Rolls Royce Spectre review

[Morris Minor]

My comment on the video:
When you distil all the reviews and tests of ultra luxury vehicles, it comes down to 1) cosseting and 2) silence. The first $100,000 gets you 90% there. The magic is in spending the extra $500,000 to take care of the remaining 10%.

[giant_mtb]

Funny how silence is such a "luxury feature" but the guy says he prefers to have the fake piped sound on.

Overall, yawn. Always interesting cars, the super luxes, but ultimately unappealing given their unattainable-ness.

[FoMoJo]

Interesting colour.

[Morris Minor]

Funny how silence is such a "luxury feature" but the guy says he prefers to have the fake piped sound on.

Overall, yawn. Always interesting cars, the super luxes, but ultimately unappealing given their unattainable-ness.

I know - that was weird. 

[AutobahnSHO]

Gotta have a huge parking space- doors will smack anything parked next to it. Climbing into the backseat looks ugly.

[giant_mtb]

I know - that was weird.

I imagine it's a driver vs. chauffered perspective.

[AutobahnSHO]

I imagine it's a driver vs. chauffered perspective.

This car would be terrible to be chauffeured in. Looks like not much hearing besides difficulty in entering.

[veeman]

I totally get why the guy likes the silence of the car and yet also prefers the fake engine sound played through the speakers.

Prior to owning an EV, I thought having fake engine sounds played inside the car via the speakers was lame. For an ICE car, I still do. An EV has no engine however so there's no attempt being made to fool anyone. With our Kia EV6 you can choose which "engine" sound to have (there are 3 preset options) as well as the loudness of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kq7wba76lb0

This guy has them set much louder than the preset volume. I really like them because the car is so silent the fake engine sounds give nice auditory feedback of how fast I am accelerating and to keep an eye on the speed I am cruising. Otherwise I can't tell without looking at the speedometer how fast I'm going. I could easily be going 50 mph in a 35 mph road and not realize it but the fake engine sound subconsciously alerts me that I'm going too fast. Also it's just nice to have some soft auditory feedback of what the car is doing on the road.   

[AutobahnSHO]

I really like them because the car is so silent the fake engine sounds give nice auditory feedback of how fast I am accelerating and to keep an eye on the speed I am cruising. Otherwise I can't tell without looking at the speedometer how fast I'm going. I could easily be going 50 mph in a 35 mph road and not realize it but the fake engine sound subconsciously alerts me that I'm going too fast. Also it's just nice to have some soft auditory feedback of what the car is doing on the road.   

I totally get that, too.

[FoMoJo]

I totally get why the guy likes the silence of the car and yet also prefers the fake engine sound played through the speakers.

Prior to owning an EV, I thought having fake engine sounds played inside the car via the speakers was lame. For an ICE car, I still do. An EV has no engine however so there's no attempt being made to fool anyone. With our Kia EV6 you can choose which "engine" sound to have (there are 3 preset options) as well as the loudness of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kq7wba76lb0

This guy has them set much louder than the preset volume. I really like them because the car is so silent the fake engine sounds give nice auditory feedback of how fast I am accelerating and to keep an eye on the speed I am cruising. Otherwise I can't tell without looking at the speedometer how fast I'm going. I could easily be going 50 mph in a 35 mph road and not realize it but the fake engine sound subconsciously alerts me that I'm going too fast. Also it's just nice to have some soft auditory feedback of what the car is doing on the road.   

Sounds like a streetcar.

[veeman]

Sounds like a streetcar.

I haven't been on a tram enough to recall what they sound like. It (the Kia EV6 fake engine sound) doesn't sound like a New York City subway though. Plus it's more reliable :)

[SJ_GTI]

I think most of us will benefit from some aural communication related to acceleration for now since that is how we learned to drive. I wonder if it will change over time though.

[FoMoJo]

I haven't been on a tram enough to recall what they sound like. It (the Kia EV6 fake engine sound) doesn't sound like a New York City subway though. Plus it's more reliable :)

The first version is reminiscent of the electrical motor sound of a street car accelerating, or how they used to sound the last time I was on a street car.

[Morris Minor]

What opinions do you guys have on the external noise makers they put on EVs? 

[FoMoJo]

What opinions do you guys have on the external noise makers they put on EVs?

Something to warn pedestrians, especially those glued to their phones, may be beneficial.  However, so many I/C cars are so quiet now, that the only noise they make is from the tires on the road surface.

[giant_mtb]

What opinions do you guys have on the external noise makers they put on EVs?

I understand the need for them. But they sound like...a dying vacuum off in the distance. Not that they have many options for the sound. It needs to penetrate the din of everyday street sounds outside while also not permeating needlessly back into the cabin or being annoying like a siren or beep.

