Who misses the hum of the combustion engine?

[Lanzer]

One of the reason I love driving my Leaf is the quietness of the drive. It feels more advanced, high quality, and peaceful. Though today I came across a Nissan Leaf driving report with an interesting statement:

the only thing I missed compared with a fossil-fuel-powered car was the sound of the engine.
...
That's not necessarily a bad thing, but I have to admit I was happy to see a Porsche Cayman R in our fleet after I turned in the keys to the Leaf.

I love cars, and I love driving, so I automatically thought that most would consider driving an EV to be the next evolution of driving experience. I seemed to have forgotten the demographic who thirst the growl of the gasoline engine. (with or without associating with the engine noise to pollution)

Do anyone here miss the humming?

Link to Automobile Magazine's article http://www.automobilemag.com/review...1105_2011_nissan_leaf_introduction/index.html

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

ok i thought this post would be dripping with sarcasm.

 

[davewill]

This is more serious than I thought...what will little boys do when they play with toy cars in the EV future to come? No more VRROOOOM, VRROOOM!!!

Now they'll just have to push them along silently.

 

[z0ner]

How am I supposed to lull my baby daughter to sleep now (hand to forehead)?

 

[LALeaf]

This problem can be solved (like many problems these days) with an iPhone app. The app would measure the speed of the vehicle with the iPhone GPS and then provide via bluetooth to the Leaf's stereo an appropriate ICE engine sound to match. Done and done.

 

[DarkStar]

This problem can be solved (like many problems these days) with an iPhone app. The app would measure the speed of the vehicle with the iPhone GPS and then provide via bluetooth to the Leaf's stereo an appropriate ICE engine sound to match. Done and done.

As long as it is available on Android too, sounds great!

 

[UkrainianKozak]

I wonder if Henry Ford thought about adding Horse sounds to his first cars...

 

[davewill]

I wonder if Henry Ford thought about adding Horse sounds to his first cars...

He tried, but the Edison cylinder kept skipping, making a ridiculous CLI-CLI-CLI-CLOP sound.

Then he tried again, but the coconut shells kept cracking after a couple hundred miles.

 

[sdbmania]

I like my rocket sound from my leaf.

 

[LeafTalk]

Yesterday a few kids were riding really slowly whilst chatting and taking up the whole road. They didn't hear hear my car coming up so I had to use the horn to alert them.

Before I used to rev the engine a little to alert them of my presence so they give way but now I can only startle them with a beep. :lol:

 

[LeafTalk]

This problem can be solved (like many problems these days) with an iPhone app. The app would measure the speed of the vehicle with the iPhone GPS and then provide via bluetooth to the Leaf's stereo an appropriate ICE engine sound to match. Done and done.

Let me know when its on the app store.

 

[Deleted member 1464]

I like my rocket sound from my leaf.

Yes - me too, I like my Leaf taking off like a jet airliner.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyQ1znMc3og[/youtube]

 

[daniel]

The guy who did the original conversion on my Porsche (and who for many years did impeccable conversions, before he went bad and began turning out garbage) offers a CD of engine noise. I HATE the sound of an internal-combustion engine. I hate the noise and the smell and the vibration. That's one of the main reasons I bought my Zap Xebra, after experiencing brief periods of electric driving in the Prius. The quietness of an EV is one of its best features for me. And the noise of the liquid cooling system in the Tesla Roadster was one of the two things I didn't like about it. (The other being the low, awkward seats.)

 

[TomT]

I love, and always will, the sound and feel of a finely tuned, high performance ICE winding to red line. There is nothing like the sound of a V12 Ferrari or the like.

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

There is nothing like the sound of a V12 Ferrari or the like.

That's what my neighbor says about his... when he can get it to start, which is about half the time.

 

[TomT]

There was a movie out a few years ago where two guys had come up with a sound system that they were trying to sell to Detroit and that would make any car sound like a large, powerful, throaty V8. Perhaps an option like that for the Leaf?

There is already something like that that plugs in to your cigarette lighter and transmits to your sound system via FM, but it keys off of the small ripples in the DC from the cars alternator so it won't work on a Leaf.
I have one and it IS way cool though! You have a choice of a V8 or a V10. http://www.amazon.com/SoundRacer-V10-Engine-Sound-Effects/dp/B002N878XY

 

[TomT]

Hell, that's half the fun!!!

There is nothing like the sound of a V12 Ferrari or the like.

That's what my neighbor says about his... when he can get it to start, which is about half the time.

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

Actually looks like grandma and grampa beat all you young EV whippersnappers to the punch :lol:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qrpq5A-KAoA

Check out the rumble at 3:40

 

[jcesare]

I don't miss it at all. The LEAF is the first mass produced 21st Century car. Everytime I drive my ICE (which BTW is a sports car with that throaty hum everyone seems to love), I feel like I've traveled in the WABAC machine to the Industrial Revolution. It's a noisy, dirty, cumbersome, smelly, vibrating machine.

 

[TRONZ]

IMHO, 99% of the cars on the road do NOT do any acoustical justice to the burning of gasoline. Many in fact, sound like garbage and have engines that are not taken care of anyways. Since the LEAF is not a competitor for the 1% of (exotic) cars with beautiful exhaust notes, it is apples and oranges. But do I like the acoustical qualities of the LEAF over my neighbors CRV of Explorer? YES! Absolutely! The LEAF is a far more pleasant daily driving experience. The turbine sound/smoothness reminds me of flying small corporate jets.