Fake Engine Noise
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 653
Likes: 17
From: Fort Worth Texas
Fake Engine Noise
I saw this on MSN. True?
3) FAKE ENGINE SOUNDS
New regulations are encouraging (or forcing) automakers to put a lid on engine and exhaust noise. Yet automotive enthusiasts love nothing more than the roar of a great engine at their command. To satisfy both camps, automakers are synthesizing sounds from the engine and playing them through the audio system of the car. They're faking it. The most notable examples are the Mustang's Ecoboost four-cylinder engine and the V8 in the current BMW M5, but plenty of other automakers have adopted the fad. The way an engine sounds is central to the personality of the car and the enjoyment of the drive. I think most car lovers would prefer an honest, if quieter, exhaust note over something "enhanced" and piped-in through stereo speakers
3) FAKE ENGINE SOUNDS
New regulations are encouraging (or forcing) automakers to put a lid on engine and exhaust noise. Yet automotive enthusiasts love nothing more than the roar of a great engine at their command. To satisfy both camps, automakers are synthesizing sounds from the engine and playing them through the audio system of the car. They're faking it. The most notable examples are the Mustang's Ecoboost four-cylinder engine and the V8 in the current BMW M5, but plenty of other automakers have adopted the fad. The way an engine sounds is central to the personality of the car and the enjoyment of the drive. I think most car lovers would prefer an honest, if quieter, exhaust note over something "enhanced" and piped-in through stereo speakers
Intermediate
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 36
Likes: 0
From: Detroit Michigan
I'm not sure on the validity of future regulations against it, but my '14 and '16 GT's had the "sound tube" to amplify the intake sound into the cabin. Granted, it is not faked noise, but is still obnoxious. Most people seem to tear it out in the first week or so.
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 21,631
Likes: 1,144
From: Below the bottom of Berby Hollow, NYS
There have been regulations about decibel levels of cars for a long time. As I recall reading, years ago, it was an overall level which of course included exhaust noise. This also applied to motorcycles (or any licensed vehicle, I assume).
Government bureaucrats, in order to justify their jobs ($), to justify expanding their fiefdoms/budgets ($), and "because they can," will always push to increase regulations on anything and everything (cars, light bulbs, toilets, water heaters, furnaces, chainsaws, lawnmowers, etc, etc.)
The coming increase (again) on fuel economy regs is going to be another hoop for manufacturers to jump through. I am surprised that NPP exhausts are still legal. They won't be for long.
So it should be no surprise that noise regs are tightening. Gov't regulators (being green, of course) hate fossil fuels and hate cars powered by them so they have a political incentive to regulate them out of existence.
For that reason, I'm glad I'm not young.
Government bureaucrats, in order to justify their jobs ($), to justify expanding their fiefdoms/budgets ($), and "because they can," will always push to increase regulations on anything and everything (cars, light bulbs, toilets, water heaters, furnaces, chainsaws, lawnmowers, etc, etc.)
The coming increase (again) on fuel economy regs is going to be another hoop for manufacturers to jump through. I am surprised that NPP exhausts are still legal. They won't be for long.
So it should be no surprise that noise regs are tightening. Gov't regulators (being green, of course) hate fossil fuels and hate cars powered by them so they have a political incentive to regulate them out of existence.
For that reason, I'm glad I'm not young.
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 653
Likes: 17
From: Fort Worth Texas
There have been regulations about decibel levels of cars for a long time. As I recall reading, years ago, it was an overall level which of course included exhaust noise. This also applied to motorcycles (or any licensed vehicle, I assume).
Government bureaucrats, in order to justify their jobs ($), to justify expanding their fiefdoms/budgets ($), and "because they can," will always push to increase regulations on anything and everything (cars, light bulbs, toilets, water heaters, furnaces, chainsaws, lawnmowers, etc, etc.)
The coming increase (again) on fuel economy regs is going to be another hoop for manufacturers to jump through. I am surprised that NPP exhausts are still legal. They won't be for long.
So it should be no surprise that noise regs are tightening. Gov't regulators (being green, of course) hate fossil fuels and hate cars powered by them so they have a political incentive to regulate them out of existence.
For that reason, I'm glad I'm not young.
Government bureaucrats, in order to justify their jobs ($), to justify expanding their fiefdoms/budgets ($), and "because they can," will always push to increase regulations on anything and everything (cars, light bulbs, toilets, water heaters, furnaces, chainsaws, lawnmowers, etc, etc.)
The coming increase (again) on fuel economy regs is going to be another hoop for manufacturers to jump through. I am surprised that NPP exhausts are still legal. They won't be for long.
So it should be no surprise that noise regs are tightening. Gov't regulators (being green, of course) hate fossil fuels and hate cars powered by them so they have a political incentive to regulate them out of existence.
For that reason, I'm glad I'm not young.
I'm sure that limits on horsepower are coming also. They will say excessive horsepower is dangerous
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Every 2027 Corvette Engine Explained
Joe Kucinski
Designer Imagines A Corvette That Looks More Like a Corvette Than the Corvette
Verdad Gallardo
10 Ugly Corvettes That We Still Kinda Love
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 Most Expensive Corvettes Ever Sold on Bring A Trailer
Brett Foote
10 Things Every Corvette Owner Needs (2026 Edition)
Michael S. Palmer
8 Most "Only Corvette Owners Understand" Quirks and Problems
Pouria Savadkouei
10 Reasons the C6 Z06 is Still A Performance Benchmark After 20 Years
Joe Kucinski
How Much Horsepower Every Corvette Engine "LOST" in 1972
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 DOs and DON'Ts for Protecting Your Convertible Top!
