Sound Generator to keep or not to keep?
 

I stumbled upon a very interesting article after watching a recent Jaguar commercial on TV. The new 2014 Jaguar XFR-S will boast a 305 cubic inch, 32 Valve, supercharged & intercooled, DOHC, aluminum block & heads and direct injected MONSTER of a V8 engine. The article says the engine will pump out 550 HP @ 6500 rpm & 502 lb-ft torque @ 2500 rpm.

So now your wondering what the hell this has to do with our beloved Scion FR-S's. Well, aside from many of the gapping differences i.e. price, target market, country of origin, etc, etc. I find it quite interesting that this car too, also contains "A symposer pipes intake noise into the cabin." Reference to the article is at this link:
http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/...t-drive-review

I was rather convinced on removing my sound generator as I felt it was a rather worthless item, but now I am thinking "hey, wait a minute, if a $100,000 550 horse semi-supercar has one, shit, maybe I should too."

I suppose it all depends on what crowd you wish to assimilate with...

People tend to think its fake..but imo its not fake. Its piping engine sound into the cabin..its not like its using your sound system to playback sound

And the Miata also has the same feature. Eliminating the growl tube was the first thing I did when I bought my car. I consider it a totally useless intrusion into the quietness of the cabin. it serves absolutely no function other than adding noise and that is why I consider it fake.

For the first 3 months I loved hearing the engine in the cabin. I actually bought the TRD Sound Changer so that I could hear more! But after a while I felt stupid hearing this loud ass engine roar when my car is hardly moving as fast as it sounds. It reminded me of a ricer car with a super loud exhaust but it hardly accelerates. The other night I installed the blue Sound Changer which basically deletes the sound coming through. I think the car sounds much more natural now and appropriate for the speed that I'm going.

A 550hp car would have the speed to back up that awesome engine sound. The twins...not so much. :(

Just plug it up with the 12v plug from the glovebox to see if you like it or not.

I did do this a few weeks ago and I honestly couldn't tell the difference. To me, it basically doesn't exist.

unless i get an intake that deletes the tube... im not gonna worry about it

hmmmm........so, mr whaap, I reckon you didn't go yennn-yennn-yennn on your tricycle .... or put playing cards in the spokes of your bicycle ...... or replace the big ol oil bath air cleaner on your 40s/50s cars, with a little acorn chrome thing, so as you could hear the carb sucken .... ??

:D

humfrz

Its not fake, it is just pointless. In my opinion, I wouldn't worry about it until get you an intake that removes it or a turbo or whatever. it is rather simple to remove and plug the hole in the firewall. I just think it creates more bay clutter and I couldnt wait to get rid of mine, but it honestly is-what-it-is ... a sound generator.

Pull it or not, it won't make a difference

Dont see how it makes a difference if other carmakers are also using sound tubes, aswell as it makes no difference in my opinion if those cars are expensive or not.
Either you like the sound the tube generates, or not.
I did like it very much, and when I upgraded my air intake to a TRD CAI, which deleted the sound tube, I did infact miss the sound. Even so much, that I then had to buy a exhaust system to get some "sporty" sound back that I did not miss that much with the sound tube in. However, I'm a guy who likes to hear his car and does not mind some "noise".

In the end, its up to your personal preference.

I simply plugged mine. I never removed the tube. When I eventually put some sort of intake on, I might delete at that point. I suggest plugging to see if you like it, if you like it, then possibly remove it.

The plug method under the glovebox is the best and easiest method to see which way you like. It takes 2 seconds.

This stuff is more popular than most would think. Lexus uses this same thing on their $325,000+ LFA, as well as pretty much all their new models IS, GS, LS (F-Sport models) to enhance driver sensation so its no surprise Toyota wanted it added to their "drivers car". The 2014 IS's even have a dial similar to adjusting instrument brightness that turns up/down volume of sound generator.

Porsche also has similar technology which they call the sound symposers.

BMW uses the speakers to play a hum to generate engine noise in their M5.
Similar to this, Volkswagen as soundaktor.

You won't notice it till you get the revs up above 4,000 rpm's and then it really comes on.