When loud is good

If you would rather your car sounded like a Ferrari F12 than the four-cylinder hatchback it actually is, a solution is here. And it doesn’t mean you need to implant a new engine, or even spice-up the existing one.

The Kufatec Sound Booster Pro is a device that can be fitted to practically any car that comes with a CAN BUS, bringing the newly-rich note of the engine into the cabin with you and also enhancing it from the outside.

Essentially, like many 'sound symposers' already fitted to a variety of new cars, the system artificially modifies the engine sound into practically anything the aurally sensitive driver wants.

Picked up by a sound generator located close to the car’s exhaust system and measuring around 20cm in diameter and 16cm high, the car’s note is then controlled by the Sound Booster to manipulate the sounds within a wide range of driver preferences.

It sure beats replacing the ECU, fitting a free-flow exhaust system and stripping the engine down to install higher-lift camshafts, bigger valves and a higher compression ratio.

It’s possible to introduce a whole new world of aural feedback that makes any behind the wheel experience a lot more fun without actually changing anything about the engine’s characteristics.

Using the same technology that, for example, Ford applies to its Fiesta ST with its 'Sound Imposer', the aftermarket Sound Booster can offer as many as six different exhaust tones with varying volumes.

The tones can also be modified to produce special effects; for example, the lumpy idle of a street machine with a high-lift camshaft.

And the enhanced sound can be applied in a way that it may be heard from the outside, as well as the inside of the car. The sound generator can be installed in places such as the underbody or in the spare wheel recess.

Obviously the Sound Booster is going to appeal to owners of cars that are maybe already a bit more than ordinary. No matter how good it sounds, your sound-boosted engine is not actually going to produce any more power, or spin to higher revs without an expensive rework.

The Kufatec Sound Booster Pro can be fitted to vehicles with existing sound-enhancing technology such as Maserati and Audi models, and works with diesel engines as well as electric motors.

For Audi's popular SQ5 performance diesel SUV, the cost of the kit is about $460.

A Tesla Model S that emits more than a distant electric whirr, or a turbo-diesel with a rich, pleasing exhaust? Now that would be interesting.

For more information on the Sound Booster Pro, contact the Australian distributor Autofidelity.