Michael S. Palmer
Burning Brakes
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 993
Likes: 105
From: Dallas TX
St. Jude Donor '15
I don't care for fake sound and I'm certain there would be immediate solutions to disabling that kind of crap if it were forced on to a Vette.
With that said, what I would like to see is a flexible noise cancelling device that can in installed in any car. I enjoy my BB exhaust, but sometimes the drone is just too much and part of me wants to be rid of it and go stock with NPP maybe. If I had a noise cancelling device where I can tune out the drone, I'd buy that in a heartbeat.
With that said, what I would like to see is a flexible noise cancelling device that can in installed in any car. I enjoy my BB exhaust, but sometimes the drone is just too much and part of me wants to be rid of it and go stock with NPP maybe. If I had a noise cancelling device where I can tune out the drone, I'd buy that in a heartbeat.
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 21,631
Likes: 1,144
From: Below the bottom of Berby Hollow, NYS
Boxes with four wheels (no steering wheels) finicky computer systems up the wazoo, powered by "green" energy, programmed NOT to exceed any posted speed limit, will probably be standard in a generation or two.
The "Millennials," having been force-fed this stuff since kindergarten, largely buy into the whole "we're going to destroy the planet" thing, so there isn't a whole lot anybody can do to stop or even slow this down.
Like everything else in the country, it has become politicized.
Racer
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 440
Likes: 6
From: Hillsboro Oregon
Yes, the fake sound is real. I know BMW's are using a .wav file piped through the stereo speakers. But imagine the possibilities...if one were able to change the .wav file to sound like any engine...like maybe a 2 stroke motorcycle! 
Former Vendor
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 16,897
Likes: 412
From: Lewisville TX
St. Jude Donor '03-'04-'05-'06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13
BMW does it, VW does it, Audi does it (and they actually do a pretty neat job with it).
Then you have the "sound tubes" where they run a tube from the air inlet from the engine to the firewall so you can year the engine (I think of it like the secondaries on a carb opening). The newer mustangs do this, and GM is doing it with the new 2016 Camaro's.
The trucks they are using sounds from the stereo to cancel road noise so it is quieter inside.
To my knowledge they are not doing anything like that on the Corvette
Then you have the "sound tubes" where they run a tube from the air inlet from the engine to the firewall so you can year the engine (I think of it like the secondaries on a carb opening). The newer mustangs do this, and GM is doing it with the new 2016 Camaro's.
The trucks they are using sounds from the stereo to cancel road noise so it is quieter inside.
To my knowledge they are not doing anything like that on the Corvette
Melting Slicks
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 2,821
Likes: 204
From: Lincoln CA
And/or they will regulate it down for the sake of "fuel economy."
Boxes with four wheels (no steering wheels) finicky computer systems up the wazoo, powered by "green" energy, programmed NOT to exceed any posted speed limit, will probably be standard in a generation or two.
The "Millennials," having been force-fed this stuff since kindergarten, largely buy into the whole "we're going to destroy the planet" thing, so there isn't a whole lot anybody can do to stop or even slow this down.
Like everything else in the country, it has become politicized.
Boxes with four wheels (no steering wheels) finicky computer systems up the wazoo, powered by "green" energy, programmed NOT to exceed any posted speed limit, will probably be standard in a generation or two.
The "Millennials," having been force-fed this stuff since kindergarten, largely buy into the whole "we're going to destroy the planet" thing, so there isn't a whole lot anybody can do to stop or even slow this down.
Like everything else in the country, it has become politicized.
Racer
Joined: Jul 2016
Posts: 270
Likes: 14
On the Mustangs it's not in the audio system.
The air intake has a tube with an diaphragm connecting to a hole in the firewall that allows you to hear the noise. Everyone normally takes it off or uses the tube to hide there nitrous like I did
The air intake has a tube with an diaphragm connecting to a hole in the firewall that allows you to hear the noise. Everyone normally takes it off or uses the tube to hide there nitrous like I did
Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 6,486
Likes: 1,659
From: Las Vegas NV
I'm OK with sound tubes that allow actual engine sounds to get to the interior.
*Fake* sounds that are generated from a data file that is played through the car's speakers are quite possibly the stupidest automotive idea ever. (But in the current craze of "self-driving transportation toasters", there is a LOT of competition for the "Stupidest Ever" title!)
*Fake* sounds that are generated from a data file that is played through the car's speakers are quite possibly the stupidest automotive idea ever. (But in the current craze of "self-driving transportation toasters", there is a LOT of competition for the "Stupidest Ever" title!)
Pro
Joined: Mar 2016
Posts: 622
Likes: 38
From: Down South
Hell I would just as soon play a video game acting like I'm driving a performance car then... Or sit in the drive way and go varooom like a kid.. Gimme a friken break.
Last edited by Dub Mc; Jul 26, 2016 at 03:10 PM.
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 21,631
Likes: 1,144
From: Below the bottom of Berby Hollow, NYS
Oh wait, no, that's the German youth in the '30s.
I can tell because the picture is black and white.