BMW got a lot of flack recently for pumping artificial engine noise through the speakers of some M cars. Cadillac says they're doing the same thing with the 2014 CTS, just that they'll be doing it with real noises. Which is better, somehow.
The 2014 CTS will have microphones in the cabin to pick up engine noise. Depending on what drive mode the car is in, the engine will sound different. I'll let GM break it down for us:
Tour mode purrs with refinement. Sport mode growls with power. Track mode, only available on the CTS Vsport equipped with Cadillac’s first Twin-Turbo engine, roars even more aggressively.
Each drive mode will kind of act as an engineering equalizer, accentuating certain engine notes through the stereo to make it louder. GM wants to stress that this isn't fake engine noise, but rather real engine noise that is being amplified for the driving enjoyment of everyone contained within.
So the system isn't the same as BMW's, but the intent is similar. Instead of just making an active exhaust or simply making the car louder, we've had to go to a complicated solution just to make a car sound like it has a soul.
Instead, why don't we just make the car have a soul instead of having technology replicate one? Once again, technology aiming to make us closer to a car is actually driving us further apart. Take a layer away next time instead of adding one.