Active Sound

[JamesP]

Does anyone know whether Volvo has any plans to introduce Active Sound like the Hyundai IONIQ 5 N and other EV’s.

For those who have a need for speed and enjoy the sound of an ICE, it could be a nice addition. Given the performance of the car, it feels like a shame not to have the option.

[alphahere]

I look at it from the other side. Hotshots with popping and burbling exhausts try to intimidate me, I just zip away from them with nary a sound leaving them gasping for breath..

[JamesP]

I’m talking about interior sound. The active sound solutions on other cars are designed for interior rather than exterior sound.

[alphahere]

Yes, I have seen the review of the Ioniq 5N. It does have the pseudo engine sound within the cabin and also virtual shift points that vary the note and power as if gears are being shifted. But what I was hinting at was that when you have real power at your disposal, does sound or shift points really matter? You are already feeling nice showing who's the boss here.. Again this is just my personal perspective..

I am not a Volvo engineer but I think to enable this function it would need to be supported by hardware like readings of speed, throttle position, load along with interfacing into the internal speakers. Really not sure if this level of integration is available at the hardware level on the EX30.

[JamesP]

To be honest, I’m really not interested in trying to show anyone who’s boss. I just like the sound of an ICE engine.

[Graham]

I think if Volvo decided to add any sort of active or pseudo sound to the EX30, it would just be another thing I'd turn off. I like the silence or being able to hold a conversation or listen to music without engine background noise. The only thing I'd support is a button to take away tyre/road noise. I like the fact the car doesn't have any sound that reminds me of previous cars. I don't need any engine noise to indicate I'm moving or accelerating and leaving many other cars behind me.

[Harald]

Can't believe what I'm reading. So, really..is there any car that makes a fake combustion sound? And it's from the serious people of Korea...? Its nonsense. Years of exhaust pipes evolution, car acoustic isolation, double glasses...and when finally gets "the silence"...we add artificial noise? Just like when we were kids and makes "brouuummm brouuuummmm" as we were driving a F1 on a cardboard box ??? It really amaze me...but me, its only me.

[alphahere]

Can't believe what I'm reading. So, really..is there any car that makes a fake combustion sound? And it's from the serious people of Korea...? Its nonsense. Years of exhaust pipes evolution, car acoustic isolation, double glasses...and when finally gets "the silence"...we add artificial noise? Just like when we were kids and makes "brouuummm brouuuummmm" as we were driving a F1 on a cardboard box ??? It really amaze me...but me, its only me.

The serious people of Korea really did do this. Seems there is a market for this. It isn't new. Even the older Nissan CVTs like the Maxima had a similar function sans the sound. They had virtual shift points to simulate gear shifts and even paddle shifters to trigger the behaviour. CVTs don't really need this but they went ahead and released such a function. Lack of sound wasn't a problem then as there was an engine anyway. Now we are at the stage where there are no engines anymore..

[SP1959]

I love my silence!

[kildare]

Its nonsense. Years of exhaust pipes evolution, car acoustic isolation, double glasses...and when finally gets "the silence"...we add artificial noise?

I completely agree with you, particularly for people living in cities where the traffic makes a lot of disturbing noise, especially at night.

Anyway the major sportcar makers are working at creating an electronic sound for their EVs that perfectly resembles their distinctive engine roar, see Ferrari...