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The rise of fake engine noise

washingtonpost.com

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Re: The rise of fake engine noise

#81

Post by throwketchup »

analog31 wrote: post #40
baldeagle wrote: post #22

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 enga…

>>> 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. ;-)

That or you can just listen for tire noise. Even electic cars are quite loud above 25 mph, or so, so it only really becomes a problem at stop lights. Even then, the distinctive power supply whine will let youn that a hybrid or electric is behind you.

Re: The rise of fake engine noise

#82

Post by baddox »

MRSallee wrote: post #67

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,…

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.

Re: The rise of fake engine noise

#83

Post by baddox »

ars wrote: post #48

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.

I know very little about cars and have little interest in them, but I suspect that any desirable attributes of an engine or car can be measured directly. If I were buying a car with those attributes as a goal, I would look for statistics taken from direct measurements, which I presume exist in plenty on car enthusiast websites and magazines.

I would guess that, given any level of performance, there are well-designed cars that vary greatly in the amount and character of the sound they produce, especially since the advent of electric vehicles.

Re: The rise of fake engine noise

#84

Post by declan »

MRSallee wrote: post #67

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,…

As a fellow driving enthusiast, I agree. When shopping for my last car, the manufacturer's outgoing model had a sport exhaust setting but did not pipe exhaust noise into the cabin. The incoming model did. (Note this is an actual mechanical opening or tube, not BMW-style synthesized noise.)

I ended up with the special-edition outgoing model for other reasons, including greater horsepower, but wouldn't necessarily object to piping in exhaust noise. Playing back recorded engine noise, on the other hand, seems just wrong to me.

Tangentially, a neighbor one street over has a pair of Ferraris that he and his wife track at Laguna Seca. I can always hear when they drive by (rarely, they have other cars they use on a daily basis) and it's a splendid exhaust note.

Re: The rise of fake engine noise

#85

Post by baddox »

baldeagle wrote: post #22

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 enga…

I'm torn with the noise situation with EVs. On one hand, I obviously recognize the importance of pedestrians being made aware of nearby automobiles, especially those with vision impairment. But on the other hand, I feel that automobiles making constant loud noise is an antipattern. The reason that cars have always made constant loud noise isn't to notify pedestrians—it's because gasoline engines produce a lot of waste noise.

If in a parallel universe the first mass adopted automobiles operated silently, I don't think we would or should have eschewed them or put constant noise-makers on them. I suspect we would have done the same thing we actually did do, even in our world of gasoline automobiles: put a user-activated noise-maker on them and expect and require operators to use that device when appropriate.

Re: The rise of fake engine noise

#86

Post by baldeagle »

atonse wrote: post #80
analog31 wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>> 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. ;-)

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.

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.

Re: The rise of fake engine noise

#87

Post by anvandare »

cbd1984 wrote: post #75
wanderingstan wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

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?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skeuomorph

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

Re: The rise of fake engine noise

#88

Post by upofadown »

vacri wrote: post #16
upofadown wrote: post #9

>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…

You make it sound like it's only car drivers that ignore road rules.

Only someone who strongly defined themselves by their method of transport would interpret the statement like that.

Re: The rise of fake engine noise

#89

Post by maaku »

ryanhuff wrote: post #61
maaku wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

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

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.

Re: The rise of fake engine noise

#90

Post by aidenn0 »

mikepalmer wrote: post #79

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.

The article makes it sound like that is going to have to go away, if laws are passed to make electrics play fake engine noise.
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