Soundaktor (engine noise speaker) on 2.0T

[DasMkVI]

I was very disappointed about this myself, but I work for VW and see where they're coming from. Mine has been unplugged for about a week and no problems, no codes. Just a much quieter car. Which I would rather have than fake noise.

[caj1]

Heh.. first world problems.

[MoreGooderTT]

Heh.. first world problems.

Yeah, kinda hard to really feel sorry for us. I mean..... really. We drive cars that most can't even consider.

[MoreGooderTT]

I was very disappointed about this myself, but I work for VW and see where they're coming from. Mine has been unplugged for about a week and no problems, no codes. Just a much quieter car. Which I would rather have than fake noise.

Inquiring minds want to know: Why do you see where they're coming from? What's the motive for fake noises if not simply to fool the buyer during a test drive?

[caj1]

The new BMW M5 has a noise maker too.

[DasMkVI]

Inquiring minds want to know: Why do you see where they're coming from? What's the motive for fake noises if not simply to fool the buyer during a test drive?

As cars/engines get quieter and quieter and sound-proofing gets better and better a natural drawback to this is going to be less engine noise heard in the cabin. Most people who drive Golfs and A3's don't want a loud engine. People who drive the sportier versions of cars like this want a little more feedback. To enhance the driving experience VW has chosen to use this Soundaktor.

I never said it was a good idea, or that I liked it. As I said, mine got unplugged as soon as I found out about it. I simply said I understand where they are coming from. And yes, it is technically to fool you. I would have bought my car no matter how it sounded so I don't care.

[MoreGooderTT]

As cars/engines get quieter and quieter and sound-proofing gets better and better a natural drawback to this is going to be less engine noise heard in the cabin. Most people who drive Golfs and A3's don't want a loud engine. People who drive the sportier versions of cars like this want a little more feedback. To enhance the driving experience VW has chosen to use this Soundaktor.

I never said it was a good idea, or that I liked it. As I said, mine got unplugged as soon as I found out about it. I simply said I understand where they are coming from. And yes, it is technically to fool you. I would have bought my car no matter how it sounded so I don't care.

Thank you for clarifying. It's a shame they couldn't just be honest about it though. Now they have no choice. The cat is out.

[hichrishigh]

Crazy! I finally just took a look under the hood and it turns out that I don't have one! LOL! The bracket in the pictures is empty and there is no wire hanging around.






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[lcrcr]

I'm not convinced the TTS has one, but I've been too lazy to check. My TTS didn't sound anything like my Golf R until I disconnected the Golf's Soundaktor. Now the noises from the front of the car are approximately the same between the two.

[kaiTTS]

I am pretty sure there isnt one on the TTS, i checked it myself. But there is a chance that i might have looked right at it and not know it is the soundaktor. so ill say this with a 90% confidence level lol.

[caj1]

How do we know the TT-RS does not have one?

um, stand behind it and rev the motor

[MoreGooderTT]

Crazy! I finally just took a look under the hood and it turns out that I don't have one! LOL! The bracket in the pictures is empty and there is no wire hanging around.






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Interesting! I wonder if your car was a transitional one, meaning they had the mechanical stuff done for accommodating the noise maker, but not the electrical bits to make use of it yet.

On another note, if my car was a manual, I would have to be constantly looking at the tach to know when to shift due to how quiet the engine is. In fact, if I had a manual, I would actually be inclined to plug the soundaktor back in so that I could hear when to shift.

[Inspector Detector]

The new BMW M5 has a noise maker too.

That's what I was thinking about too, when I first heard about Soundaktor in my current Road & Track. They mentioned it in a Turbo Beetle comparison test with a Molester Turbo and Mini Coupe.

[311-in-337]

Thank you for clarifying. It's a shame they couldn't just be honest about it though. Now they have no choice. The cat is out.

I doubt they will ever list it on the window sticker.

[R5T]

So anybody have a look around in the TT RS for it. ?

[Inspector Detector]

I doubt they will ever list it on the window sticker.

True, that would be the equivalent of a girl walking around with a sign on her breasts stating "these are implants."

[i0n]

What makes people think that this device is for adding sound and vibrations as opposed to cancelling engine vibrations?

