How to disable the Prius "Artificial Engine" sound?

point well taken. i had heard it can be difficult.

 

Now discount by incidence frequency.

 

My 2001-07 study indicates the Prius was running half the fatal accident rate compared to the USA fleet. Given a conservative, 5x cost of a fatality versus injury, we're already looking at a vanishingly small pedestrian risk addressed by what in the best possible outcome would make our cars as 'invisible' as an SUV/pickup.

Bob Wilson

 

Vanishingly small incidence frequency makes any fleet-wide capital-intensive remedy cost prohibitive. Same as in today's commercial aviation.

 

Yes Bob!!!!

 

Very convincing! And it illustrates that there are two points at issue in this thread: 1) the irritating-to-some fake engine noise, and 2) the illogic of adding fake engine noise instead of truly effective accident-preventing technology. I see a third possibility: keep the noise AND add collision avoidance technology as Bob Wilson suggests.

 

Uh, I'm more into getting rid of the noise generator because it so ineffective. I do not approve of placebos. I would rather see collision avoidance being a realistic alternative to a noise generator or a universally available alternative. But I also want it tied to insurance rate reduction.

Bob Wilson

 

I don't wet the bed and I'm an attorney. But then again I was a cop for 11 years before going to law school. On topic, I just unplugged mine.

 

my wife's new hycam didn't come with one. surprising. pleasantly surprising. it does have blind spot monitoring which is cool.

 

so glad my '10 does not have that horrendous sound! love sneaking up on peeps. caught a friend working outside his house the other day. snuck up on to his driveway and he turned around and i scared the shit out of him just sitting there! lol

 

I regularly drive both a silent Prius and a noise maker equipped CT200h. As far as I can tell, nobody notices the noise maker. The only time I notice it as the driver is when I pull into the garage with the window open.

As a driver, there are times when I'd like a louder version than the one the CT200h has. It is regularly a problem that pedestrians wander down the middle of a parking lot lane, unaware that they are blocking a car. When they do notice, they generally get out of the way, so it really is an awareness problem.

So the existing noise maker is just a prototype for the device I'd like. Additionally I'd like it active whenever the car is in gear, not just actually moving. And I'd like a control to adjust the volume, and to trigger it just like the horn. There are times when the horn is overkill, but a "there's a car here" noisemaker would be useful to clear the way.

The standard of death causing incidents is rather strong. It doesn't count if someone is just injured? Or maybe just startled? Cars can be dangerous objects, and moving ones need to be noticed in a mixed pedestrian/vehicle situation like a parking lot. In addition to the blind, cell phone users, earphone users, and just plain oblivious wanderers need something to force an awareness of vehicles around them.

 

How about a straight piped motorcycle exhaust?

DBCassidy

 

Would someone be able to take some photos of how to do this? I would love to unplug the noise. Never even knew I could. I opened the hood and had no idea. There are so many wires, I was scared to unplug the wrong thing. I couldn't see anything written down there, how do you know the right thing to unplug or pull? Does it pull out easily? Please send more details to someone who never does anything as a "do it yourself" type. Especially not with a high tech car like this. Thanks!

 

there are several threads on this with excellent pics. the unit is in front of the front left tyre. somewhat accessable to someone with skinny arms, or a few screws removed from the fender liner in front of the tyre puts it right in front of you.

 

can you post the threads here? i'm not sure what to search for to find them?

 

Obviously, too few of you have ever watched the Jetsons cartoons. Now THAT's a great phony car sound. From the distant future (as contemplated from the 1960's) of flying cars ... somewhere around the year 2012.

That's a plug-in car sound that'll make folks smile.
.

 

I want it to play the "Imperial March" from Star Wars.

 

I think it would be really cool to:

1. be able to turn this "feature" on and off, at will, from the driver's seat. The reason we can't probably is lawyers.

2. be able to program alternative sound files into it. I probably would alternate "Ride of the Valkyries" with some really trippy space-cadet theremin sounds. If Apple built cars, we'd have that.

 

the asian version has an on/off button, and some were wondering if the wires are in the wiring harness behind the dashboard on the n/a version.