Remote starting is becoming commonplace, but we’ve never heard of remote-controlled revving.
We have discovered some truly interesting patents filed by carmakers. Some allow us to catch a glimpse of a new design while others point to some rather innovative future technology. The latest invention to pique our interests was first discovered by a user on the 7th Gen Mustang Forum and would, in theory, allow owners to rev their engines remotely.
In the patent filing, Ford acknowledges that for many performance car buyers, a sweet-sounding engine plays a big role in the purchasing decision. This would let owners demonstrate their engine sound from a distance and even program a pre-determined rev pattern for the powertrain to carry out before coming to an idle.
A particularly amusing feature is the ability of the engine to play a musical tune. As the description explains, “the user-initiated command includes one or more musical notes … indicated at the input device and wherein the engine is revved according to a conversion of…musical notes to engine speed.”
While some people will find the proposed feature obnoxious, for others it will provide endless hours of amusement. There’s also an element of convenience to the technology; if someone wants to listen to the V8 growl of your Mustang GT, you can simply indulge them via a remote-controlled device (a smartphone, presumably). This could come in handy at motoring events or car shows.
The patent filing also describes a type of light show. Using the vehicle’s head- and taillights, the remote-controlled revving can be operated in tandem with the flashing lights. “Vehicle lights are flashed when the engine is revving and wherein the vehicle lights are flashed according to the target revving sequence.” This is reminiscent of Tesla’s celebration mode, but with the added plus of a sonorous sounding exhaust note.
While the filing notes this technology can be applied to any number of combustion engine configurations, it’s not limited to ICE-powered vehicles – owners of hybrid and electric vehicles will also be able to partake in the fun. While a hybrid vehicle can, at least, call on a traditional engine to provide a soundtrack, electric vehicles will have to rely on synthetic sound piped through the speakers.
Described as “virtual revving”, the system will allow users to select “an engine revving sound, a turbine sound, or a flux capacitor sound. Already existing audio output devices, such as speakers and subwoofers located in various regions of the vehicle may be leveraged to play the engine revving sound.” This feature won’t be limited to battery-powered vehicles, though.
We imagine Mustang owners are salivating at this point but, like many left-field automotive inventions, it’s not guaranteed that this will ever make it into production.