Car Engine Speakers!

[Bruce B]

Anyone who's heard a Ferrari V-8 at full wail knows perfectly well that engines make music. But today, that vroom-vroom is getting harder to hear, thanks in equal parts to turbochargers that muffle the noise, increasingly insulated cabins, and government noise regulations.

Automakers are well aware that a snarly engine note enhances the behind-the-wheel experience—especially for sporty cars—and all sorts of devices have been used to let in this "good" noise. The Chevrolet Corvette's exhaust system has a valve that opens under full throttle and bypasses the muffler. The Porsche Cayman and the Ford Mustang both have "noise pipes" that connect the intake system to the cabin. These passive systems, however, are slowly being replaced with active systems that play a prerecorded track through speakers.

Case in point: Volkwagen's GTI used to have a noise pipe, but when the latest version appeared in 2011, the pipe was replaced with the Soundaktor. This system uses a hockey-puck-size speaker mounted on the firewall to generate extra noise. VW didn't exactly advertise the feature, and when word got out, the forums lit up.




"The Soundaktor is only there to lie to me," fumed one GTI owner on vwvortex.com when he found out his car has the system. "It's false advertising, plain and simple."

Andrew Wong is a 29-year-old engineer from Detroit. When he learned that his 2011 GTI had the Soundaktor, he simply removed it. Now he relies on an aftermarket exhaust system for better noise. "I want to hear the engine, rather than some version of the engine being played to me," he says.

VW is not alone. The new BMW M5, which ditched the sonorous V-10 for a twin-turbo V-8, plays an engine soundtrack through the car's audio system. From a carmaker's perspective, these active sound generators have definite benefits over a sound pipe: There's no need to cut a hole in the firewall or package a separate tube in the already crowded engine bay. Plus, the active devices allow a far greater degree of tunability and can be used to mask unwanted noise.

It remains to be seen just how far automakers will take these systems, but in the future, you may be able to toggle a switch that makes your Prius howl like it's got a V-8.



Now what if an audiophile wants to upgrade his "engine" speaker to a pair of Wilsons!!

 

[amirm]

Shocking! The M5 has it? And it pipes it inside the cabin that way????

 

[Kal Rubinson]

They should offer an optional array of sound emulations for any car.

 

[FrantzM]

Anyone who's heard a Ferrari V-8 at full wail knows perfectly well that engines make music. But today, that vroom-vroom is getting harder to hear, thanks in equal parts to turbochargers that muffle the noise, increasingly insulated cabins, and government noise regulations.

Automakers are well aware that a snarly engine note enhances the behind-the-wheel experience—especially for sporty cars—and all sorts of devices have been used to let in this "good" noise. The Chevrolet Corvette's exhaust system has a valve that opens under full throttle and bypasses the muffler. The Porsche Cayman and the Ford Mustang both have "noise pipes" that connect the intake system to the cabin. These passive systems, however, are slowly being replaced with active systems that play a prerecorded track through speakers.

Case in point: Volkwagen's GTI used to have a noise pipe, but when the latest version appeared in 2011, the pipe was replaced with the Soundaktor. This system uses a hockey-puck-size speaker mounted on the firewall to generate extra noise. VW didn't exactly advertise the feature, and when word got out, the forums lit up.

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"The Soundaktor is only there to lie to me," fumed one GTI owner on vwvortex.com when he found out his car has the system. "It's false advertising, plain and simple."

Andrew Wong is a 29-year-old engineer from Detroit. When he learned that his 2011 GTI had the Soundaktor, he simply removed it. Now he relies on an aftermarket exhaust system for better noise. "I want to hear the engine, rather than some version of the engine being played to me," he says.

VW is not alone. The new BMW M5, which ditched the sonorous V-10 for a twin-turbo V-8, plays an engine soundtrack through the car's audio system. From a carmaker's perspective, these active sound generators have definite benefits over a sound pipe: There's no need to cut a hole in the firewall or package a separate tube in the already crowded engine bay. Plus, the active devices allow a far greater degree of tunability and can be used to mask unwanted noise.

It remains to be seen just how far automakers will take these systems, but in the future, you may be able to toggle a switch that makes your Prius howl like it's got a V-8.



