In an electric car, there is no shadow of variable valve control. Or VTEC, as Honda calls it. But the Japanese have made it sound that way.
Hyundai already does it with the Ioniq 5 N, which has both artificial gear changes and engine sound. And now Honda is following suit with VTEC.
That is, in an electric car. The brand even hinted at that at home in Japan earlier this month. The electric cars can be equipped with both the sound of VTEC and the V6 sound of a Honda NSX-R from 1992.
So is the sound of a 1999 S2000, a 2022 NSX, a 2023 Civic Type R and at least one of Honda's Formula 1 cars. Each instrument cluster setting in an electric Honda can look different.
A bit like it is the case in many other cars, where the choice is between several chore programs. Mostly sport, comfort and race. What Honda will use the programming for.
But according to InsideEv's , which had the software demonstrated by Honda back home in Japan, it could end up as a gimmick in the new line of electric cars called the '0 Series'.
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Why Honda even spends time developing engine sounds for electric cars, there is no answer either. But one explanation could be that all electric motors behave the same. So to simulate something else, the Japanese try out some sounds.
BMW has also developed variable valve control for many years. Unlike Honda, however, the Germans call their system VANOS. But the principle is the same.
So far, BMW has not publicly spoken about the brand trying to imitate the sounds of an internal combustion engine in an electric car. But BMW's electric cars say something anyway. Mostly because they have to according to the law, and because the Germans have paid the world-renowned composer Hans Zimmer a fortune to develop a number of sounds for the purpose.
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