Escape2Bronco

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Think this is something that plays through the speakers. No idea if it compensates or still plays over music or radio though. Never experienced a car making fake engine noises.
According to Barry, you need to turn your radio off to hear it. I’ll give it a try later.
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Escape2Bronco

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Escape2Bronco

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It's there and is a well-documented thing Ford does to some of their vehicles. I know for certain the Fusions with the 2.0L and 3.5L Ecoboost do it, the Focus ST (maybe the RS) does it, F-150, even the Mach-E does it.

Try it out! Turn off the radio and A/C, close your windows and mash the gas while in Normal. Then do it in Sport mode. Magically, the 4-pot sounds like well-tuned V8.
Ok, I just tried it. Maybe I’m tone deaf, I didn’t hear any difference other than the shift point is at a higher rev which I would expect. I had a 1995 Lightning before I ordered my 2 door and drove V8’s as a kid and young adult so I know what a well tuned V8 sounds like. I tried with the radio on as well. Still sounded like a turbo charged 4 cylinder to me.
 
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bjbena

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Ok, I just tried it. Maybe I’m tone deaf, I didn’t hear any difference other than the shift point is at a higher rev which I would expect. I had a 1995 Lightning before I ordered my 2 door and drove V8’s as a kid and young adult so I know what a well tuned V8 sounds like. I tried with the radio on as well. Still sounded like a turbo charged 4 cylinder to me.
It's definitely there. I never had an F-150 or Focus ST but I hear it plain as day on my Badlands.
 

Escape2Bronco

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It's definitely there. I never had an F-150 or Focus ST but I hear it plain as day on my Badlands.
Where does the noise come from if the radio is off? A stand-alone speaker?

I don’t profess to have the best hearing, so there’s always that. I still think the standard radio sounds fine. Too much loud music and concerts as a kid.
 


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I can see how some people would appreciate this. I had a 2019 Fusion Hybrid and driving in ECO mode really sucked, at times it felt unsafe merging onto the highway. The BS is a little better. I think if I was commuting again I would consider it, but just driving around town and some highway driving works well in normal mode. Also, I have a light foot when it comes to the throttle.
 
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bjbena

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Where does the noise come from if the radio is off? A stand-alone speaker?

I don’t profess to have the best hearing, so there’s always that. I still think the standard radio sounds fine. Too much loud music and concerts as a kid.
I don't know as I'm no expert but I hear it in the cabin, but believe me it is there.

On the F-150s it's called active noise control. https://www.f150forum.com/f118/active-noise-control-fake-engine-disable-how-312261/
Here is info from the Mustang EB forums, https://www.mustangecoboost.net/threads/how-do-i-know-i-have-the-fake-engine-noise-on-the-ecoboost.19585/
Active sound enhancement on the Ford Focus, https://www.focusrsoc.com/threads/active-noise-control-electronic-sound-enhancement.235417/
Efforts to eliminate in the Ford Fusion Sport, https://forscan.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5523
Even the Mach-E is not immune to the fake engine sound. https://www.thedrive.com/news/31105/listen-to-the-fake-engine-noise-the-2021-ford-mustang-mach-e-pumps-into-the-cabin

Ford even 'admitted' to it. https://www.pocket-lint.com/cars/news/ford/131151-ford-admits-to-pumping-fake-engine-noises-through-mustang-speakers-to-make-cars-sound-better
 
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bjbena

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According to Barry, you need to turn your radio off to hear it. I’ll give it a try later.
Well, I don't mean OFF OFF, just turn down the music so you can hear it.
 

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Well, I don't mean OFF OFF, just turn down the music so you can hear it.
I tried with the radio on low as well assuming it had to come through the radio or speakers. Nada. Maybe it’s somebody’s idea at Ford of what a V8 should sound like that’s never been in one. I certainly didn’t hear anything different from normal mode. Again, according to my wife, my hearing is very selective so maybe there’s that.
 


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The symposer doesn’t play fake noises. It rather augments what you’re actually getting. I had an ST that had it. You can find info on it for STs. A common mod was a symposer delete.
 

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There are a lot of misconceptions about Ford's sound systems here. Let's clear a few up.

The symposer was a mechanical device that piped induction noises into the cabin on the Focus ST and (I believe) the Mustang GT. Deleting it was a fairly involved process of removing the device and plugging the hole it left in the induction system.

Active Sound Management is a Bose product. It incorporates a vehicle's sound system to eliminate unwanted engine sounds AND enhance desirable ones. To reduce overall cabin noise the system uses the same active noise cancelling technology used in Bose's line of consumer headphones. In addition, it generates noises for EV's to give drivers more traditional audio cues.

