
The rise of fake engine noise - smacktoward
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/americas-best-selling-cars-and-trucks-are-built-on-lies-the-rise-of-fake-engine-noise/2015/01/21/6db09a10-a0ba-11e4-b146-577832eafcb4_story.html
======
Animats
This may be a transient problem as people get used to new technology. It's
like using Filmlook to put scratches and grain on HD video.

The 2013 Lotus Evora, a series hybrid vehicle with an electric motor and a
fixed gearbox, took this to the point of silliness. Not only did they provide
fake engine sounds, they provided shift paddles and _required the driver to
shift software-simulated gears_. They even provided a momentary loss of power
during simulated gear shifting. ([http://www.autoblog.com/2013/01/22/lotus-
pondering-fake-shif...](http://www.autoblog.com/2013/01/22/lotus-pondering-
fake-shifting-for-evora-414e-plug-in-hybrid/)) The driver could select
different sounds, or turn all this off and just let the electric motor do its
thing, which yielded better acceleration. Here's a demo of all the sound
options:
([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1CzoqEyACQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1CzoqEyACQ)).
Options include simulated straight-6, American V-8, and V-12 engines, plus
some turbine-like sounds.

After some snickering from the automotive press, this feature was dropped from
later models.

Many electric cars already have an outside noise generator, mandated by law in
the EU and US. These switch off above 25 MPH or so, so they don't contribute
to freeway noise.

~~~
JohnTHaller
I still want one that makes the sounds of the vehicles in The Jetsons. Why
aren't loadable and customizable sounds a thing?

~~~
digikata
If the sounds are too different from existing mental models, they won't be
associated with oncoming traffic?

~~~
qbrass
It will probably sound enough out-of-place to get attention. But it doesn't
help with the stigma of electric cars being toylike.

Go with something menacing, like the sound a TIE Fighter makes. Attention
getting, futuristic, and you won't feel like you're riding around on Scooty-
Puff Jr.

------
mikepalmer
Recently drove a Tesla Model S P85D... best thing about it is that the torque
is immediate and silent. Not only can you blow other cars away at lights, you
can do it casually, with no noise or fuss. Car is here; put car over there.
It's like piloting a UFO.

~~~
yaeger
Don't you see any problem with the silence in terms of safety?

There is a reason bicycles need to have a bell. Because these you also cannot
hear when they approach you.

Although, it would be funny seeing a Tesla with a nice little bell and the
tacked on law that you have to use it to alarm others in front of you that you
are approaching. That'll be a sight to behold.

~~~
na85
Cars come equipped with horns for that exact purpose (alerting pedestrians,
etc.), though they are often used as displeasure-signalling devices.

~~~
eCa
As a cyclist, it is _much_ preferred to hear engine noice rather than honking
horns.

~~~
pwr22
Also as a pedestrian

------
baldeagle
I drive a Leaf and a Volt, both technically electric cars. The sprinting power
of an electric is pretty good, I often take modded civics off the line
(stoplight) in the Leaf; the point being that electric cars can quickly move
to a spot you don't anticipate them. The Volt has a 'pedestrian warning horn'
that, when engaged by the driver, gently and rapidly beeps the horn to draw
attention to the Volt. Since it is engaged by the driver, however; it does
little if the driver isn't paying attention.

As a cyclist, I enjoy having good situational awareness, and electric cars can
definitely be surprising when they pass you. Overall, though I enjoy the super
quiet ride, I think we should require some warning noise (engine noise seems
like a nice option) to alert other to the oncoming car. It makes it safer for
the driver because people are less likely to do something unexpected, and
safer for the other people because they have better situational awareness.

Perhaps when automated car drivers are the norm, we can move to silent cars;
since they will be more vigilant than a person could ever be.

~~~
analog31
>>> As a cyclist, I enjoy having good situational awareness, and electric cars
can definitely be surprising when they pass you.

The car could have a bell and "on your left" speaker. ;-)

~~~
atonse
This seems like the perfect use for something like a mini LIDAR you can mount
on a bike that detects a car behind you and just lights up a couple of LEDs on
the handlebars.

