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The engine noise that a car makes is arguably one of the biggest elements of making driving fun, as alongside the pure feeling of driving faster, the engine note that tells you how high the engine is revving further feeds into the thrill. This is especially the case in modern cars, where they are so well protected from the outside world that you can feel like you’re traveling slower than you are, which blunts the excitement somewhat.

Volkswagen

Volkswagen is a mainstream automaker founded by the German Labour Front in 1937 as the “people’s car” company. Famous for the Volkswagen Beetle, Type 2 Bus, and modern classics like the Golf and Jetta, Volkswagen has emerged as one of the world’s largest automakers and a subsection of the larger Volkswagen Group, which either directly or indirectly owns controlling stakes in Porsche, Audi, Bentley, Skoda, Lamborghini, Bugatti, Rimac, Seat, and more.Founded28 May 1937FounderGerman Labour FrontHeadquartersWolfsburg, GermanyOwned ByVolkswagen GroupCurrent CEOThomas Schaefer

Many cars now use fake engine noises to help make up for this, a feature particularly popular in electric vehicles that don’t come with a traditional engine sound. This is the first car to ever utilize such a feature.

This piece explores the first vehicle to ever feature fake engine noises being transmitted into the cabin. Every production car was considered for this article, with all data used being sourced from reputable providers.

Fake Engine Noises Are Produced Electrically

2025 Toyota Prius Silver High Front Angled View

2025 Toyota Prius Silver High Rear Angled View

Foreign noises have been projected from cars for decades, and we’re not just talking about their owners giving a piece of their mind to the taxi that just cut them off. Commercial vehicles like garbage trucks use loudspeakers to warn pedestrians of their presence to prevent an accident, while quiet vehicles like the Toyota Prius Hybrid have a similar system that emits a buzzing noise outside the vehicle to alert anyone nearby that a vehicle is passing them.

Almost as important is when engine noises are pumped into the cabin when a car is driving along, with a couple of different types having been developed. The most common are for EVs and hybrids, which spend a significant portion of their time with only the sound of the electric motor whirring away. Due to its quietness – as well as a lack of sound range as the vehicle picks up speed – it can make it difficult to fully understand how fast a vehicle is traveling. Many drivers aren’t glued to their speedometers, and naturally use cues like the sound of a combustion engine to work out how fast they’re going, as these get louder and gain revs the faster you go.

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Other changes should also make the sounds more immersive.

The Lack Of An Engine Noise Can Pose A Safety Risk

Taking that element away can be an assault on the senses, leading brands to start developing ways of pumping fake engine noises into the cockpit to give drivers a better feel of how fast they’re traveling, and how hard the electric motor is working. Being able to hear exactly where the engine note was helps give drivers a natural reference to how fast the car is traveling, allowing them to take action more swiftly.

There’s also the fun element, as most gearheads love to have the sound of a revving engine as they attack a B road, and the lack of this takes some of the drama out of driving. Therefore, the addition of fake engine noise helps add this back into an EV driving experience.

Discussion

Discussion: Of all the car sound systems you’ve experienced, which one was the best?

In our experience with testing many different vehicles, some of the best sound systems include the Naim from Bentley, the Bang & Olufsen setup in Audis, the Bowers & Wilkins system in BMWs and Volvos, and Mercedes-Benz’s Burmester system. What’s been your favorite?

Volkswagen Was The First To Develop An Active Engine Noise Feature

2010 volkswagen golf gti full frontal red

The first brand to utilize an active engine noise system in one of its vehicles was Volkswagen, which included one in its 2011 Golf GTI hatchback. The Golf GTI is one of the most legendary performance vehicles in the automotive kingdom, thrilling drivers with its electric driving experience. Aside from this though, the traditionally peppy four-cylinder engine it used helped make it feel more urgent.