Ford uses a modified version of Bose's system in many of its vehicles. It incorporates active noise cancelling (ANC) and engine sound enhancement (ESE). Both of these features use the speakers in the car. The ANC "listens" to the cabin noise with a series of microphones, then broadcasts via the speakers sound at specific frequencies 180 degrees out of phase to the sounds picked up by the microphones. The ESE is a programmed sound broadcast through the speakers to enhance the engine noises. Implementation is different for each vehicle. For the Mustang EcoBoost, designers claimed it was never meant to make the four-pot sound like a V8, it used recordings of the four-pot noises and amplified specific frequencies to make it sound "better."

ESE is a feature many automakers are using. The reason? Cool engine noises in the cabin typically mean a vehicle will not pass DOT noise restrictions. The solution is to make the noise inside the cabin with the speakers instead of outside the cabin with actual loud engine noises.

Now that you know all that, what about the Bronco Sport? I don't believe anyone has definitively determined if Ford implemented either of these systems for the BS, but given how quiet my car is on the highway I'm inclined to believe it at least uses ANC. If Ford has implemented these systems for the BS then it will likely have both ANC and ESE, and the two systems are integrated into the sound system. To disable ESE will require computer code modification using FORSCAN. The problem is I do not believe you can disable ESE without ALSO disabling ANC, at least I couldn't on my Mustang EcoBoost.

So you have a choice: Disable ESE and ANC and give up your quiet cabin on the highway, or keep ESE and live with the "fake engine sounds" in Sport mode. I don't use Sport mode, so I know the right answer for me.
 

Escape2Bronco

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There are a lot of misconceptions about Ford's sound systems here. Let's clear a few up.

The symposer was a mechanical device that piped induction noises into the cabin on the Focus ST and (I believe) the Mustang GT. Deleting it was a fairly involved process of removing the device and plugging the hole it left in the induction system.

Active Sound Management is a Bose product. It incorporates a vehicle's sound system to eliminate unwanted engine sounds AND enhance desirable ones. To reduce overall cabin noise the system uses the same active noise cancelling technology used in Bose's line of consumer headphones. In addition, it generates noises for EV's to give drivers more traditional audio cues.

Ford uses a modified version of Bose's system in many of its vehicles. It incorporates active noise cancelling (ANC) and engine sound enhancement (ESE). Both of these features use the speakers in the car. The ANC "listens" to the cabin noise with a series of microphones, then broadcasts via the speakers sound at specific frequencies 180 degrees out of phase to the sounds picked up by the microphones. The ESE is a programmed sound broadcast through the speakers to enhance the engine noises. Implementation is different for each vehicle. For the Mustang EcoBoost, designers claimed it was never meant to make the four-pot sound like a V8, it used recordings of the four-pot noises and amplified specific frequencies to make it sound "better."

ESE is a feature many automakers are using. The reason? Cool engine noises in the cabin typically mean a vehicle will not pass DOT noise restrictions. The solution is to make the noise inside the cabin with the speakers instead of outside the cabin with actual loud engine noises.

Now that you know all that, what about the Bronco Sport? I don't believe anyone has definitively determined if Ford implemented either of these systems for the BS, but given how quiet my car is on the highway I'm inclined to believe it at least uses ANC. If Ford has implemented these systems for the BS then it will likely have both ANC and ESE, and the two systems are integrated into the sound system. To disable ESE will require computer code modification using FORSCAN. The problem is I do not believe you can disable ESE without ALSO disabling ANC, at least I couldn't on my Mustang EcoBoost.

So you have a choice: Disable ESE and ANC and give up your quiet cabin on the highway, or keep ESE and live with the "fake engine sounds" in Sport mode. I don't use Sport mode, so I know the right answer for me.
Mark, do you hear a V8 in Sport mode? I know you say you don’t use it and I don’t as well but I can’t hear a V8 when I stomp on it in Sport mode.
 

Mark S.

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Mark, do you hear a V8 in Sport mode? I know you say you don’t use it and I don’t as well but I can’t hear a V8 when I stomp on it in Sport mode.
I haven't used SPORT mode enough to know for sure, but I'll try it out on the next few days. It was not subtle in the Mustang, but that was meant to be a sports car.
 

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I think I read someplace that only the upgraded B&O system does the fake noise so maybe that's why some hear it and some don't. It's absolutely there.

I wouldn't hate an Eco default, but I probably wouldn't set that. I find I get the same/better mileage in Normal if I am doing lots of short, slow trips through town and stoplights. Eco really shines when it's flat or open road. I used Sport for a purpose exactly one time. The Bronco is fast, but there are still a lot of faster cars and racing is just pointless.
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