~~~
baldeagle
Forget the bike, I've always wanted a kit that would detect cars around my car
and display them like a mini map. Maybe with high speed delta from my own
highlighted.

~~~
throwaway800
I mostly bike around cities, and when I drive I have taken to cracking open a
window because not being able to hear cars around me feels deeply
disconcerting.

~~~
liotier
Wow - I thought it was just me !

------
MRSallee
As a motor vehicle enthusiast, I think it's important to distinguish "real
noises intentionally amplified by physical audio routing" and "electronic
recordings or audio processing played through speakers."

I don't object to routing engine noises to the cabin to allow for a loud-
feeling vehicle (without necessarily being loud to people outside the car). To
me, this isn't fake. The driver experiences real engine noise, with efforts to
circumvent sound-deadening that comes in modern cars.

Playing recorded engine noises and/or digitally transforming sound is fake to
me. It's a lie. I haven't driven a car that does this, but my guess is that
it's noticeably simulated.

~~~
baddox
Perhaps it's because I have no interest whatsoever in cars, but I have trouble
seeing the distinction.

If the idea is that certain sounds are merely the side effect of attributes
which are themselves desired for reasons other than their sound, like a
powerful engine, then it seems like _any_ intentional design to produce or
amplify those sounds are completely useless. What the driver wants is the
actual attributes which produce the sound as a side effect, and if those
attributes are achievable and verifiable without hearing those certain sounds,
then the driver should still be satisfied.

If, on the other hand, certain sounds are desirable on their own, because of
aesthetics or whatever, then the driver should be satisfied if those sounds
are produced, regardless of how they're produced.

~~~
gambiting
It's the same as hearing a recording of someone playing the violin vs. the
real thing. Even with the best audio system you can still tell it's just a
recording.

And I don't treat the sound the engine makes as a side effect of other
attributes - it's just as important as acceleration or fuel consumption.

~~~
LLWM
The real thing is also a recording, it's the memory of the music and the
playing skill recorded in the violinist's mind, with the musician and his
violin as the playback device rather than a speaker. You prefer the acoustic
qualities of one type of playback device over the other, but that doesn't make
it any more or less "real" for any commonly accepted definition of "real".

~~~
gambiting
...I honestly can't tell if you are serious. Your argument is basically that
everything is real, because sound coming from the speakers is no less real
than the sound coming from an actual violin. Should I have used a term
"artificial" then? Just like artificial diamonds are not the same as real
diamonds, artificial sounds produced by a speaker are not the same as sounds
made by a real violin. Like someone else said - the difference is the same as
there is between attending a concert and sitting in your room listening to a
CD. You could even argue that with a sufficiently advanced audio system, the
aural experience is exactly the same, so technically they are the same. And
that would be true, if humans were robots - but we experience a whole set of
irrational emotions,and that's why a lot of people prefer being at a concert
to listening to a recording, having real diamonds instead of mass-produced
ones, or using actual sugar instead of sweeteners - even if the sensory
experience produced is no "more or less "real" for any commonly accepted
definition of "real". And that's why I would personally prefer having an
actual combustion of fuel to be producing sounds in my car, instead of the
speaker system , thank you.

~~~
LLWM
Hey, preferring some playback devices because of your cultural background is
just as valid as preferring some of them because they have higher pitches. You
like what you like. But they're all "real".

Artificial doesn't make sense here because music is manmade to begin with. I
don't think it would make sense to call an artisanal handmade telephone any
less artificial than your factory-stamped Cisco IP phone. Diamonds are
naturally occuring, so there is actually a distinction there. As the
manufacturing process matures, that distinction will remain, but 99% of people
just won't care. Like with salt.

------
jacquesm
In Amsterdam one of the bigger reasons given for the reduction of speeds on
some roads is that it reduces the noise pollution. It would seem backwards to
require cars to make more noise than they strictly have to. That said in mixed
traffic situations it may save some lives, so essentially this proves all
those guys that drove without dampers in their exhausts and bumper stickers
saying 'loud pipes save lives' right after all.

I think once the background noise of IC engines has disappeared and we can all
hear normally again that this will pass, it's just the intermediate period
when we can't hear the electric cars over the noise of the rest of the
traffic.

