sounds* different. The first time I drove it, I thought there was something wrong with it because of the sound, but it didn't bother me once I knew it was supposed to sound different. If I'm not mistaken, they changed the CVT to make it sound more like a conventional automatic transmission.

      It seems awfully dumb to me that a piece of equipment that was so carefully engineered should be modified simply to make it sound like the equipment it replaces!

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    22. Re:Just give the option to turn it off... by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 5, Informative
      "Stop, look, and listen" is for crossing train tracks.

      "Look both ways before crossing" is for streets.

      --
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    23. Re:Just give the option to turn it off... by Solandri · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Quiet (or as quiet as possible) is one aesthetic that may be desirable. For other people (or perhaps cars), a good rumble (as long as it not excessively load and obnoxious) is equally a desirable aesthetic. It's not so different, as you note, than choice of paint job.

      Not like a paint job. You can choose to avert your eyes from a garish paint job. You can't choose to shut off your ears to an obnoxiously noisy car. If you want your car to have a throaty rumble, fine, but pipe it through your internal speakers only. Don't inflict it on the rest of us just to stroke your own ego.

    24. Re:Just give the option to turn it off... by Grishnakh · · Score: 3, Informative

      Now if you drive a manual wrong and don't shift at the right times, MPG could be bad, but on the highway where shifting isn't done, you are going to literally drive away from an automatic efficiency wise.

      This is BS. EPA mileage figures are now showing most cars getting better highway mileage for automatics than for manuals, and as you say, you don't need to do much shifting on the highway. The reason for this is that automatics these days have more gears, and most likely have a higher gear ratio on the highway. Automatics can get away with having a higher gear ratio for their highest gear because it takes them milliseconds to downshift when the driver accelerates at speed; manuals can't do that, since they have fewer gears and drivers tend to hold gears more because shifting takes time and effort.

      Things have really changed a LOT in the last 10-15 years with regard to the whole manual vs. automatic debate. 15+ years ago, manuals were clearly the superior choice for a competent driver, far and away. Not any more. For many cars, they're about the same now; for many others, automatics are clearly superior. In another 5 years, manuals will be a clearly inferior choice across the board. (It's taking some time for the most-advanced automatics to get into all car models.)

    25. Re:Just give the option to turn it off... by bws111 · · Score: 4, Informative

      Fun fact: studies have shown that hybrid and electric cars are 37% more likely to hit pedestrians and 66% more likely to hit cyclists than ICE cars at under 35MPH.

      You may not THINK you are hearing engine noise, but you are, and it makes a difference.

    26. Re:Just give the option to turn it off... by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The association between 'loud' and 'powerful' is a trifle odd given that noise (like heat) is an inefficiency, a mere byproduct of the vehicle's attempt to do its real job.

      If all engines were of exactly equal (in)efficiency, using sound as a proxy for power would be sensible enough, since more powerful engines would bleed more waste noise; but this is hardly the case. Some engines achieve enormous power in near total silence, some fart-can nonsense is deliberately made louder, possibly even at the expense of performance.

      Is the fascination with vehicles that make loud noises some sort of primal thing, that we'll probably never manage to breed out of people, related to some retro equivalent of the competition between bullfrogs trying to croak more loudly and deeply to impress mates with their inferred size; or is it a much more recent development, largely tied to the period of American automobile manufacturing where engine designs and manufacturing tolerances were a bit crude; but The World's Greatest Nation could always just add more cylinders and bigger fins to achieve the desired effect, and thus likely to die out once the population turns over and most people have only been exposed to relatively well damped and comparatively efficient IC engines, or to electrics?

      Using your ears to judge a car likely won't go out of style(since your ability to sense the acceleration of an engine capable of ramping up like inertia is somebody else's problem is partially based there); but sound seems so...crude.

    27. Re:Just give the option to turn it off... by FatdogHaiku · · Score: 4, Funny

      I'm working on an app that changes the text input cursor blink rate if your turn signal is on for more than twenty seconds... helps maintain the illusion of driver attentiveness. I have a couple more features to work out (shoe and bicycle part recognition mostly) and then I'll be calling the app "Oh Crap What Did I Just Hit?" Now if I can just tie into the cars backup cam for a screen grab after crashing sounds...

