New Golf Gti - Naff engine / cockpit sound

mark66 · 22 Jun 2019 at 20:21

Hi all,

Yesterday I was swapped out my 68 plate Mini Cooper S for a 19 plate Golf Gti. I'm still getting used to it and haven't had the opportunity to do many miles, but one thing I have definitely noticed is that it sounds, well a bit naff! Its hard to describe, but when I'm giving it a bit in the lower rev range it almost sounds a bit like a diesel with that sort of unimpressive durr / rumble sound.

The Cooper S sounded nice and it may be that this is just a different engine sound, but its not what I was expecting. I have heard that some cars now pipe into the cockpit a false engine sound and a quick Google seems to confirm that the Gti does indeed have a 'Soundaktor'. Could this be it? If so goodness knows why they do it - it doesn't sound great at all!

Thanks

Mark

Stephanie Peterson · 22 Jun 2019 at 20:29

Turbo charged cars have a huge fan in between the noisy bits of the engine and the pipes at the back, they nearly always sound crap because of that.

fastwunz · 22 Jun 2019 at 20:43

Yep it’s a fairly boring engine - albeit capable. The exhaust is also pretty underwhelming.

Induction kit, straight through exhaust and hey presto though haha

Yas786 · 22 Jun 2019 at 20:44

Yes it uses the godawful soundaktor. Why didn’t you test drive the car before buying it OP??
You would have realised it sounds different to your previous car, which has a supercharger and the GTI has a turbo so yeh gonna sound different.

Mercenary Keyboard Warrior · 22 Jun 2019 at 20:47

Yas786 said:
Yes it uses the godawful soundaktor. Why didn’t you test drive the car before buying it OP??
You would have realised it sounds different to your previous car, which has a supercharger and the GTI has a turbo so yeh gonna sound different.

Only the Mk1 was supercharged, MK2 and 3 were turbos but kept the S badge

ahenners · 22 Jun 2019 at 21:37

If you use individual mode, you can set the engine sound in the settings to a quieter setting - in sport it's silly fake and unnecessary. Or alternatively if you have VCDS or OBDEleven you can change the adaptation setting for volume to a lower value or permanently off.

Failing that, you can also unplug it the old school way.

As for why they do it? Turn it off via one of the above methods and see how quiet the engine is. The 2.0 EA888 unit isn't particularly vocal. I have an Octavia VRS - same engine and soundaktor - and I coded mine down to about 35%. It adds a bit of noise to make it sound meatier when you floor it, without it being OTT.

Finglonga · 22 Jun 2019 at 21:41

Yas786 said:
Yes it uses the godawful soundaktor

Easy to code out, easier to just unplug the thing as it is pulling off the weather strip, 2 clips and it is near the wiper linkage, just a matter of pulling the smaller of the two plugs and put everything back together.

mark66 · 22 Jun 2019 at 21:46

Yas786 said:
Yes it uses the godawful soundaktor. Why didn’t you test drive the car before buying it OP??
You would have realised it sounds different to your previous car, which has a supercharger and the GTI has a turbo so yeh gonna sound different.

Looks like this is the case, I'm struggling to find anything positive about it on the web. However I've found a video and it does looks pretty easy to unplug, so may give it a go.

In response to your query about testing driving it, yes I probably should have, but one of the perks of my job is that I get a new car every 6 months through a very reasonable leasing scheme. I've had two Cooper S's (one manual, one auto) and really thought I should try something else. Considered an S3, Golf R and M140i, but these all came with quite a considerable increase on the insurance - like an additional £50 a month! Whereas the Gti was much less of an increase.

I've just been out for my first proper drive and I'm sure its going to be a car I get to like a lot. My only gripes so far are the noise and that the steering wheel is not as nice as the Cooper S. The extra 50bhp is nice though

Kenai · 22 Jun 2019 at 21:46

If you want noise, stick an R600 intake on it and your choice of non-resonated exhaust and you'll be much happier.

Rroff · 22 Jun 2019 at 21:48

ahenners said:
As for why they do it? Turn it off via one of the above methods and see how quiet the engine is. The 2.0 EA888 unit isn't particularly vocal. I have an Octavia VRS - same engine and soundaktor - and I coded mine down to about 35%. It adds a bit of noise to make it sound meatier when you floor it, without it being OTT.

I don't get fake/synthetic engine sounds at all - might as well just sit drooling in your seat making brrrm brmm noises with your mouth. I'd rather have it off and underwhelming actual engine noise.

Stephanie Peterson · 22 Jun 2019 at 21:56

There is one of those sound tube things in my mx5, it basically ducts induction noise into the cabin.
Complete crap, i have disconnected it as the new exhaust i have sounds wonderful with the roof down and provides more than enough noise.
Normally aspirated for the win when it comes to making decent sound.

Nasher · 22 Jun 2019 at 22:43

Is it even a physical tube or faked through the speakers? The tube can sound good and is the real revving of the engine. Though you often need to unplug it when changing the intake as it goes "out of tune" and can sound horrible.

But the speaker one is an awful digital re-production.

tom_nieto · 22 Jun 2019 at 23:45

This is the problem when cars are so refined currently. Having to add noise to keep the experience the same is a shame.

nemtizz · 23 Jun 2019 at 00:14

Welcome to 2019. Is it an OPF car?

My ED35 sounded incredibly tame before a res delete. Best £100 I ever spent.

Kenai · 23 Jun 2019 at 07:41

Nasher said:
Is it even a physical tube or faked through the speakers? The tube can sound good and is the real revving of the engine. Though you often need to unplug it when changing the intake as it goes "out of tune" and can sound horrible.

But the speaker one is an awful digital re-production.

On VW cars it's a unit that is attached to the bulkhead and vibrates the bulkhead in line with the rpm and throttle position to simulate induction noise transfer to the cabin.

So it's not a tube but nor are any of the speakers involved

I can see why some people like it but I've turned mine down.

ahar · 23 Jun 2019 at 07:53

My Skoda had one as well, but it's a diesel engine so really very odd choice for vw group.

It was switched off almost as soon as I got it!

Nasher · 23 Jun 2019 at 07:57

On the GT86 it's a physical pipe from the intake which exits right below the pedals. The problem is if you unplug it it's just to quiet, even with the minimal sound deadening the car has. Modern exhausts are muffled to death.

Dandle · 23 Jun 2019 at 08:04

The mini also uses active sound for artificial engine noise as do BMW.

Finglonga · 23 Jun 2019 at 09:29

Thinking about it, on the newer GTI there is a setting to silence it on the head unit.

tom_nieto · 23 Jun 2019 at 10:18

The S2000 has a similar device which can be disabled by replacing the air box lid!