~~~
bri3d
Most of this noise is pumped into the car (to make the consumer happy), not
out of the car. The two most common systems in use today are the car stereo
(either amplifying the real engine's sound or by simply synchronizing a
synthesis mechanism to the engine's load conditions) or a "sound pipe" which
runs from the engine's air intake into the cabin ventilation system.

This article strangely managed to conflate the two by bringing up external
electronic car noisemakers, which are entirely unrelated in both purpose and
execution to the noisemaking devices explained throughout the rest of the
article.

~~~
jacquesm
If my car would make less noise I'd be happy. It totally baffles me why
someone would want more useless noise in their lives rather than less if
that's an option. Music is beautiful, artificial engine noise is just that:
noise.

~~~
WalterBright
The sound of an approaching Merlin V12 at full throttle is the most thrilling
sound in the world.

[http://www.amazon.com/Sigh-Merlin-Spitfire-Alex-
Henshaw/dp/0...](http://www.amazon.com/Sigh-Merlin-Spitfire-Alex-
Henshaw/dp/0947554831/)

"For anyone who has heard a Merlin engine on any aircraft, you will understand
the title."

No stereo has ever been able to reproduce that sound.

~~~
TazeTSchnitzel
Nostalgia can be insatiable, sure.

~~~
gambiting
It would only be nostalgia if you found it attractive because of an old memory
you had. If you put someone in a car with a V-12 engine there is a very good
probability that they would find the sound exciting, even if they never heard
it before. That has absolutely nothing to do with nostalgia.

------
ars
Am I the only one that associates loud noise with a weak engine?

To me a powerful car just has an acceleration whine, and that's all.

It's like a rocket exhaust: the "wilder" it is the weaker it is. A powerful,
well tuned, rocket has a very sharp, and clean (i.e. not noisy) flame.

Same with a car - if it's making a lot of noise, it's poorly tuned or
designed.

~~~
reustle
It's not just you. It's also other people who don't have much experience with
engine performance. Quieter mufflers restrict more airflow, something you
don't want to do when you're trying to pass more fuel through a small engine.

~~~
saosebastiao
I have plenty of experience with engine performance, and s/he was absolutely
correct. An overly loud engine is is opening its valves too early or closing
too late, and it can only be made quieter by restrictive mufflers. More modern
and efficient engine designs, enabled by technologies such as variable valve
timing, are quieter out of the valves because they convert more energy into
motion instead of sound. Being quieter, they also have less pressure, and are
less affected by muffler restrictiveness. Straight pipes might make a 1969
charger more powerful, but the effect on a modern V8 like the BMW N63 is
negligible.

~~~
lloeki
The most dramatic example is VTEC, especially before variable cam phasing.

------
jrochkind1
You'd think some people would want to opt out of the fake/amplified engine
noise, so they can drive in peace, listen to their stereo without
interference, etc. but i guess making the amplified/fake engine noise an
option would defeat the purpose.

~~~
jrs235
I can see it now: Added option - reduced engine noise $500.

Charging the buyer a one time fee to "disconnect a wire".

~~~
click170
Which will be illegal to disconnect yourself.

~~~
mutagen
DMCA violation!

------
yummyfajitas
This is hardly new. In college, we had a guest lecture from a mechanical
engineer at $POPULAR_MOTORCYCLE_MANUFACTURER. He described how his team cooked
up a new engine design that achieved some significant performance increase
over the old design. Only problem? It didn't sound like a $POPULAR_MOTORCYCLE.

The new engine was delayed for a year while they cooked up a mechanical
noisemaker to adjust the sound.

~~~
tacon
Harley Davidson filed for a sonic trademark on their engine sound back in
1994[0]. (I think it failed, not sure.) But it's pretty easy to reproduce the
sound to remind people:

Potato, potato, potato, potato, potato, ...

[0]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_trademark](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_trademark)

~~~
ska
If I recall correctly The sound originally came from cost cutting engineering
choices. Beyond the fairly tight angle (a little over 60 degrees) which gives
you a asymmetric "gap" between ignitions, they simplifies the ignition timing
so that it fired every stroke instead of every other stroke. So the exhaust
strokes had a little ignition going on due to unspent fuel/air, giving the
quieter sounds. Not a good design for efficiency but it sure gave them a
distinctive idle.