      --
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    28. Re:Just give the option to turn it off... by Lab+Rat+Jason · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Hey that's a great study... but from the abstract, it doesn't look like they controlled for SHIT design factors like poor quartering visibility due to A-pillar design. Have you ever ridden in a Prius? Many hybrid vehicles make compromises in cabin design to gain a bit of mileage, and unless your study is controlling for that, then it's just a whitewash piece.

      Additionally, the article didn't control for the self-righteous attitude of most hybrid owners... which certainly must be a contributing factor in auto-pedestrian accidents. /s

      --
      Which has more power: the hammer, or the anvil?
    29. Re:Just give the option to turn it off... by Grishnakh · · Score: 4, Interesting

      NASCAR racing is not about efficiency, it's about restricting all the participants to using ancient technology so they can supposedly see who the better driver is without making it a tech-fest like F1 racing. Modern DSG gearboxes were largely pioneered in F1 racing. And even there, where they don't share the same concerns about technology as the primitive people in NASCAR, they still made restrictions so that gear changes weren't made automatically by software; from Wikipedia: "After concerns that the technology allowed software engineers to pre-program the cars to automatically change to the optimum gear according to the position on the track, without any driver intervention, a standardized software system was mandated, ensuring the gears would only change up or down when instructed to by the driver. Buttons on the steering wheel, which go directly to a certain gear—rather than sequentially—are still permitted."

      18-wheelers don't have them because 1) automatics can only handle so much torque, so for an application like this involving so much torque, it's a lot cheaper and easier to just a manual with a semi-tractor, and 2) trucks spend most of their time on the highway where gear changing isn't necessary so much. (Plus they don't care much about accelerating quickly on the highway like car buyers do.)

      The other thing you're missing is that both these applications involve professional drivers. Your average car driver cannot shift more efficiently than a computer, and if you really think you're the equal of an F1 driver, then you're a fool.

      Lastly, it probably won't be long before manual transmissions are gone in semi-tractors. They've been gone in heavy construction equipment for ages now, because they all went to serial-hybrid-electic drivetrains. Trucks are going to go the same way because of efficiency concerns, and there simply won't be a transmission.

    30. Re:Just give the option to turn it off... by Gavagai80 · · Score: 4, Informative

      As a pedestrian, you're supposed to be walking opposite traffic. If cars are coming up behind you instead of approaching in front of you, you're doing it wrong.

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  2. Splits the community in half by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Some guys are in it for the power, and thus the engine noise is wasted energy.
    Some guys are in it for the feel, and thus the engine noise is the most important thing about the car.

  3. Awesome idea by codepigeon · · Score: 5, Funny

    Can you make my car produce the sound of the Jetson's flying car? I would pay for that!

    1. Re:Awesome idea by Jason+Levine · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Next up: Car Ringtones.

      I'm going to set mine to sound like the TARDIS.

      --
      My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
  4. What about those of us who like quiet cars by edtice1559 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Can we turn it off? If not, they are spending a lot of money on something that would add negative value for guys like me. The reason I don't ride a motorcycle or even keep the convertible top open on the highway is that I can't stand the noise and have no interest in going deaf.

  5. LOL ... by gstoddart · · Score: 3, Funny

    So, this is bee-sting lips, but for cars?

    Pure artifice to match an arbitrary aesthetic, and nothing at all to do with reality?

    LOL ... But, honey, the car doesn't make my penis bigger if it doesn't make that sound.

    The idea of running the vroom vroom sounds through the car stereo to sound more manly is ... well, kinda funny.

    --
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  6. As long as I don't have to listen to it... by mspring · · Score: 3, Insightful

    from the outside, I don't care.

  7. Hardly new by OzPeter · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Years ago I saw a doc on Harley Davidson and a part of the design process was ensuring that the bikes made the "correct" HD noise*. What was interesting for a technical perspective was seeing a bike in an anechoic chamber, which had a robot arm waving around an array of microphones so that they could localize sounds emanating from different parts of the bike.

    While I had no idea that car manufactures were doing this to such an extreme, it's not surprising when you are selling an image rather than just a product.

