Ferrari Seeks Patent for Elaborate Intake Amplification System
Ferrari has filed a patent application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for a “device for the amplification of the intake sound” of an internal combustion engine. The system is a little different than the “Active Sound Design” populating many of today’s modern performance vehicles — a setup that involves piping in engine noises via the car’s sound system (à la BMW), through a speaker attached to the firewall (e.g. Volkswagen), or by redirecting some intake air through a diaphragm and into less-insulated areas of car (Porsche).
For Ferrari’s new system, the last solution seemed to be the best fit. But rather than running noise through a singular valve and pipe, the Italians want to use each runner of the intake manifold — presumably to create a richer and less-artificial sound. The patent request even states that the amplification pipe produces a noise that is “very pleasant to the human ear.” Filed in April of this year and clearly written by some super-intelligent automaton that’s obsessed with human ears, the system looks pretty complex.
In fact, schematics wizard Bozi Tatarevic — who shared his find with Jalopnik — alluded to it being a little too elaborate. But this is Ferrari we’re talking about here. Certainly their clientele would be willing to to endure whatever additional maintenance is required to have pitch perfect engine noises piped into the cabin, right?
From Jalopnik:
All of this sounds neat in theory, as it would transmit something close to an authentic sound from the engine but it would require a spaghetti of tubes reminiscent of old air injection system in the early days of emissions reduction. It would also introduce at lest nine more points of failure for the intake system since these tubes would be connected to the intake runners which are behind the throttle body and mass air flow sensor so any type of leak from any runner would cause the engine to run rich because unmetered air could enter the intake.
While this type of failure might seem far-fetched, it is not uncommon to see failures and intake leaks on the Ford Fiesta ST which has a similar type of system and they only have a single tube going into the intake manifold.
Potential failures aside, the overall benefit is a well-insulated and quiet cabin that only gives you the sounds you want to hear. But it seems like Ferrari is taking the long road on this one, as it would be easier to simply use less sound deadening — saving some weight in the process. We’re just going to assume this system is intended for people shopping for something like a GTC4Lusso and not a 488 Pista with an aluminum floor.
[Image: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office]
A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.
More by Matt Posky
Comments
Join the conversation
I'm hoping that we aren't supposed to draw any inferences regarding Ferrari's future engines from their use of a four cylinder example here. As shown the supplementary intake pipes appear simply to be Helmholtz resonators. What's interesting, if it's not merely an artifact of the diagrammatic rendering, is that they're shown as being of unequal length. That would allow a more complex sound.
It's a sad time we live in when a manufacturer like Ferrari has to use a system like this. The old Ferrari V-12's and Ansa exhaust systems used to sound like the songs of the angels themselves...