------
13
At some point the engine noise just becomes completely arbitrary. Avertisers
will buy out your engine noise sounds, as you pass by in your Telsa furniture
warehouse salesmen will scream from the engine compartment.

~~~
zemvpferreira
Eerily reminds me of "sales pitch", the Philip K Dick story where advertisers
hijack your thoughts while you're commuting:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sales_Pitch_(short_story)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sales_Pitch_\(short_story\))

------
joezydeco
This reminds me of one particular TV set I was messing with recently. Pulling
the HDMI cord on an input resulted in the screen showing _static_.

Had to think about it for a second, but the static had to have been simulated
by a piece of code to _pretend_ that the input had gone missing.

~~~
santacluster
Apple had that feature, at least on my previous Air.

~~~
TazeTSchnitzel
Wait, is that really deliberate for the DisplayPort-to-DVI adapter? I've
always assumed that was some sort of serious hardware/software bug causing the
coloured random noise.

------
Hortinstein
i read this and I want a new car so I can hack the acceleration sounds from
Elite: Dangerous into my car. That games sounds design is incredible, here is
a quick clip featuring some space acceleration:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqIVbT6v5j0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqIVbT6v5j0)

------
jloughry
I want the Jetsons' car sound. My bother wants a Star Wars TIE fighter and my
father in law would like the sound of a B-17, please.

~~~
maaku
I've always wanted the hovercar sound from Blade Runner, but I think I've
found a new favorite with the TIE fighter :)

~~~
ryanhuff
It wouldn't sound so appealing to the driver without the Doppler effect
applied.

~~~
maaku
Maybe combine with the sensors of a driverless car -- anytime some jerk is
approaching from behind at a reckless speed, play the TIE fighter noise
adjusted to the circumstances of his relative speed and approach vector.
You'll hear the Doppler as he overtakes and then cuts you off. If you're going
to pipe engine noise into the compartment, at least make it useful.

------
noonespecial
100 years from now cars will still make a vestigial sound that is simply taken
for granted and not really considered until some wise-ass at a party starts in
"Funny story..."

~~~
analog31
We will have to explain the origin of the sound coming out of our car speakers
to our kids, like we have to explain the floppy disk icon for saving a file.

~~~
wanderingstan
A friend's young daughter asked him why the phone made a "funny sound" when
taking a picture. She's never encountered a film camera or heard a real
shutter click before.

~~~
cbd1984
To be fair, someone who has a lot of experience with film cameras could
legitimately ask the same question. Why the hell _would_ a completely
different technology ape the noises of a previous generation?

~~~
anvandare
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skeuomorph](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skeuomorph)

I guess in this case (with sound) it would be called skeuophone.

~~~
lmm
It's also that some countries legally required digital cameras to make noises
when taking photos, to make surreptitious photography impossible.

------
kylec
I have no problem with manufacturers including fake engine noise as a feature
as long as it can be disabled by the customer.

~~~
e40
Perhaps it should just be used when a pedestrian is near? It's bad enough
worrying about cars that are making legal maneuvers, but when an electric car
doesn't follow the rules, it's that much more dangerous.

~~~
kylec
I think you might misunderstand the nature of the artificial sounds mentioned
in this article. It's not talking about electric cars making noise for the
benefit of pedestrians (although that does get a cursory mention), it's
talking about manufacturers of pumping artificial car noises into the cabins
of cars like the Ford Mustang and the BMW M5 for the enjoyment of the
occupants of the vehicle.

------
cm2187
Electric cars do not pollute. We should force electric cars to emit some thick
black smoke to ensure people do not get surprised!

I don't know in what world these regulators live in, but in my world 80% of
pedestrians are walking listening to an ipod/iphone/iwhatever. We already live
in a society where pedestrians do not hear cars.

But let's make sure cars remain a nuisance to anyone trying to sleep in a
city!

~~~
seanp2k2
The cars don't pollute, but odds are that the electricity they run on came
from burning coal, and lithium batteries aren't exactly environmentally
friendly to manufacture or recycle. The rare elements required for the
electric motors and batteries aren't earth-friendly to mine or refine, either.