    * what will be more fun in the future is seeing what the HD sound will be if their electric bike takes off. The reviews I have seen from the test riders have been really positive.

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  8. Re: This is so stupid. by Fwipp · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I don't understand this argument, really. It seems to me that on most roads with pedestrians, tire noise is louder than engine noise, and more than sufficient for me to be aware of cars behind me.

  9. its nothing new really. by nimbius · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I used to work for a large auto company from Japan, and at the end of the day most of what makes a car or truck is snake oil, but if we quit doing it people stop buying it. We might intentionally introduce inefficiencies in the exhaust to increase that "rally car" sound. Bucket seats and offset head rests trick you into folding your legs and rolling your shoulders in, making the car seem more spacious. Truck tricks include obese front grills despite the engine being efficient enough not to warrant them. And those big bulgy hoods? nowhere near the engine size. To make up for it, and make you feel like our technology is more advanced, we put plastic guards and bezels on top of the engine. It makes the engine look larger for someone who doesnt know what an engine looks like outside of a car or truck, and that sells.

    an we never stopped there. to make up for the gearing required to get that 40mpg, we might program the computer to hold a lower gear longer or shorter to make the car seem "peppier" than it really is. simple things like a vertical indicator on the speedometer can help people associate the product they own with the racecar version they saw in the movie. Making that connection is critical, especially in trucks. Most of our trucks cost upwards of 30 grand, something blue collar could never afford. but if we associate it with blue collar, add splash guards and lift, and run a few ads? instant joe six pack. Actual blue collar construction workers drive, in most cases, an old mid nineties hatchback or 4 door sedan. They have kids to feed.

    So grow up. no, your new 4 cylinder mustang wont roar like a bored out foxbody with glass packs, but you know what? it also gets 36 mpg and doesnt require 93 octane. It doesnt spew benzene and MTBE from the tailpipe because we gave it a catalytic converter. and it wont roll over and kill your kids because we added stability control, and govenment mandated roofing that can hold the weight of our car.

    --
    Good people go to bed earlier.
  10. Honda CBX exhaust sound engineering by swell · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Engineers at Samsung, Apple and other marketing conscious companies are sometimes asked to do unusual tasks. At Honda, planning the introduction of the 6 cylinder CBX motorcycle in the 1970s, sound design became important:

    "From the beginning," Irimajiri explained, "our Six produced a smooth jetlike exhaust sound. But with an ordinary exhaust arrangement, it wasn't that close to a jet. We thought if we worked on it we could come up with a motorcycle sound like no one has ever heard before.

    "So we sent some engineers to the Hyakuri Japanese Air Force base in Chiba prefecture. For ten days they tape-recorded the sound of Phantom jet fighters, and then came back and designed an exhaust system for the CBX that could duplicate that sound. When I heard it for the first time I was amazed; they had captured the Phantom sound perfectly."
    from: http://www.motorcyclespecs.co....

    short Wiki article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H...
    hear the sound: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

    --
    ...omphaloskepsis often...
  11. electric car driver here by schlachter · · Score: 5, Interesting

    As a Leaf Electric car driver, I can say that the lack of engine noise is one of the primary benefits of an electric car.

    I hear things on my commute that I didn't even know existed prior to my Leaf. I hear birds chirping, walk ways for the blind clicking, subtle details in my music, and occasionally, total silence. It's calming. It's also kinda cool to accelerate hard off the line (faster than most gas cars can do) with near silence.

    The car does chirp externally when backing up, but it's not very audible from within the car. Perhaps a similar chirp when driving forward at a slow speed would work.

    --
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    1. Re:electric car driver here by Lab+Rat+Jason · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I'd stack a Tesla against ANY gas powered car you care to bring out...

      http://youtu.be/BJJvhiFINsY (warning... some profane language)

      Noisy cars are for noisy drivers... I've been arguing this point with my brother for years, every time he buys a louder muffler for his 5.9 Grand Cherokee... it never gets any faster, but it perpetually gets louder and worse gas mileage. I think car owners just need to cop to the fact that they want people to look at them, and what better way to do it than to put a loud ass fart pipe on a WRX?

