Ford’s 2015 Mustang should be slowly trickling into dealers as you read this, and for the first time in close to 30 years, a turbocharged four banger will be offered in the iconic pony car. Coincidentally, the displacement is identical to that found in the ’84-’86 Mustang SVO, but the similarities stop there, especially in the way the motors produce sound.
The plain truth is that a turbo four doesn’t have nearly the same audible grunt as a V8. Ford realized this while developing the 2.3-liter EcoBoost and included artificial sound technology in the boosted pony. The sound chip included in the 2015 Mustang EcoBoost delivers an artificial tone to compliment the natural sounds of the engine, while being calibrated to follow the rev patterns.
The electronically-synthesized sound was singled out of the engine by Cobb tuning while surely developing some go-fast parts for the 2015 Mustang. Cobb was able to isolate the electronic sound, and the video shows exactly what is delivered to the car’s cabin, without the bona-fide engine tone. Overall, we find the noise somewhat resembles a robot trying to sing a baritone part in a high school choir. By itself, it doesn’t make sense. But when paired with the sound of the actual motor, we see the value.
We should note that the 2015 Mustang isn’t the only Ford guilty of fabricating an engine note; the 2015 F-150 does so as well, and BMW has been doing this in their cars for a few years now. But this is the first time a Mustang has included this type of technology. Take a listen to the artificial noise below in the video.
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