But the car itself doesn't obviously emit any of this, so the public image it
presents is great, hence their popularity. For me, wake me up when we have a
diesel electric hybrid, since that's actually a very efficient tech which
doesn't necessarily require any batteries and has been around for over 100
years (popular on ships / submarines / trains).

~~~
cm2187
I don't disagree but I wasn't making a statement about the eco-friendlyness of
electric cars, rather about a law defeating a technological improvement. Cars
are by a large margin the largest source of nuisance in a city and for two
reasons: noise and pollution. Electric cars are solving both.

------
SyncTheory13
My car has a "sound symposer" feature, and a 6-speed manual transmission. It
has a tube coming off the engine, through a butterfly valve, then into the
firewall of the car. The butterfly valve opens when the engine is under high
load, so that the car is quiet normally, and loud if you get on it (inside).

I really enjoy this feature, and have actually redirected the tubes past the
valve so that the sound is always on 100% of the time. This allows me to hear
the engine RPMs while shifting, instead of monitoring the RPM gauge. It also
reminds me to be more mindful of fuel economy because I can hear when I'm
wasting gas.

I can understand a fully electronic sound being annoying - and the feature
would annoy me on an electric car like a Tesla... But with the setup that mine
has - I think people are just whining and that this article reeks of
sensationalism. Also, it can be easily disabled in about five minutes by
anybody who can watch some how-to videos on YouTube.

------
georgeecollins
I hate the idea of a fake engine noise, but I drive a manual transmission and
I know I use my ears a lot to know when to shift.

~~~
scroy
From what I've read, that wouldn't be relevant for an electric vehicle, since
there is no transmission. Or that might only be for the Tesla.

~~~
zyxley
Literally the entire reason for the transmission for a combustion engine is to
make the relatively high minimum speed of an internal combustion work for
lower road speeds, with the pleasant side effect of increasing torque at low
speed.

Electric motors have no need for one, because they have both variable speeds
and generally tremendous amounts of torque to start with.

~~~
Gracana
Electric motors tend to have wide useable rpm ranges, but their efficiency
varies across the range, so a transmission is still useful.

Scroll 2/3 of the way down this page to see a representative brushless DC
motor performance curve, for example:
[http://www.johnsonelectric.com/en/resources-for-
engineers/au...](http://www.johnsonelectric.com/en/resources-for-
engineers/automotive-applications/motion-technology/ec-motor-brushless.html)

~~~
mikeash
AC induction motors (typically what's used in electric cars) have a pretty
flat efficiency curve. For example: [http://powerelectronics.com/motion-
systems/motors-efficiency...](http://powerelectronics.com/motion-
systems/motors-efficiency-and-adjustable-speed-drives)

There would be some minor efficiency gains from having multiple gears, but
it's probably small enough that it would be hard to overcome the extra losses
from having a more complex transmission.

Note that technically electric cars _do_ have a transmission. The motor wants
to spin much faster than the tires, so you want a reduction gear to let them
both live in the ranges where they're happy. It's a single-gear transmission,
though, on every electric car I'm aware of.

------
duncanawoods
There is some good discussion of synthetic car noises in Norman's "Design of
everyday things". Sound is a hard to use interface that could still offer
great usability advances if we work out to harness it properly.

I see people asking "why not rely on the horn to alert pedestrians". The horn
is the equivalent of shouting "oi" but engine sound is hugely rich source of
information. We get: speed, direction, distance, acceleration, attitude (e.g.
distinguish aggressive acceleration, panicked deceleration) and type of car
(e.g. racer vs. town-car).

Unlike a horn, we get this information at the times a horn would not be used
i.e. the driver has not seen us and about to mow us down. Synthetic car noise
must alert, orient but not annoy. Norman said the current United States
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration spec for synthetic car noise is
250 pages long.

------
skywhopper
Weird. I would prefer the engine to be as quiet as possible. The proof of
performance is in how the thing drives, not how it sounds. Tweaking the
exhaust pipe on a car like the Mustang makes sense, but piping sound in
through the speakers? As long as I can turn it off permanently.

~~~
nmeofthestate
Different people have different preferences, and some sounds provoke an
emotional response in some people. Not that weird.

