GR86 Fake or Real Engine Noise - Which is Better? 

*What's your pick? Real engine sounds or the augmented fake engine sounds?*

I would've preferred it if they pumped the intake noise into the cabin just like they did on the prior generation. Defo prefer raw engine noise.

The fake engine noise sounds like a good copy of an aftermarket exhaust. But once you hear it side to side you can pick that it is not the genuine sound, but only slightly. Great to get a side by side comparison. Keep up the good work Justin

this is the easiest asc removal video I've seen on yt. thank you man.

they really should have added a way to disable it from the infotainment like most cars do. Plugging that cable back in after its removed can be tricky.

I tried both ways on my 2023 GR86. I like the fake sound better on my bone stock drivetrain. After I get my Yonaka catback installed we'll see. Also mods to intake may change my decision. Thanks for the great video Justin!

The irony of them creating a car a vehicle with the bare roots for car enthusiasts and a pure experience.. then pump in a fake sound lol

Sounds so much better!

Nice comparison! I haven't turned mine off yet, but I will. The fake sound is just too loud for my taste. I'd rather hear the actual, muted engine sounds. The car is plenty loud enough with the noise coming in from the tires and chassis. At some point I'll add an exhaust, but this will be my first 'mod'.

Love your videos. FYI - The system isn't quite what you describe Justin. There is no audio track that is played, the harmonics of the engine are extracted from the RPM signal (which itself dictate the waveform of the sound naturally) in 12ms updates and a gain is applied depending on torque and acceleration inputs. What ends up happening is effectively they concentrate the volume of those engine waveforms around the ones that are good (there are bad engine sounds in chain driven boxers as you would know) and less focus on ones that are bad. The effect is that the sounds is true to life (its its a direct feed from the physical behaviour of the cars engine) as the extremely quick feed (basically 1 100's of a second) captures the timing of almost every single revolution live, with I think capturing the current data point for every 2 RPM at around 10000 rpm. Certainly more than fast enough to hear even the slightest change in behaviour of the physical engine. I think its pretty good, I mean you can clearly tell that even though its louder, the sound when its removed is incredibly similar. With all the regulations that these globally offered cars have to meet, its a good change. The litmus test is how often people who know nothing about it will comment on how good it sounds. And they do - its usually the first thing someone that rides along will tell you. That was just not the case with the last car, and I cant imagine it would be the case (stock anyway) if you removed the sound. All the manufacturers (Porsche/BMW/Toyota/Honda etc) use these systems, I think the Subaru one sounds better than the Toyota one for instance that they use in the GR Yaris. If you have an after market exhaust and are not burdened by noise laws then I think changing it is fair, but not because its not good, just because it will overwhelm the noise of the exhaust. Of course we can all dream of a world where ITB's were something they made stock :)

As a car builder I thought The fake engine sounded good including the down shifting from a high speed and rev match sound around corners. This is becoming the norm now. Bought a 2022 Veloster for my girlfriends she loves the fake rev matching sound. In the end like my girlfriend that cant drive a stick she still has the down shift sound and rev matching sound when driving corners and accelerating. I believe with the increase cost of everything now people just want to drive a car that has it all:) For the first time I own a car that I don't feel like doing anything to right away. Love the 86 daily and track.......good video

I found the fake engine noise to be obnoxious and annoying so I disconnected it. The stock engine and exhaust are great on their own.

Both sound solid! I do like the natural one better of course

Sounds so much better … this was one of the things that was a deal breaker for me …

I’ve switched it on and off 3 times already, each time I eventually end up finding the fake noise annoying over time. In my case I have an aftermarket catback though.

Fake is fake, real is always best

I TURNED MY FAKE ENGINE ADAPTER OFF IN MY TRUENO EDITION HACHIROKU. PLUS I GOT THE GR PERFORMANCE EXHAUST. 🙌🏽 TAKUMI SENT ME. NAMASTE 🙏🏽 FROM BROOKLYN.

