I love the rumble and roar of sports cars with high performance exhausts and over the years have spent time and money trying to get my cars or trucks to sound faster or meaner. I even spent some time watching youtube videos to try to determine if a Flowmaster 44 muffler would make my 2004 Monte Carlo sound better. Flowmaster, Borla, Magnaflow, Walker, Stillen and other performance exhaust companies have a new competitor: digital audio that syncs with your car engine computer to make the **fake** exhaust sounds follow your engine rpm and gear shifting.

Active Sound Design enhances V8 burble inside BMW M5

“BMW claims the system provides an “extremely accurate impression of current engine load” and that the sound has been optimized to spread across the entire cabin. Not only that, but when Sport or Sport+ is engaged, the sound inside the M5 is enhanced and perfectly sequenced with induction, engine and exhaust noises. We’re not sure if we’re geeked or disturbed, but it’s certainly trick.”

2014 Cadillac ATS Coupe Also Uses Engine Sound Enhancement

“Some were surprised to hear that the 2014 Cadillac CTS and 2015 CTS utilized a system that pumps the vehicle’s engine and exhaust sounds into the vehicle using its sound system. And as it so happens, the 2015 ATS Coupe uses a similar technology.

Called Engine Sound Enhancement (ESE), the system amplifies the vehicle’s engine and exhaust sounds through the audio system. To note, the sounds are not pre-recorded, but rather further enhance the sounds the car is making.”

The Rise of the Fake Engine Roar

“To make engines sound better, some automakers are broadcasting motor noise through speaker in the cabin. Is this progress—or an affront to the purity of the engine note?”

VW mounts this speaker on the firewall of sporty models like the Golf R to enhance engine sounds. (Sam Kaplan)

2015 BMW i8 and Ford Mustang Ecoboost Fake Engine Note Revealed – Video

“The Fast Lane Car shows us the new BMW i8 and the new 2015 Ford Mustang with the 2.3L I4 Ecoboost. Why? Both vehicles have at least one thing in common. The audio systems in both vehicles are used to enhance the vehicle’s engine and exhaust noise. “For those almost V8-like sounds“. We will use the term “Enhanced Audio,” as “fake” might sound a little harsh.”

You can even get an app for that – SoundRacer for Android

See the SoundRacer App in action

See the SoundRacer App used while driving

Porche’s method enhances the sound without an audio soundtrack

http://www.caranddriver.com/features/faking-it-engine-sound-enhancement-explained-tech-dept

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Personally I would rather hear the pure sounds of horsepower ripping through performance headers and exhaust. If I had to be quiet at times I would rather have a remote exhaust cutout valve if they were legal where I live. But if I couldn’t afford the real sounds of a fast and powerful motor or if for some reason I had an electric car that was basically silent maybe digitally enhanced interior sound would be OK. And if I had the android app I could plug it in to any humble and meek car I had to drive – imagine how awesome that V-8 sound would be inside a Chevy Spark!

Or if you want to sound a little bit like a Ferrari try this with a crushed tin can