I humbly submit that you haven't been driving the right cars.

There has to be a market for a company to add a V12 sound to the Tesla S.

Well it was a secondary underlying theme to the lousy movie "The Dilemma".

I'm sure it can be done but the question is whether someone wants it. Many in that class would probably adjust quicker to the silence of EV's than a lie.

Do keep in mind that engine noise is not only beneficial to the driver but cyclists, other motorists and at crosswalks as well.

It's not a problem that is easily solved and satisfied by all parties.

> Do keep in mind that engine noise is not only beneficial to the driver but cyclists, other motorists and at crosswalks as well.

As a pedestrian, I disagree. Cars make far too much noise. People will adapt to them being quieter by using their eyes and looking both ways. I look forward to the day when living in a city doesn't mean hearing a constant drone of traffic.

I almost get hit by hybrids when not paying attention. Cars need to make noise like natural gas needs to have a scent added. Safety.

Natural gas is invisible. Guess what isn't?

In Dublin, the operators of our light tram system (the Luas) were forced to add bells after several collisions and near misses with drivers and pedestrians.

Cars are smaller than trains.

Here in the SF Bay Area, we routinely have collisions between our (loud, and belled) train and drivers and pedestrians. It turns out, sometimes people run into trains. Even noisy ones.

You can only see cars when you're facing in the right direction and have a direct line of sight. Sure, if we redesigned every street on the planet to have perfect visibility with no blind corners, there'd be little need to worry. This may involve demolishing a few million towns and cities though.

They're both invisible to a blind person.

So are knives, a clearly dangerous object! Knives should be regulated to emit constant noise.

No, seriously, I think you do the blind a disservice. I don't think that blind people rely on, "Hey, did I hear something" to mean, "I can blithely cross the street without danger."

What a childish analogy, knives are not moving at high speed on every street.

I see a market for car engine "ringtones."

Please, anything but this.

We have to do everything in our power to make sure cars don't have "ringtones".

sure there's a market, it consists of ferrari, maserati, lamborghini, aston martin, and AMG.

Music hath nothing over Ferrari V12 engines.

May I present the sounds of a Ferrari Formula 1 V12 from 1994. Turn up your speakers. Get a hair brush ready. All of your body hair will stand up as the wonderful sound of God's engine crawls up under your skin and makes your essence tingle in pleasure. You might want to smoke a cigarette afterwards.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBXUOomynxw

It sounds like Optimus Prime farting.

I think you're projecting your own emotional attachment to speed onto a very unpleasant sound.

Have you ever been to a Formula 1 race? Or even any auto race?

I lived a stone's throw from the Singapore GP for several years. The racket was godawful and basically made the neighborhood unlivable for the three days the circus lasted.

Sounds like a bumblebee completing digestion of a large burrito.

Eh, I prefer V8's with open headers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_itM5B9fvo

Now I have a new life goal. (:

I don't care how good the music is at the time, I still turn it off and roll down the windows every time I drive my M5 through a tunnel.