For many people half the sensation of a sports car is the noise it makes. That is part of the reason why Italian sports car have always been the best sort in the world-  because they made the best noise. Now, Maserati – to save fuel – is going to launch a number of diesel cars, and that has put them in a bit of a pickle. What to do with the soundtrack?

You sure don’t want a beautiful Italian car to sound like a canal boat, do you. On the other hand, the advantages of a diesel engine are too good for Maserati to pass on. So the only solution seems to be a way to make the diesels sound nice. And that’s a hard trick to pull.

Maserati is working on artificial exhaust noise to get round the problem. The upcoming diesel cars will have active exhausts and even systems to enhance the noise they make, and pipe it into the cabin through the speakers. This way at least people inside the car will enjoy it.

That sound will be unashamedly fake, but as long as it’s easy on the ears, who cares really?

via WhatCar