Now what if an audiophile wants to upgrade his "engine" speaker to a pair of Wilsons!!

Hilarious!!! I guess it is easier to synthsize exhaust sounds sound than having to tune an exhaust system... Please do tell me however that Maserati engine sound (not noise) is the real deal , Live?Acoustic?

 

[Keith_W]

Perhaps it's time to share this Aussie review of the Soundracer V8?

 

[amirm]

Boy it sounds remarkably realistic!

 

[Keith_W]

Yes it does. I bought one for a friend and we went for a spin in his Toyota family wagon. If you really sit down and listen, you can tell it is coming from the speakers. It sounds tinny and lacks bass. Obviously, how good the illusion will be depends on the quality of the sound system in your car. BUT ... when you are driving and concentrating on everything else happening around you, you don't really notice the tinny sound and the illusion is more complete. We laughed like a couple of teenagers as we took turns belting his family car to an inch of its life!

 

[slowGEEZR]

I want one! Imagine my Porsche Club buddies expressions, when I give them a ride in my Cayman with one of those plugged in!

 

[GaryProtein]

This sounds kind of silly to me.

There's enough noise in everyday life.

 

[Bruce B]

This sounds kind of silly to me.

There's enough noise in everyday life.

Though you do have complaints from the blind about the Prius and other electrics when trying to cross a street.

 

[treitz3]

Having the real thing [a Corvette engine under the hood of my trusty ol' truck] this seems to me like a cheap gimmick and a waste of money complete with false illusions. It would drive me nuts to listen to that much noise, knowing full well that I might only be going 15 MPH. It reminds me of those little ricers you see running around with the huge "coffee can" exhaust. You turn to look and hope to see something fairly impressive and what you have is a loud car with the acceleration performance of a Yugo towing a school bus. What's the point?

Tom

 

[mep]

Having the real thing [a Corvette engine under the hood of my trusty ol' truck] this seems to me like a cheap gimmick and a waste of money complete with false illusions. It would drive me nuts to listen to that much noise, knowing full well that I might only be going 15 MPH. It reminds me of those little ricers you see running around with the huge "coffee can" exhaust. You turn to look and hope to see something fairly impressive and what you have is a loud car with the acceleration performance of a Yugo towing a school bus. What's the point?

Tom

I have never heard a dumpy car with a coffee can exhaust tip sound like anything but a 4 cyl engine making lots of racket.

 

[Bill Hart]

When they rebooted the Infiniti brand (remember, not much more than 10 years ago, it was essentially moribund, having lost the lux car battle with Lexus), suddenly I'm hearing minivans with formula 1 exhaust notes. You'd hear this thing winding up down the road, sounding like the wheels of hell had been unleashed onto a straight-away, and it was a soccer-mom doing 25 with the kids and the dog. Clever marketing.
Most frightening exhaust note - ever hear a 512 BB/LM?- its an oldish dog of a Ferrari, the street version wasn't even brought into the US by Ferrari- this in the days when DOT and EPA had ramped up, circa the early 1970's and cars made outside the US could not be brought in without a lot of horsing around with bumper height, lighting, side impact rigidity and the like. In fact, as far as I know, no Berlinetta Boxers were EPA/DOT compliant but had to be converted by third party shops to be brought into the U.S. Ferrari could have cared less. He had sold the company to FIAT a few years before and could concentrate on real racing cars.
Anyway, they made a racing car version. The street version was a giant pig of a car, heavy, low, Ferrari's answer to the Countach. It had quite a nice engine, although it was mounted too high, and too far back to be a mid-engine car. Sorta scary at the limit.
Well, not content to leave well enough alone, there were some pretty serious race car versions that got pumped out as well.
These were not street legal. The manifolds and exhaust pipes looked like a cross between Medusa and a Giger nightmare. These cars were not particularly fast, and at least in their day, probably did not win any races, although they were privateered later. (Puro- correct me please if wrong).
You must hear one start up though. I've heard alot of cars in my day, and the 512 BB/LM has the most frightening bark/thunder that I have ever heard. And that's before the driver starts pumping the throttle. It turns into the sort of noise that is both deep bass and scream at the same time- the sound you might associate with being a little too close to a jet engine for comfort. Highly recommended. (with earplugs).