[CaminoRacer]

Some EVs are louder than gas cars, so they could tone it down a bit. I think it's totally unnecessary though. Pedestrians aren't hit because cars are too quiet.

[Morris Minor]

I was woken up in the early hours when we were in a motel in NZ; it was the backup chimes from someone's Kia PHEV. It was unnecessary IMO. 

[AutobahnSHO]

What opinions do you guys have on the external noise makers they put on EVs?

Ugh and... okay.

The regular drive noise in Maverick was a'right, after a recall on the computer (lights related), we noticed it gained a little bit of "growl". Sounds okay. There are apparently rules on how loud they have to be at certain speeds- I think after 35mph the tire noise is sufficient though.

Now the reverse noise- Yuck. It's not quite as annoying as a dump truck sound, but it's obnoxious, especially if I need to leave to work at 5am.

Since the speaker is under the front of the truck. the reverse noise has to be fairly loud. Someone on the Maverick forum suggested putting a speaker in the rear- but that's $5+ per truck Ford wouldn't profit on.

People buy kits to bypass the speaker (resistor and the right size connector). If you just clip the wire, the dash lights go nuts. I've thought about putting in a switch to turn it off "sometimes"- but it would probably light up the dummy lights, and I'd most prefer a relay that default resets to "on" every time power comes back on.

But I'm too lazy to engineer or seek that, so for now it's obnoxious.

[veeman]

Ugh and... okay.

The regular drive noise in Maverick was a'right, after a recall on the computer (lights related), we noticed it gained a little bit of "growl". Sounds okay. There are apparently rules on how loud they have to be at certain speeds- I think after 35mph the tire noise is sufficient though.

Now the reverse noise- Yuck. It's not quite as annoying as a dump truck sound, but it's obnoxious, especially if I need to leave to work at 5am.

Since the speaker is under the front of the truck. the reverse noise has to be fairly loud. Someone on the Maverick forum suggested putting a speaker in the rear- but that's $5+ per truck Ford wouldn't profit on.

People buy kits to bypass the speaker (resistor and the right size connector). If you just clip the wire, the dash lights go nuts. I've thought about putting in a switch to turn it off "sometimes"- but it would probably light up the dummy lights, and I'd most prefer a relay that default resets to "on" every time power comes back on.

But I'm too lazy to engineer or seek that, so for now it's obnoxious.

Maybe reverse into your driveway/garage so the annoying sound doesn't happen early in the morning when leaving your house.

[AutobahnSHO]

Maybe reverse into your driveway/garage so the annoying sound doesn't happen early in the morning when leaving your house.

I definitely do if I'm driving Mav early. Wife laughs at me.   She doesn't think it's a big deal.

"Usually" I drive Miata. If I know the weather is bad (rain) she or I will drive Odyssey and the other drives Mav.

[MrH]

I was woken up in the early hours when we were in a motel in NZ; it was the backup chimes from someone's Kia PHEV. It was unnecessary IMO.

The Lightning has a backup chime.  Oddly enough, the truck is so insulated, it's not that annoying in the truck.  One day I was backing it up with the windows down.  Wow, my neighbors must hate when I pull in and out of the garage

[CaminoRacer]

I'd disable any backup beeping speakers in a heartbeat.

[Morris Minor]

I'd disable any backup beeping speakers in a heartbeat.

It would be nice if the beeps only happened when there were actual vulnerable people detected: walking, cycling, pushing shopping carts etc This would be something NHTSA could usefully do.

[FoMoJo]

It would be nice if the beeps only happened when there were actual vulnerable people detected: walking, cycling, pushing shopping carts etc This would be something NHTSA could usefully do.

I suspect most modern cars/vehicles do internally to alert the driver.  Large trucks/buses or vehicles with blind spots can beep externally to warn pedestrians.

[Morris Minor]

When the Mazda is in reverse it has an interior beep to alert if the radar detects cross-traffic vehicles. But it doesn't have the smarts to detect soft-tissued people.

[FoMoJo]

When the Mazda is in reverse it has an interior beep to alert if the radar detects cross-traffic vehicles. But it doesn't have the smarts to detect soft-tissued people.

Often, when reversing from a parking spot in a large lot parked between a couple of (other) SUVs, CUVs and Pickups, it's impossible to see if anything or anyone is driving or walking in your direction.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that our Discovery Sport will start beeping if anyone or anything is approaching from either direction.

[FoMoJo]

Jay Leno's review of his Spectre.

[Morris Minor]

Jay has lost a ton of weight and his voice is a bit quavery - I hope he's okay.