2011 Volkswagen Golf GTI Specifications
Engine	2.0L turbocharged I4
Power	200 hp
Torque	207 lb-ft
0-60 mph	6.8 seconds
Top Speed	148 mph

The problem was, the engine noise started to get more distant as the sound deadening and build quality of the model progressed. To try and combat this problem and preserve the rawness of previous GTIs, VW developed a system called Soundaktor.

Soundaktor Essentially Amplified The Standard Engine Sound

The Soundaktor system consisted of a small speaker mounted in the firewall between the engine and the cabin, which could project the sound of the engine into the cockpit. It doesn’t work like a conventional speaker though, and is made up of three different elements, the signal amplifier, exciter and signal generator. The signal generator produces oscillations that are amplified by the signal amplifier, with the exciter creating structure-borne noise that is then transmitted into the cabin.

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A range of audio files can be used by the vehicle’s exciter depending on the signals received, allowing the system to replicate the sounds the engine is making at a particular speed and rev range to be fed back to the cabin.

Other Manufacturers Followed VW’s Lead

2014 BMW M5 F10 Blue Front Angle Driving

2014 BMW M5 F10 Interior Front Cabin Black

VW’s bright idea was effective and it soon found its way into other performance-focused versions of the Golf like the R, as well as those built by sister brands like SEAT and Škoda. Soon after the Soundaktor made its debut on the 2011 Golf GTI, as well as the Jetta GLI sedan, BMW introduced its very own active sound setup on its 2011 F10 M5. Named Active Sound Design, the system replicated the M5’s twin-turbo V8 note via the vehicle’s stereo setup.

The marque linked the stereo’s Digital Signal Processor to the engine management system, so that it could mimic the engine behavior with a stored audio file of the engine. This was then played back through the speaker system, allowing occupants to better enjoy the fruity note of the V8. Ford was also in the enhanced audio game at the time, though it instead fitted a form of sound pipe to its Mustangs.

This allowed sounds from the engine to travel to the cabin, essentially acting as a mechanical amplifier.

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Fake Engine Noise Technology Has Developed Rapidly In The Years Since

2010 lotus evora 414e hybrid concept front orange

2010 lotus evora 414e hybrid concept interior

2010 lotus evora 414e hybrid concept engine orange

Before too long, most marques had begun offering forms of active noise systems in their vehicles. While many were performance ICEs, the rise of EVs saw widespread application as manufacturers tried to make them feel as close to traditional combustion cars as possible. Some brands started to offer a range of sounds in their vehicles that could be personalised to the driver’s tastes, with the 2010 Lotus Evora 414E Hybrid concept being one of the first to use such a system.

Lotus worked with audio company Harman International to develop a synthetic engine sound setup for the one-off car, which could offer V6 or V12 engine sounds when running in EV mode. The car also pumped these noises outside the vehicle, which alerted passers-by to its presence. Plenty of vehicles these days continue to use the tech, such as the Hyundai Ioniq 5 EV. Alongside offering a four-cylinder noise to cover up the whine of the electric motor, the gearbox is also simulated, which consists of the engine noise dropping as the system travels up and down the fake transmission. Drivers can use the paddles on the wheel to select whichever simulated gear they want.

BMW Utilized Hans Zimmer For Some Unique Cabin Sounds

Some BMW EVs don’t even use conventional engine sounds either, with models like the i4 being available with a special soundtrack pack created by famous composer Hans Zimmer. The sounds are created to reflect the different speeds and modes the vehicle can be set in, with the idea of heightening the driver’s senses depending on the driving experience they’re looking for. Unless you fancy feeling like you’re starring in The Jetsons though, traditional engine sounds make more sense most of the time.

With EVs and hybrids here to stay, we look forward to seeing what other systems can be cooked up over the coming years.

Sources: Volkswagen.

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EPTDYThe 2006 GTI had an intake pipe that ran into the cabin to put sound into the car. the next generation switched from that to electronic.2025-04-16 18:54:56Copy

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