------
h43k3r
I don't know about other communities, but Formula 1 fans go and watch races
because of sounds. The new rules in 2014 which introduced the v6 hybrid
doesn't have a very loud sound and you can see the media reaction to it. Old
cars used to have a v8 engine. Revs limiting is also one of the reason of low
sound in 2014.

If you want an comparision between the old sound and new sound, see the below
mentioned youtube video

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jS4Dh_EAfJI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jS4Dh_EAfJI)

News: [http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2014/mar/25/bernie-
ecc...](http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2014/mar/25/bernie-ecclestone-
formula-one-cars-volume)

------
peterwwillis
Confession: I am a Luxury Ricer.

When I bought my now 11-year-old Lexus, I was amazed by two aspects: how
sporty and well controlled it was [for a luxury car], and how silent it was.
It was literally more quiet than a Prius and it had an inline six.

And I hated it.

After a few months of hitting the gas and hearing _nothing_ , I opened up the
hood and ripped the tiny ram-air front inlet off the air intake. I also took
apart the air box and gutted the parts that didn't affect the air filter. The
result was a tiny but definitely noticeable engine roar when high-revving. It
finally sounded about as mean as a Toyota Corolla.

They can pry my engine noise from my cold, dead, ricer hands.

~~~
mikeash
Priuses aren't really very quiet (at least on the inside) unless you're
cruising at <60MPH or so, or decelerating. The engine gets pretty noisy when
accelerating at any rate that isn't painfully slow, and the power output
needed merely to maintain higher highway speeds gets pretty noisy.

Noise is actually one of the big reasons I'm looking forward to switching from
a Prius to a pure electric.

------
jcromartie
Noise is just wasted energy that could be doing useful work unless, of course,
you actually want the noise (like in a musical instrument). This is a really
weird trend.

~~~
eru
The power in noise is actually fairly low. Like single digit watts low, for
deafening noise.

~~~
ars
You are only looking at the energy in the noise itself. But to make that noise
there is a ton of wasted energy in vibration, friction from gears, etc.

Noise is a symptom of "slop" in an engine. It might be unavoidable, but it's
still a symptom of wasted energy.

~~~
eru
Oh, definitely. Noise is often a symptom of wasted energy in a mechanical
process.

And even producing noise with a speaker is rather inefficient. You need
hundreds of Watt input for single digit Watt output in the interesting
frequencies.

------
upofadown
>Federal safety officials expect to finalize rules later this year requiring
all hybrid and electric cars to play fake engine sounds to alert passersby, a
change that experts estimate could prevent thousands of pedestrian and cyclist
injuries.

Yeah, because those pedestrian and cyclists should be responsible for staying
out of the way of badly driven cars... Just think how safe things would be if
we cranked things up so loud that drivers could hear other cars.

~~~
Mithaldu
The worst part about that is that car noise is an actual ecological and
"quality of life" threat, combated in many places by noise walls built around
roads. Forcing cars to be loud is the worst possible decision that could be
made.

~~~
Sir_Substance
The flip side is that modern cars can accelerate from the 5kph that they exit
their driveway at to 50kph with no noticeable noise.

I have almost been run over this way. Look to the left, no cars on the road,
look to the right, no cars, look back to the left JESUS CHRIST.

Hopefully automatic pedestrian detection will become standard in the next few
years, but in the mean time I need to be able to hear your high speed death-
ram when I'm not facing it.

Perfectly happy for it to be something other than simulated engine noise, but
I need an audible cue.

------
alricb
On the Renault Clio, you can already choose the kind of engine noise you want
from a menu.

~~~
jameshart
They could monetize that with microtransactions. 99c to download and install
"1968 Ferrari Dino" or "Anakin's Podracer".

~~~
JetSpiegel
Sebulba for the whales, 100€

------
gojomo
My initial thought was: I wouldn't want any 'fake' noise, potentially hiding
information in the (softer) real noise.

But what if the noise is dynamically synthesized based on lots of info from
the vehicle – perhaps not just its real noise/RPMs, but other qualities
usually not usually sensed. Temperature and vibrations across multiple
sampling-locations? Computed fuel-economy? Others?

