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The rise of fake engine noise

washingtonpost.com

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Re: The rise of fake engine noise

#131

Post by ncza »

pcthrowaway wrote: post #119
na85 wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

As a cyclist it's often helpful to be able to hear the sound made by cars moving across a street, for example, when approaching an intersection where perpendicular traffic should stop, but may not.

As a casual slow cyclist myself I already find it impossible to rely on audio too Mich, visuals are always needed. I have had several near collisions with other cyclists in the past who silently sneak up from behind or around corners. Afterwards I made sure to always look around before changing direction and treat every obscured corner as potential "devil puppet on a spring box" (no idea what they are called :) ).

I would love car traffic to be more silent but AFAIK the tires actually make most of the noise.

Re: The rise of fake engine noise

#132

Post by exDM69 »

jacquesm wrote: post #66
reustle wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

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

Tuned exhaust are only "in tune" at a particular rev range where the resonant frequency of the exhaust manifold is in sync with the engine combustion cycles. They're not widely used outside of racing applications, because a road vehicle has relatively wider rev range than a racing machine. And they're ridiculously loud.

A vintage Cosworth DFV racing engine only "works" at 7000-9000 rpm (or 8000-10000 rpm for later models), a pre-turbo 2000s F1 car runs at 11000-15000 rpm to about 14000-20000 rpm (before rev limits were enforced). It's a really narrow band compared to a road car that can run from 1000-6000 rpm, ie. is useful on the entire rev range.

All modern engines have well engineered exhaust manifolds, though, but they're not really "resonance charged" like a tuned racing exhaust.

Re: The rise of fake engine noise

#134

Post by 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!

Re: The rise of fake engine noise

#135

Post by anon4 »

davegardner wrote: post #115
ferrari8608 wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just wonder, why does it have to be engine noise in particular? If I saw a Tesla, Leaf, Volt, etc. I wouldn't expect any engine or exhaust noise. Beeping, maybe.

I expect there'll be a new set of businesses built up around custom engine noises. If the manufactures don't make it easy to load your own MP3, then you'll probably be able to take it to a car mod specialist.

Expect to hear this a lot more often then https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rI6nc3aH_pI

Re: The rise of fake engine noise

#136

Post by pwr22 »

eCa wrote: post #123
na85 wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

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

Also as a pedestrian

Re: The rise of fake engine noise

#137

Post by Fuxy »

gambiting wrote: post #117
Animats wrote: post #72

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 mom…

As long as there is an option to turn all of it off, I don't have a single problem with it. It actually sounds quite cool.

My first thought to this article was where's the speaker so i can desolder it.

I don't mind the gimmicks and trickery some people like the deception however I want to be able to get rid of it.

However if it plays in the regular speaker system and there's no off button it will get annoying very quickly.

Re: The rise of fake engine noise

#138

Post by icebraining »

cm2187 wrote: post #134

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!

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.

They've got that covered: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2011/01/24/2_stat...

Re: The rise of fake engine noise

#139

Post by seanp2k2 »

cm2187 wrote: post #134

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!

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).

Re: The rise of fake engine noise

#140

Post by jon-wood »

cm2187 wrote: post #134

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!

At least some of the remaining 20% are blind, and only have engine noise to work on when trying to work out if its safe for them to cross the road or not. I doubt the simulated engine noise has to be very loud to alert those people to the presence of a vehicle, but it does seem unreasonable to ask them to just take their chances, or listen out for the sound of tires rolling along tarmac.
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