So I test-drove a Tesla today

[Desmo]

Any decent car should do that IMO.

I don't think many actually do.

It's all relative, but spend any amount of time in an EV and you realise how noisy most cars are. You'd think a new 5 series should be fairly quiet, right? All I can hear is an engine whirring away now when I drive one.

 

[Amp34]

I don't think many actually do.

It's all relative, but spend any amount of time in an EV and you realise how noisy most cars are. You'd think a new 5 series should be fairly quiet, right? All I can hear is an engine whirring away now when I drive one.

TBH saloons are noisy things so I'm not surprised. It's not just the engine noise, rather the road noise and a horrible resonance that seems to be pervasive in a lot of them.

 

[Desmo]

Isn't that most cars though, and not saloons?

 

[Amp34]

Isn't that most cars though, and not saloons?

I probably should clarify when I say cars I mean that as in "vehicles with 4 wheels", i.e. I include, SUV's, CUV's and pickups in the mix, not just saloons and hatchbacks. Lift the vehicle off the road a bit more and you loose a lot of the road noise inherent in saloons and hatches, one of the reasons the E-Tron is quieter than the Tesla S and 3. Personally, the quietest cars I've been in are Crossovers and (North American) pickup trucks (and that includes vehicles like brand new MB E Class and other saloons).

Cars with diesel engines do have an inherent disadvantage too (i.e. most 5 series)

EDIT:re reading your comment, yes, you're right in some senses. I was to broad in my initial comment. It's very car model dependant and while there is a correlation, specific noise levels aren't directly related to specific classes of car.

 

[Roland Butter]

So, the OP, with absolutely no intention of buying this car, wastes the time of a dealer in order to be an ersatz Clarkson wan***
and start a " I drove a Tesla " thread.

And people call me sad .

 

[Matthew.M]

So, the OP, with absolutely no intention of buying this car, wastes the time of a dealer in order to be an ersatz Clarkson wan***
and start a " I drove a Tesla " thread.

And people call me sad .

Tesla showrooms actually encourage this. I’ve walked in before and been very open that I have no intention of buying I just wanted a look around and they still offer test drives. They operate quite differently to traditional car dealers.

The word of mouth is valuable to them as advertising. How many people have read the OP’s positive comments now?

 

[Diddums]

So, the OP, with absolutely no intention of buying this car, wastes the time of a dealer in order to be an ersatz Clarkson wan***
and start a " I drove a Tesla " thread.

And people call me sad .

 

[GhostWKD]

I'd imagine some of the game companies who have made Gran Turismo, Forza etc, have captured some very detailed sounds. Then it's just a case of a playing the right note depending on a clever throttle position/moving speed algorithm.

They literally spend a whole day mapping the whole range of sounds for each car... I did work with codemasters on one of their games with my skyline;