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Comment by Reason077 | Hacker News Reader

I really wish that governments and authorities (UK/EU) would do more to tackle excessively noisy vehicles.

It's a significant problem here in London: Supercars (and regular cars and motorbikes that have been modified to have noisy exhausts) make up a tiny minority of vehicles on the road, but it only takes one to produce incredible noise levels that carry for many blocks and penetrate almost any soundproofing/double glazing.

It's completely unfair to subject so many people in such a dense city to these noises just for the thrills of one driver/rider. Stick to the track if you must drive such a noisy vehicle!

Politicians probably think of it as an annoyance to be shrugged off, but it does genuine economic harm. It damages property values near busy roads, and it makes our public spaces and parks unpleasant. Even in the middle of huge green areas like Hyde Park, you can still hear them roaring down park lane etc.

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Agreed, and it's become common on many more cars than supercars to add valves to make exhausts noisier. I suspect these valves are not triggered in regulatory exhaust noise tests.

From Jaguar's website:

  Every F‑TYPE is fitted with an Active Sports Exhaust 
  that creates a race‑car inspired crescendo. 
  The exhaust system reacts to throttle position, speed 
  and engine revs by opening active valves. When open, 
  these valves allow exhaust gases to take a more direct,
  less restrictive route through the rear silencer
  producing a much richer, more exhilarating sound. Where
  fitted, the Switchable Active Exhaust, allows you to
  manually open the exhaust valves so you can enjoy
  F‑TYPE’s stirring soundtrack at all engine speeds. This 
  feature is optional on F‑TYPE and standard on all other 
  models.

basically, above a certain price point cars are designed for stupid wankers

There are plenty of high perf/luxury cars which are very quiet. I think there are customers at every price point who want ridiculously loud exhausts.

A few years ago some Ford cars had been found to amplify their engine noise through the speakers. At least they kept it to the driver.

lots of cars have this today

So, it turns out there are people who enjoy different things than you do. No need to insult them because of that.

The whole intentionally loud thing is a bit different than just differing tastes, as it is inflicted upon unrelated bystanders.

> above a certain price point

Maybe lower than you think... several Ford products over the last few years have done things like run sound tubes to the cabin or use the radio to simulate engine noise. I think it's kind of silly myself, but whatever.

> cars are designed for stupid wankers

Or at least people with different interests. Just because you think your own interests make sense doesn't mean other people have to agree or share the same interests that you do.

There's a similar story about the Audi S4 V8's exhaust note. The engineers wanted it to be louder than they thought their management would approve. So, what they did is demo a version that was louder than what they wanted, and when management complained they reduced it to what they wanted to begin with.

Mobile friendly:

> Every F‑TYPE is fitted with an Active Sports Exhaust that creates a race‑car inspired crescendo.

> The exhaust system reacts to throttle position, speed and engine revs by opening active valves. When open, these valves allow exhaust gases to take a more direct, less restrictive route through the rear silencer producing a much richer, more exhilarating sound. Where fitted, the Switchable Active Exhaust, allows you to manually open the exhaust valves so you can enjoy F‑TYPE’s stirring soundtrack at all engine speeds. This feature is optional on F‑TYPE and standard on all other models.

So essentially a muffler bypass valve? You can buy aftermarket valves like this from Summit Racing and JEGS - they aren't expensive, they come in a variety of styles (full manual where you have to unbolt them underneath the car, manual-actuated by a cable, electric actuated by a motor, and one company makes a "stealth" version).

Legality of use on public roads varies...

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