simsgw

This thread is a put-on, isn't it? I mean, a Carrera owner with 'Stang' envy? We're being punked for Halloween, right?

Gary

Edgy01

Don't forget that Porsche AG did the design work for the Harley's distinctive sound.

Fred R. C4S

Whoa..pump your brakes a bit. Harley had their V twin sound before Dr. Porsche even designed his first VW. Porsche did work with HD ten years or so ago on their first water cooled engine, but they in no way created the "Harley sound".

simsgw

I understand Tony's reaction and others to stimulating engine sound in the cockpit, let alone simulating it as BMW and others are now doing. But let's recognize the real reasons. None of those design teams are the twits some of these comments imply. Yes, marketing at some companies may be asking for sounds the engine never could have produced now that the opportunity exists, but they didn't conceive this, the engineers did. And as I say, they aren't twits. Making an engine louder is something any shade-tree mechanic can accomplish. They weren't "stumped by the challenge" at Porsche. Or anything of the sort. Furthermore, even the 'simulated' sounds in a BMW are arguably the same ones they recorded for the same model in acoustic tests. And at Porsche, the sounds are the real thing, just piped past the acoustic barriers.

The challenge was a real one that the aftermarket can evade. At least for now. The law requires the cars to be quiet. Different degrees of quiet in different jurisdictions, but as a practical matter, the designers have been told to stop building different cars for different countries/states. So the design challenge is to produce good engine noises for the driver and passenger but not for bystanders. I don't know offhand how quiet the car must be at different rpm levels at different distances, but in places like Switzerland, the answer is very damned quiet at curbside.

So Marketing gives it funky names like "sound symposer" but the truth is the goal of so many owners is contrary to law for the engineers. They are not permitted to build a car whose sound will impress your buddies. Period. And odds are good that in some jurisdictions, we also won't be permitted to modify our exhausts after delivery for much longer. Cities like San Francisco and Berkeley come to mind.

That is what contrivances like "sound symposer" are all about. Satisfy the tests the law requires, while frustrating the law's intent. At least the owner gets to hear the sound of a fine engine. Win-win for law-constrained designers: you get to hear the Porsche engine at work, but people on the sidewalk do not.

Incidentally, as a fellow graduate engineer, Tony knows all these things. I just picked on a friend's post to quote so I wouldn't pick a fight with somebody. He'll just make me buy him a drink next time we meet to compare Porsches.

Gary

ADias

Sure, as Gary stated that's clearly why the Symposer exists. And the Symposer is actually done well and sounds great, unlike synthesized audio tracks others produce. I think it can also be turned off (a mechanical flap closes the acoustic channel) and people may actually do that after a while.

As all things, acoustic beauty is in the ear of the beholder. The 991 exhaust sounds fine, by itself - just open the window. Heck, My 997.2S climbing up to redline signs just fine to me too.