Dodge Charger EV bogus "exhaust" noise

I am going to have to disagree with you. Moving from a Miata to a Mini EV, I very much missed the sound. Granted, I never liked LOUD exhaust notes, but the build of sound as you accelerated was and is wonderful.

Likewise, the sound during acceleration is a great way to a) gauge speed without looking at the speedo,and b) a great way to, uh, communicate to other sports cars you, uh, wanna go. Kinda hard to do that when your car is silent.

I do think the ridiculous volume the banshee can get up to is annoying at best, but, Dodge certainly knows their audience. People who want muscle cars want the whole experience, and that is a part of it. Unless there is some legislation to limit it, some people will always opt for noisy cars (looking at you fart can civics).

I do hope, as a driver, you can turn it off by default, or have it only turn on when you enter sport/drag mode or something like that. Having a quite ride most of the time is wonderful. But having the option to let it “rev out”? Man, as long as it’s not waking a baby, let’s go!

And, as an aside, there is room enough in the EV space to have multiple different takes on how EVs are supposed to be!


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In 20 years, the noise advocates will be dead, nursing homes, or otherwise no longer driving a car. Time will solve the problem.

Bob Wilson

 

I figured out what the Dodge Charger Daytona SRT EV concept is missing.

 

I have some "muscle car starting up" sound clips I can play from the stereo, just to amuse people
at EV shows and such. It's not the same, though; the sound spectrum you get when standing near
the real thing is very different. Sounds come from all different parts of an ICE vehicle and resonate
in very characteristic ways, hard to duplicate even with multiple speakers.

_H*

 

Finishing my pecan waffle, three guys were bragging about their past pony cars using their outside voices. So I paid my bill and stood in the middle of the parking lot to summon my Tesla with three dogs inside. Without batting an eye, I got in and drove home. The doggies were happy to see me.

Bob Wilson

 

I just find loud noise annoying, and the louder the noise, the more annoying.

I can't help but wonder if the people who want this kind of car are compensating for some other sort of inadequacy.

 

Loud noise cars and motorcycles make my Tesla accelerator foot heavy.

Bob Wilson

 

A better option would be an audio announcement "xxx HP, y.y sec 0 to zz mph".

Bob Wilson

 

I would never want it on my car, but I definitely get it. Engine sound and revving is a big part of the appeal to some people, especially muscle car people. Simple to add, simple to shut off.

 

Great point about using engine sounds to gauge vehicle speed. I noticed this just the other day while driving my Niro EV. Without an engine note to even (subconsciously) give me any aural feedback, I looked down at the speedo to see I was going 5 or more mph either over *or under* my intended speed. Bottom line, there are always going to be unexpected consequences, even with a great concept.

 

Very thoughtful and measured post by DisgruntledSanta. Thanks!
I cannot help but to believe that an additional reason to have a loud vehicle is to send the message of, "Lookout at me! Screw you!" Kind of like coaling.
Dodge clearly understands this and is going after this chunk of the market.
Hooray for the California cities that are sending auto-tickets to those who drive by exceeding a dB limit.

 

Lol I was driving the main “highway” through the rez yesterday, cruise set at 60 km/h (posted 50 zone, driveway entrances the entire length). I was behind other cars and trucks doing a similar speed, when a db in a lowered E92 330d screamed up behind me, swerving repeatedly into the oncoming lane looking for a way around. As he found a gap and passed me, he was blowing soot, then got around another car, blipping his “throttle” repeatedly to show off more smoke. We wound up taking the same exit for the bridge over the Seaway, and as we merged I matted my MINI SE’s pedal and slingshotted past him going up the steep ramp. He tried, but by the time I and my measly 199 lbf-ft were over the Seaway, he was struggling 200 yards back and blowing a ton of carbon out the back. I don’t often do stuff like that, but it was quite satisfying.

 

Unless someone likes it, then it's not ridiculous to them. And if it facilitates their transition to an EV then what's the harm? This ’Us vs ICE' mentality is a lose lose scenario. After all, unless you're just coming of driving age, all EV drivers were once also ICE drivers.

 

Hatch,
Yes, I agee. I live right on Hamilton at Leigh in San Jose, part time. The noise is constant. Worst offenders are bikers and rodders. Even truckers and occasional EMT sirens are not as annoying. They want to PUT this in their vehicles? I may be driven to become an eco-terrorist.

 

Wait... how is resisting this kind of change any different than the ICE guys resisting the EV change? The tone of all of these arguments against the Dodge sound similar to the arguments they would use against EVs (with only a slight change to the underlying content).

The only thing that is really going to happen here is that more people are going to go electric. So why spend time, energy, and stress resisting a little noise, if it gets some of the toughest converts into an EV? You can't deny, it looks pretty good and I bet it's going to cost a lot!