If you drive a small car or, heaven forfend, a hybrid or a clean-diesel, you may have heard the jokes. And the jibes. "Hey, Mister, how many rubber bands that thing have?" And so on.
But we've got a foolproof way for you to grin all the way past the gas pumps. Suppose your fuel-efficient green car actually sounded like a snarling V-8 or V-10 performance car?
Angular Front Exterior View - 2008 Kia Sportage 2WD 4-door V6 Auto EX
Well, courtesy of the clever engineers at Soundracer, now it can. All you need in your car is a cigarette lighter (ahem, sorry, an "auxiliary low-voltage power outlet") and an FM radio.
SoundRacer's system pumps sound through the radio that's matched to your car's engine speed. Outside the car, you're proceeding quietly as always; inside, you're at the wheel of a brawny V-8 or V-10 supercar.
We're curious to see what happens when a hybrid goes into electric-only mode; we suspect the answer is, not very much. But we'll let you know once we get our hands on one.
Meanwhile, a weeks ago the folks over at Gizmag put together a little video demonstrating the SoundRacer experience from inside a distinctly plebian Kia Sportage. Great stuff, huh?
