The sounds your car makes are carefully created by noise experts
Think of the noises a car makes: the reassuring thud of a solid door shutting, the thrilling rumble of a V12 engine — all give you signals about the car’s qualities.
These noises aren’t intrinsic, they’re all created by fine tuning and plenty of padding, without which your car would sound like a pair of maracas.
“Almost all the sounds you work on in the car are adjustable,” explains Anette Garnemark, systems analyst at Volvo’s NVH (Noise, Vibration and Harshness) Centre, where they tweak sounds from the road, wind, engine and car components, reducing ‘irritating’ noises and enhancing ones that ‘inform’ and ‘impress’.
The noise a closing door makes is particularly crucial, as it’s the driver’s first contact with the car.
Volvo’s doors are designed to sound “reliable and premium,” says Garnemark. The sound is muffled without echos, thanks to optimized lock and damping material.
The engine note is also key. Fiat has a team that tunes your 1.4 litre to sound more like a Ferrari, as in the new 500 Sport. Over at Ferrari each new model gets its own symphony.
“There is a very clearly defined design behind the noise every Ferrari makes,” explains the Italian brand’s technical director, Roberto Fedeli. “Designing the sound isn’t that different from composing a piece of music. There’s no mistaking Carlos Santana’s sound when he plays guitar, even though it’s still different every time. The same has to be true of a Ferrari engine.”
The bespoke engine sound is created by working on the intake manifolds, but first they have to decide what each model should sound like. “It’s a subjective process involving identifying sensations and feelings that make up a signature aspect of the new car,” says Fedeli.
The sound is produced using musical instruments, mixers, samplers, and composition programs. It's then signed off by Ferrari’s top brass before engineers reproduce it in the engine.
Of course there are legal restrictions — this applies to the horn, the volume in the cabin and even the indicator. In a Ferrari, the noise level never gets above 85db, even at full speed — much to the chagrin of some owners.
