The 2015 Ford Mustang's roar is being enhanced by its stereo system. With its sound system disabled, however, the Mustang's fearsome roar sounds more like a purr.
Over two decades have passed since Ford designed a Mustang with a four-cylinder engine. The automaker's award-winning EcoBoost engine changes that with a 2.3-liter amalgamation of power and efficiency.
The 2015 Mustang's excitable EcoBoost engine and its ground-rattling roar drops when the sound system's fuse is yanked, as discovered by Road & Track's Jason Cammisa. During a recent series of test drives, he removed the fuse from the 2015 Mustang's sound system, and found that the pony car had lost its voice.
As shocking, and maybe even disappointing, as the 2015 Mustang's enhanced voice may be, Chief Mustang Engineer Dave Perciak revealed in a 2013 interview that the car's engine sound would be amplified by its sound system. Perciak was asked if the Mustang's 2.3-liter EcoBoost would sound like it belonged in the vehicle.
"With the EcoBoost engine we have both active noise cancellation and we also amplify the existing engine sound order," stated Perciak. "We don't create an artificial sound; we don't pluck one off the shelf; we bring in the real sound, process it, and play it through the car's speakers. Today's V6 sounds fantastic, and although the EcoBoost won't sound like a V8, it won't sound like it doesn't belong in a Mustang, either."
Consumers are said to have helped Ford figure out exactly how the 2015 Mustang should sound. A small group of Mustang fans were said to have participated in clinics, which ultimately helped Ford polish the feature.
The 2015 Mustang isn't the first vehicle to employ engine amplification and noise cancellation. It isn't even the first Mustang to do so. The Ford Mustang Boss 302 uses an additional set of exhaust pipes to enhance engine sound.
Lexus wanted drivers to enjoy the "full range" of its LFA supercar, so it reached out to Yamaha for help, according to CarandDriver.
"To achieve this, Lexus contracted Yamaha -- not the Yamaha that built F1 engines in the '80s and '90s but rather the musical instrument division -- and its Center for Advanced Sound Technologies to tune the LFA's symphony hall (cabin) for the audience (driver)," states CarandDriver. "It treated the engine as a sound generator and developed components to direct all of the V-10's wail to the driver."
