Article: "Lotus Makes Hybrids Sound Like Real Cars"

[Yankees251]

This is funny. I would cut those speaker wires as soon as I pulled out of dealership.

Lotus Makes Hybrids Sound Like Real Cars | Autopia from Wired.com

[echase]

I would like switchable sound effects.... anything from the Harley Tailpipe notes to UFO/Spaceship sounds. Galloping horses would be entertaining as well.

[Yankees251]

Originally Posted by echase

I would like switchable sound effects.... anything from the Harley Tailpipe notes to UFO/Spaceship sounds. Galloping horses would be entertaining as well.

OK, you made me think twice about cutting the wires, this could be fun.

[skruse]

This highlights two problems:

1. Vehicles should not be in, or cross, a crosswalk when a pedestrian is walking across the street.

2. We are so addicted to the sounds of substituting oil for knowledge (or caution) that we require artificial sound to indicate something is operating.

Are Prii also now required to produce the sound of a mechanical starter to indicate the ICE is starting up? Absurd.

[baldguy]

Originally Posted by Yankees251

This is funny. I would cut those speaker wires as soon as I pulled out of dealership.

Lotus Makes Hybrids Sound Like Real Cars | Autopia from Wired.com

Whatever happened to the quaint notion that the vehicle driver is responsible for avoidance of pedestrians? While we're on the subject, what do these people propose for deaf pedestrians? Strobe lights on the front bumper perhaps?

I would cut the wires as well. After all, that's half the fun of driving a Prius: sneaking up to blind people in crosswalks and blasting the horn.

[taggart]

Originally Posted by baldguy

.....sneaking up to blind people in crosswalks and blasting the horn.

Unless it's an OEM horn. Nobody can hear those.

[Tech_Guy]

Originally Posted by baldguy

Whatever happened to the quaint notion that the vehicle driver is responsible for avoidance of pedestrians? While we're on the subject, what do these people propose for deaf pedestrians? Strobe lights on the front bumper perhaps?

I would cut the wires as well. After all, that's half the fun of driving a Prius: sneaking up to blind people in crosswalks and blasting the horn.

Why is the vehicle driver always assumed to be at fault??? I think that pedestrians should be held responsible for their own actions. Over the last several years I have seen numerous pedestrians using cell phones or using an Ipod step off a curb and walk right into automobile traffic without looking first and engaging their brain.

As for the Lotus device, if they want their noise maker to be really effective, they should make is sound like a screaming pedestrian.

Keith

[richard schumacher]

I want a holographic projection of a man walking before the car, swinging a lantern and calling "Ahoy, ahoy!".

[ny biker]

Originally Posted by richard schumacher

I want a holographic projection of a man walking before the car, swinging a lantern and calling "Ahoy, ahoy!".

+1

[Sheepdog]

Originally Posted by richard schumacher

I want a holographic projection of a man walking before the car, swinging a lantern and calling "Ahoy, ahoy!".

+2 !!!!!