I've gone back and forth a few times, settled on disabling it. I did do 1 track session without it, with helmet on and windows down it was hard to hear for rev matching downshifts. I did have the rev warning beep set for upshifts, that was fine. I need an exhaust!

reminds me of a 4age :) at high rpm. low rpm with more exhaust note boxer is badass :)

As someone who likes to have as little noise as possible (within reason that is) PLUS the weak default speakers, I am definitely turning that off haha

I think it is useful for people who are going to leave the car stock, and want an indicator of when they need to shift without looking at the tach. But yeah, it is a bit annoying. NA cars sound really good with increased intake noise, Like what Lexus does with their v6 and v8's. But more fake noise isn't a good thing.

The digital sound actually sounds really cool if you ask me. Sounds better than most aftermarket exhausts. The only issue for me is that its loud. Would sound better if it was quieter. I dont like loud exhausts personally. Its annoying after a few weeks and the power gain is usually minimal.

After break in and at 1100 miles total I unplugged it....sure its really quiet down low but above 4k you can hear the engine enough aslong as your not blasting the radio.

My neighbors love this feature!

I haven’t try to disconnect my pumped in audio, but it is kinda loud and monotoned for my liking where I’ve redlined my car a few times because I didn’t really hear the tone change. I gotta try without it before I get an exhaust as well

I kinda like it :)

People knock it, but I kind of like the effect. Great presentation!

All in all there is too much noise pollution in general, so any way noise can be diminished is a good thing. I have BRZ coming and as soon as I get it home I will disconnect that speaker.

is it augmented?

I tried sound racer an few years ago but it didn't work. I personally prefer the Shelby Mustang sound.

I have the GR performance exhaust. Does that make a difference in sound compared to the stock exhaust with the fake engine noise off?

I always thought that car sounds bad but it was the fake engine noise that sounded bad why would they do that

Hi Justin Do you know where the LED DRL lights are located?

Nice comparison. Real all day. Considering this vehicle and I would have the dealer program it out before I took delivery. Can’t find one to take out. I’m 6’ 3” and need to see how comfortable it is for my frame. Nice video. Keep up the good work.

I’m gonna put the Apex’i N1-X exhaust on mine, so I think I’ll definitely disconnect the active sound

This might be a silly question, but plan to keep mine stock. Is there any way to actually increase the fake engine sound?

Will unplugging it trigger anything in the can bus like a stupid engine light etc?

A tube that allows those in the vehicle to hear the engine is far better than a speaker playing sounds of what an engine might sound like. In a pure sports car, there should not be any fake vents, aero pieces stuck on to make the car look fast, and no speakers to have the passengers hear what a good sounding engine might sound like. Subaru came so close when building the BRZ/GR86, why did they throw in the gimmick of fake engine sound.

Maybe it´s possible to mount a switch ? Without generator it sound like my 1. generation BRZ without the old generator! Greetings from Germany 👍🏻

What is the decibel reduction by turning off the Active Sound Control?

I hated my 2023brz sound system, it distorted my music and sounded terrible, like 4 days after i pulled the plug from the engine sound box and it fixed that distortion in my music as well. Just an fyi.

I like the real sound😊

I wish it sounded like the high strung high revving 2zz-ge.

real engine noise FTW.

Hey Justin, my new BRZ should arrive around the end of this year. I will likely disable the augmented sound. Do you know if there is a way to remove the hardware related to that? I realize it probably doesn't weigh that much but I like to get rid of things that are unnecessary. I don't want to rip it out then screw up the electronics elsewhere in the car as can happen with modern vehicles.

do you know if it uses a separate speaker, or is piped in on the main speakers? i have a 2024 brz ts, and just wondering before i detach it. thanks-

the fake is better. I turned it off for a while and when you're above 5k, the natural sound is good... but below... its nearly inaudible.

Is that a turbo I hear or am I tripping? 👀 how hard/expensive was it to put in?

面白い事しますね。MY Car (RC) Scheduled delivery September unfortunately NO sound creator model From Japan

Is it “fake” engine noise or actual engine noise amplified (microphone in engine bay)?