I just spent half an hour looking at all the information I could find on this device and I found that 1) most people simply go with the flow and say that it needs to be removed/they don't mind the additional noise, 2) there is no evidence of the real purpose of this device, 3) by design all it does is vibrate a large weight like a linear actuator (it isn't a traditional speaker).

It is my conclusion thus far that this device may actually serve some real purpose, and that it isn't there to simply make the engine sound better. Why? Well, if I was an engineer working on designing this car, using a vibrating actuator would be the most roundabout and unnecessarily costly solution to this problem. This device adds cost to the car, which over the course of millions of vehicles would cost VW AG multiple millions of dollars. The simple and most effective solution to this problem is to simply tweak the audio system software to add engine noise. The Germans do this, as someone already pointed out with the BMW M5 (http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/technolo...170639427.html). This shows that when the real goal is to add engine noise, the natural solution is simply to pump it through the speakers.

So what other purpose could this device serve? Well, considering that all it does is vibrate, why doesn't it make sense that it would cancel engine vibrations? The motor basically directly connected to the dashboard, and the dashboard is where a bunch of wires, electrical connectors, gauges, navigation discs, etc. are. If all these things are exposed to strong vibrations, over time they could begin to make more annoying rattling noises. It's well known that Audi tries their best to engineer a cockpit devoid of annoying noises, like rattles. This device might simply be the natural next step to eliminating any spurious noises over the long term.

This explanation would also account for why the device needs to be engine RPM sensitive, to cancel the changing vibrations as RPMs change. The only side-affect of this device seems to be that it also vibrates the windshield enough to cause a mostly unnoticeable deep tone.

It might be interesting to somehow record the frequency of vibrations of this device and compare them to the vibrations of the rest of the car. Perhaps we will then be able to determine if this device is simply adding to the vibrations, or attempting to cancel them.

[Col-Buddy-Greenleaf]

What makes people think that this device is for adding sound and vibrations as opposed to cancelling engine vibrations?.

Probably because, after removing it, our cars are more quiet and vibrate less than they did before removing it. Cruising on the freeway before was very noisy, now it is silent in comparison, even with a k04 and downpipe upgrade.

If the vibrations were so evident that they needed canceling, why are there less noticable vibrations after the device is unplugged?

[i0n]

Most if not all the posts/youtube videos I saw were of people saying that things were quieter with the device unplugged. I think the amount of vibrations and noise may not be directly proportional in this case. In other words, the device may be reducing vibrations but increasing noise to a mostly unnoticeable degree as a side effect. Simply the operation of the device could create some noise, even though it cancels engine vibrations.

Are you speaking from experience that there are reduced vibrations with the device unplugged? Or are you simply assuming that since noise was reduced vibrations must also be reduced?

[Col-Buddy-Greenleaf]

Most if not all the posts/youtube videos I saw were of people saying that things were quieter with the device unplugged. I think the amount of vibrations and noise may not be directly proportional in this case. In other words, the device may be reducing vibrations but increasing noise to a mostly unnoticeable degree as a side effect. Simply the operation of the device could create some noise, even though it cancels engine vibrations.

Are you speaking from experience that there are reduced vibrations with the device unplugged? Or are you simply assuming that since noise was reduced vibrations must also be reduced?

I am speaking from experience. I drove my car both commuting in the city and on a few 6 hour road trips before unplugging the device. To me, there weren't really any vibrations before or after. Just a noticable change in noise. The car is super quiet in the cabin after unplugging. There Could be vibrations in the engine compartment that I am insulated from.

I always assumed that the soundakator was the replacement for the "noise pipe" and nothing more.
But hey, you could have something there., with the vibration theory. I just don't see it based on personal observation.

[02SilverSport]

So a deeper question ; I've driven with mine disconnected for about half of the 9K miles and find the unplugged much more pleasing to my ears. Question is - has anyone had issues or have any codes or warranty problems with the Soundaktor unplugged?

[Phuzun]

I don't see how this could interfere with the vehicle and I'd be interested in what explanation they give if this does happen. I would hope Audi understands that the customer's don't necessarily enjoy that device. Maybe have it switch disabled in a new model or offer it as a small dealer add-on for a current model.