      --
      Which has more power: the hammer, or the anvil?
  12. low speed is the problem by schlachter · · Score: 5, Informative

    I drive an electric car. At low speeds, say under 20mph, people NEVER hear or see my car coming. These are also the speeds I'm typically driving at when pedestrians are around. People always meander in front of my car or jump in surprise when the turn and see me cruising past them a few feet to the side of them. I sometimes honk. I sometimes pause extra long. There is definitely a need to account for it.

    At higher speeds, sure there's tire noise.

    --
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  13. Playing cards in the bicycle spokes by goombah99 · · Score: 5, Funny

    All kids under 10 love to have a playing card clipped into their bicycle spokes. It just sounds so bad ass.

    --
    Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
  14. Re:Noise is a safety feature. by TsuruchiBrian · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Yeah but any noise will do. The sound doesn't have to be engine noises. It can be a recording of a baby screaming "VROOM!!!!", or a recorded message like "I need a vehicle with a very loud engine to reassure myself I'm not gay".

  15. Engine noise is a thing of the past. by adric22 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This sort of reminds me of when Motorola was putting fake antennas on their cellular phones (with the real antenna inside) because they thought people wouldn't buy the phone if it didn't have a visible antenna. But eventually, society learned that an visible antenna was not necessary and we moved on. I suspect in another 20 years most cars will be a lot more quiet as a result of hybrid and electric drivetrains. I've been driving an EV now for 3 years and now that I've grown accustomed to the silence, hearing any engine noise at all sounds so yesterday, so obsolete.

  16. I want silent vehicles by sjbe · · Score: 5, Insightful

    There is nothing ridiculous about mandating some amount of noise in the meantime.

    I completely disagree. If you mandate noise you will never get silence. Plus once you get enough cars close together you almost can't distinguish them anyway because it basically becomes white noise. Just because people have become accustomed to a certain amount of noise is not a credible argument for continuing to emit noise pollution needlessly. And no, I am not at all concerned about blind or inattentive pedestrians crossing the road in front of me. It's MY responsibility as a driver to drive carefully and watch out for possible road hazards. It is also their responsibility to watch out when crossing the road. Hell, people get hit by trains while walking and they make a huge racket and are 100% avoidable by staying off the tracks.

    1. Re:I want silent vehicles by Githaron · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I agree. It makes more sense to give all blind people car detectors than to make all cars noisy.

    2. Re:I want silent vehicles by Cochonou · · Score: 3, Insightful

      You just have to mandate a decreasing amount of noise over the years, so that you will eventually get silence, and so that people will have enough time to get used to silent cars. As you do for almost every transition.

  17. Re:Quiet cars and proportion of accidents by MadKeithV · · Score: 3, Informative

    That mandated noise IS entirely a safety issue

    It is a perceived safety issue and I don't buy the arguments in favor of mandating noise pollution. If it really were a problem we should expect to see cars that are quieter than average involved in proportionally more collisions that cars that are more noisy. I've not seen one speck of evidence that quiet cars get in more accidents due to their sound levels. It is to my mind a completely nonsensical argument with no evidence to support it.

    Studies have been done and have confirmed that quiet cars get in more accidents at lower speeds due to their sound levels.

  18. Tires are nowhere near silent by sjbe · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Tires are almost silent on paved roads

    The hell they are. Tire noise accounts for 70-90% of overall noise energy when travelling over 50mph.

    Have someone put their car in neutral and turn the engine off as they roll down a hill toward you.

    I will notice the car getting louder and louder as its speed increases. What's your point?

  19. Two types of "faking" it by PhunkySchtuff · · Score: 3, Informative

    There are two types of faking it that are currently used, as outlined in the summary.

    Noise pipes, that take engine noise through a hollow pipe into the interior of the car are quite different to playing a synthetic soundtrack through the car's speakers. Modern cars have significantly more noise insulation than older vehicles, so cutting through some of this insulation so that the real engine noise can reach the cabin isn't necessarily cheating. You need an engine that sounds good to begin with here and you're hearing the actual sounds that the engine is making.

    Having an engine that makes unpleasant sounds, or is too quiet, and supplementing this with a soundtrack played through the car's speakers - well, it may sound really good inside the car, but outside the car, you're not going to be hearing much of note...

    --
    Specialist Mac support for creative pros, Melbourne