Real is always better, put an Hks hi spec-l exhoust and enjoy it!!

well I'm looking at buying this car, one of the first things I had noticed from the videos and decided to investigate further was the fake engine noise and while it does sound pleasant for some, the time delay on the response I feel can be lacking in feedback to the driver, for example if you're in a corner under load and you're at a point of induction, it sounds like you can hear it better when this system is turned off, so the fake sound adds an unnecessary level to it, and it could be my ears but I can hear that they don't quite marry up exactly to what the car is doing, don't get me wrong its not a bad sound I just personally feel it takes away from the experience a little bit. perhaps a bad analogy is when you put engine noises inside an EV. I understand why you might want something like that, at the same time it's an EV, let it be an EV. id love to hear any differences in opinion, this is a really interesting one to me

Let me think...... When driving a performance car, do I want to hear what the car and it's engine is telling me or do I want to hear a soundtrack of what somone at Subaru thinks sounds good. As an enthusiast, I need to hear my entire car and what it is telling me. I nead to hear the engine, the induction, the exhaust, the tires, the drivetrain, the road, any competitors, etc. If all I am hearing is an amplified soundwave based on engine RPM, that drowns out 90% of what I need to hear when I am at the track.

My friend recently got one and we both had no clue this was thing. We’re now gonna unplug it now😅

My BRZ had that garbage fake noise shut off at 18 miles... no regrets

In the next video, you should do a 3 way comparison (fake vs real vs aftermarket exhaust), but don't tell us which is which.

World of difference. Hate that manufacturers do this. Engine noise is such a useful tool, and real noise just sounds better.

They should had gone further in the make believe auditory stimulus. Doubler the frequency would be more dramatic. Doubling the cylinders while enjoying twice the fuel economy.

It looks like there’s a volume control on the box

I prefer real noise at all. There are some other tools to improve the sound emotion, more "real" than the active sound system, i.e. intake manifold design, reduction of cabin noice reduction materials and so on

I think all that car needs is aftermarket exhaust :D

Thanks for the comparison! Since this isn't an electric car.. it's kinda sad we have to have a video like this. :( I am an older Subaru person, so UEL + reasonable exhaust and drive it while thinking about Finnish rallies. :)

Actually the fake sound to me doesn’t work well but the sound without is bad as well. I would really appreciate a better sound

If I was a pedestrian, I would like a warning grumble before I’m run over. Like the sweet sound of a stuka coming down to ruin someone’s day.

I wonder if theres a way to make it a switch so you can you just change the sound w a flip of a switch

So with an aftermarket exhaust itd be better

Fake noise will do until I get a catback.

I had it turned off by the dealer before I even had 100 miles

Disconnected

The fake noise is just way too loud in first gear. I don't mind it in higher gears.

finding this car for a reasonable price in NJ is impossible.

I will stay with fake until I get exhaust.

😈 FAKE NOISE IS MAGNIFIED REAL SOUND ITS THE SAME BUT NEW EXHAUST IS DIFFERENT 😈

Real deal motor noise. Keep it disconnected no doubt.

I hate that PlayStation sound, It is disconnectable?

Fake sound is disgusting. Why even ask this question 🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️

I mean yes it's a fake sound but it does sound pretty good though. That being said if i get this car, which i want to, i would get rid of it

i would leave the fake engine on

looks like you won't be able to reconnect it without opening the glove box

I need a V8 sound

The fake noise sounds like my racing games on the ole Sega Dreamcast. Not a fan

I don't see anything wrong with fake engine sounds. Also it seems like you are driving way faster to get a good engine sound. That's an important consideration.... with fake engine sound don't have to rev the engine out as much. You can get nice engine sounds at 3000rpm instead of having to go up to 5500-6000 rpm.

I have no problem with engine noise coming from the actual engine with a tube. Why that wasn't carried over is baffling to me. Like, does Toyo-Baru think its customers would like this speaker crap? I thought market research was a thing. Lol

Fk the fake noise, it was a horrible drone , had it on for several weeks , removed the wire and would never go back

probably one of the worst features ever added to cars. I can't understand why anyone would want fake engine noise pumped into their car.

I prefer the fake………

LOL !!! How about put fake V6 through a V8 LOL!!!

copium

I'll probably be hated for this comment but the real raw noise sounds no better than a high reving Ford Taurus. I don't mind how the fake noise in mine sounds at all

🤮

Both sound pretty terrible if we're being honest.

there about 3 minutes of actual content and 7minutes of pointles waffle just to get 10minutes vid

Kind of irresponsible you are ripping around on city streets.