Maybe it's a good aural channel for real info!

~~~
ionwake
Great point

------
faster
This reminds me of Kornbluth's story 'The Marching Morons' where cars are made
noisy but slow so the morons will be stimulated but safe.

------
JosephHatfield
When I first drove my 2012 VW Golf R, I was startled by how rumbly the engine
sounded. Found out the sound was produced by a device called the soundaktor
that was attached to the windshield frame. The device would send low-frequency
vibrations to the windshield as needed to "enhance" the engine sound.

------
tibbon
While maybe it's silly to do it electronically, thousands of people switch out
the exhausts on their cars/motorcycles not often for increases in
performance... but to have a different sound.

Doing it electronically is new, but the concept of wanting a more 'powerful'
sounding engine isn't.

~~~
Gracana
That's still derided by enthusiasts when it's taken to extremes, for instance
a loud exhaust on an economy car fools no-one and will draw negative attention
from most people. But below trying-too-hard territory, it is an authentic-
feeling unleashing of your vehicle's inner beast, which is something the sound
effects system will never be.

------
virmundi
Fake engine noise would be nice. We drive in historical St. Augustine Fl. That
is, for those who don't know, the oldest city in the US. As such it was built
with extremely narrow streets.

My hybrid silently rolls down the back alleys unnoticed by pedestrians. I've
had to sit for 10 minutes because people would walk out in front of my car.
Women with strollers. Old people talking.

I've watched traditional cars. They have far less problem. There is a sense
that hearing an engine means that someone wants out.

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matmann2001
I don't mind channeling the REAL engine noise into the car. Like the article
said, it can be preferable to the sound of bumps in the road or whining of
wind. And for car enthusiasts who actually work on their own cars, sound is a
key part of detecting and diagnosing issues with the car.

But they need to cut it out with the fake noise. That's just glamor and it's
unnecessary. The only exception I would support is for electric cars, for the
purpose of pedestrian safety.

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snowwrestler
My first reaction was that it's stupid and pointless.

But my second reaction is that it's a clever culture hack that allows more
efficient engines to make their way into typical "car lover" cars--so
ultimately a good thing all around. Drivers get the sound they want, with
better gas mileage, and the rest of us get cars that are quieter on the
outside and produce less pollution. All enabled by a bit of digital audio.

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edpichler
I think all of this is normal. Sound is also an interface, for it connects one
world to another. As in software, if you change drastically any interface, the
users will not like at the first. That's why great changes needs to be done in
small portions. With the past of years, these fake sounds can disappear of the
industry, after the users get used to electric cars.

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iopq
Wow, so I guess the movie "The Dilemma" was actually based on a true story.
They do spend time optimizing engine noise!

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embro
I have a Nissan Leaf so yes, there is no fake engine sound, only a sound in
front at low speed to warn pedestrians.

Not only I would not want a fake engine sound but I would be willing to pay
more to have my car sound proof, with insulation or something, it would be
quieter, colder in the summer and warmer in the winter.

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imgabe
We should really be taking this opportunity to make all cars sound like the
cars on the Jetsons.

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transfire
"Federal safety officials expect to finalize rules later this year requiring
all hybrid and electric cars to play fake engine sounds to alert passersby, a
change that experts estimate could prevent thousands of pedestrian and cyclist
injuries."

My guess is that the main force behind this law is Big Oil using their
lobbyists to slow the adoption of electric vehicles. If they were really
concerned about pedestrians being hit by cars it would be illegal to wear
headphones while walking.

Instead of adding noise, which we already have too much of (I can hear cars on
roads a mile away from my house) how about they require cars to send out a
signal that an inexpensive device can pick up and thus locate the car. That
way any pedestrian can actually see where all the cars are around them. I bet
that kind of proactive action would have much better results then depending on
people's inadvertent attention to background noise.

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oracle2025
Clearly a first world problem. I especially like the "outrageous" language in
the article: "built an lies", as if it was a major drama, ... honestly, who
cares? ... But then I again, I do not even care to own a car.

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webwielder
The phrase "the rise of" is really being abused these days.

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mundacho
Yet another example of skeuomorphism...

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whisty
Heinlein predicted this in The Cat Who Walks Through Walls

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jbu
Car ring-tones! yay! I want crazy frog on my tesla.

