Fake exhaust sound used to be the dirty little secret of the German car industry. People wondered how diesels could sound so good and they were shocked when the truth was revealed. But now, they are openly saying they want such a feature on their diesel.
Unless we are mistaken, BMW offers an aftermarket system for cars like the 220d through the M Performance catalog. This week, we've started noticing that tuners use them too and they look pretty standard across the range.
B&B Automobiltechnik is at the forefront and today the German firm announced it has fitted the device to a Jeep Grand Cherokee.
We are talking about the European version which comes with the 3-liter turbodiesel engine Fiat developed. From the factory, it only produces 241 PS. However, a trip to your local tuning store will boost the output to 285 PS. Meanwhile, torque is increased from 550 to 625 Nm. Neither of those figures are as good as the SQ5, but we never expected the to be.
Don't think of the fake sound as something coming from the speakers as in the case of the BMW i8. No, this is something to be shared with everybody, not just the driver. Two large generators are 'glued' to the exhaust on either side. Each one works like a speaker, pumping extra vibration into the steel muffler when activated.
Unless we are mistaken, the system was introduced by Audi on its SQ5 performance SUV, followed by other cars with the same 3.0-liter bi-turbo TDI. Now it's found on many others, including the SQ7 and even sportscars. There's no performance benefit. In fact, adding weight comes to the detriment of speed.
On a side note we think that pretty soon, the Grand Cherokee will get a lot of attention. A 707 horsepower supercharged V8 called the Hellcat will take care, probably giving the world its new fastest SUV.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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