• The electric Porsche Cayenne could offer real V8 engine sounds, through its speakers.
You may have spotted images of camouflaged test prototypes of the coming electric Porsche Cayenne online recently. Slowly, the German automaker is setting the stage for the debut of the EV, and “preparing” its customers for the change.
Naturally, one of the secrets with every Porsche vehicle is the sound its engine emits. In the case of the Cayenne, the V8 sound is a source of pleasure. Autocar reports that, unsurprisingly, the company plans to have the sounds of an actual V8 engine piping through the audio system speakers of the EV.
Those sounds would come from an actual Porsche V8 engine.
This marks a change in Porsche's philosophy on this question. The Taycan and the electric Macan each provide unique sounds developed for them, and which bear no resemblance to those of a traditional engine.
We’ve seen something along these lines with the Fraztronic technology offered with the Dodge Charger Daytona. It's not ideal, as it remains a synthetic sound that only increases as speed grows, but it's better than nothing. Porsche and its “genuine” engine sound could provide a different experience.
This likely also represents a foretaste of what Porsche plans to do with its sports cars, buyers of which are even more sensitive to the kind of aural experience delivered. The 718 Boxster and Cayman models are going electric, and it's hard to imagine driving those without the unique sound of their 6-cylinder engines, especially.
And what about simulated gear changes, or even an artificial gearbox that would give the impression of driving a real sports car with a manual transmission?
It’s one thing to have an EV-type experience driving a Chevrolet Equinox, for example. Few will complain of missing that real-engine sound. But for a high-performance sports car, the lack of one could really hurt sales. Porsche is probably more aware of this than anyone.