How Important Is The Sound Of Your Car, A Car, To You? (luxury, best)
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The sound(engine/exhaust) a car makes has nothing to do with safety.
I think what the OP is alluding to is that a car with a louder exhaust can be heard by other motorists. An electric car for example, if you didn't see that one was in your blindspot, you wouldn't be able to hear it at all and probably have a greater chance of getting into an accident with one.
As far as my own cars sound, I prefer an exotic note to them, especially in the upper rpm ranges. I love the sound my Cayenne makes, 4.5 liter, so it's a deep enough sound, and when it gets above 5k rpm, it sounds amazing. It's downright mean at full throttle. Probably the best sounding engine/exhaust I've ever had.
I think what the OP is alluding to is that a car with a louder exhaust can be heard by other motorists. An electric car for example, if you didn't see that one was in your blindspot, you wouldn't be able to hear it at all and probably have a greater chance of getting into an accident with one.
As far as my own cars sound, I prefer an exotic note to them, especially in the upper rpm ranges. I love the sound my Cayenne makes, 4.5 liter, so it's a deep enough sound, and when it gets above 5k rpm, it sounds amazing. It's downright mean at full throttle. Probably the best sounding engine/exhaust I've ever had.
That's exactly my point, plus, the throaty growl that some engines have. Something that I believe many manufacturers put a lot of research into, and money.
I'll give a little example of why I think there is a safety aspect to this.
I live in an area that has a lot of tourism, and largely, these tourists, for some odd reason, are oblivious to traffic. I've just changed car, and I've notice that now, with this car, the tourists, and other pedestrians, step back and look around as I approach. This has to be safer than almost silence.
I do prefer to hear a nice exhaust note..either coming from my own car or other people's cars. It's like music to my ears! Plus, it does have its safety advantages, being able to hear them if they approach my blindspot.
What annoys me are the powder puff Prius's that creep up on you in stealth mode ..you never hear them coming or going.
Also, the Honda Civics with the giant fart can mufflers and exhaust systems dragging on the ground...I can hear them from 3 miles away and the smell of burnt metal is always a delight.
If my car is making noise its probably time for a muffler,
If i need to make the car ahead of me take notice i use the horn.
As for defining ones manhood by the sound their car makes does this odd affliction transfer to the lawn mower, the washing machine,etc.
If loud exhaust were an important safety factor, high end luxury cocoons would have some of the highest accident rates and fart can civics would almost never be involved in collisions.
If loud exhaust were an important safety factor, high end luxury cocoons would have some of the highest accident rates and fart can civics would almost never be involved in collisions.
I don't think it's just down to the exhaust, my high end luxury cocoon, sounds like a truck, so I'm told.
Some cars actually do a little bit of sound engineering to get a pleasant exhaust note played into the cabin. Some use special valves or noise pipes that let some of the exhaust noise into the cabin under certain circumstances. Others use a prerecorded soundtrack stored on the cars hard drive and play the appropriate exhaust note through the speakers.
From a car designers point of view there is a certain logic to this. Sometimes drivers want peace and quiet and other times they want to hear the engine roar. How do you provide both?
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