The rise of fake engine noise

[cpzilliacus]

Washington Post: America's best-selling cars and trucks are built on lies: The rise of fake engine noise

Stomp on the gas in a new Ford Mustang or F-150 and you'll hear a meaty, throaty rumble – the same style roar that Americans have associated with auto power and performance for decades.

It's a sham. 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. And it's driving car enthusiasts insane.

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. Without them, today's more fuel-efficient engines would sound far quieter and, automakers worry, seemingly less powerful, potentially pushing buyers away.

[Jardine]

But I LIKE sneaking up on the unwary !!

Shit !!!!

[oscar]

But I LIKE sneaking up on the unwary !!

Shit !!!!

Some hybrids and electrics have that nice sneak-up-from-behind feature.  Alas, not my hybrid, which can't move without help from the gas engine. 

My truck is louder, but the advertising touted that the natural engine growl was "enhanced" to make it sound more bad-ass.  So I was not misled.  (Actually, I or at least my neighbors would've preferred less bad-ass, when I limp home very late at night.)  EDIT:  To clarify, my truck's sound was "enhanced" with old-fashioned techniques such as exhaust tuning, rather than electronic sounds piped into the car interior.  I agree the latter is silly, I can do without the synthesized extra sounds, and they don't impress anyone else except passengers.

[Duke87]

We no longer live in a real world. Faking things is just now the way it's done, since it's often cheaper and more effective than the real thing.

Another example, you can get "new car smell" in a perfume spray. And I'm sure automakers never spray that stuff all over their new cars.

[english si]

Some hybrids and electrics have that nice sneak-up-from-behind feature.

In Europe, this is why they have to have fake engine noise.

[wxfree]

It's another form of psychological phallic enhancement, which large pickups and muscle cars have been giving people for years.

[cjk374]

We no longer live in a real world. Faking things is just now the way it's done, since it's often cheaper and more effective than the real thing.

Read:  orgasms   

[kurumi]

"Do you have any artificial plates or limbs?"

[SteveG1988]

I wonder if the H or X pipe is even legal to have on a factory exhaust. That is part of the burble of a muscle car.

[Stratuscaster]

Some factory exhausts are still done as H or X pipes.

Honda and BMW are known for piping in noise via the audio system to enhance engine note or they use it to attempt to cancel out other noises that cannot be removed via other means.

[GCrites]

Can it be turned off?

[KEVIN_224]

I've heard that they pipe in crowd noise on occasion with Indianapolis Colts games at Lucas Oil Stadium.

[spooky]

I've heard that they pipe in crowd noise on occasion with Indianapolis Colts games at Lucas Oil Stadium.

ah yes, the Bill Polian Sound Machine.

[hotdogPi]

I don't think this is a new concept.

[GCrites]

Hopefully it's an old tape of women screaming in the '60s or '70s like you hear on old rock videos.

[Pete from Boston]

Hopefully it's an old tape of women screaming in the '60s or '70s like you hear on old rock videos.

Yes, but they're yelling "Stick it to 'em, Unitas!"

[GCrites]

HAHA, and you hear a stray "Come on Baltimore!" in there.

[SteveG1988]

Technically the exhaust on my car is a lie. It is a "Dual" Exhaust, but that is just a Y pipe which barely does anything, it does increase flow slightly but is not the same as a X or H pipe dual, where it is truely two routes out, one per side. Do that on a I4 and yeah....it inspires performance that isn't there.