How The W1 Hypercar Could Channel The Drama Of The V12-Powered McLaren F1

As bad as things may seem for the average performance enthusiast with artificial engine notes being pumped into cabins via speakers, dwindling manual transmission options, and the death of feelsome hydraulic steering systems, there is reason to maintain a bright outlook. Automatic transmissions haven’t won the sales battle yet, carefully calculated suspension geometry can generate feedback, and automakers like McLaren are finding ways of generating aural pleasure using hardware, not software.

The proof of this is in the latest patent unearthed by CarBuzz at the European Patent Office, which describes an acoustic device – potentially for the imminently arriving McLaren P1 successor, the W1 – that aims to improve the sound of turbocharged engines without bypassing legally mandated but stifling catalytic converters and gasoline particulate filters.

A Sound Bypass Device

Sound manipulation and augmentation devices already exist, but in many cases, they cannot handle the high pressures and temperatures of exhaust gases. McLaren’s solution involves adding a device that is downstream of the exhaust or, notably, upstream of the intake (yes, this invention may be used to improve both induction and exhaust noises).

This device has an inlet and an outlet for passing air, but to avoid the transmission of harmful gases, it goes without saying that the outlet cannot be in the same place as the channel that is meant to amplify sound waves to the auditory environment, be that external or internal.

So how does the sound get transmitted? Well, this device features a secondary chamber that is pneumatically sealed, and joining it and the first chamber where the sound waves enter from is “a suspension mechanism” used for “transferring engine-generated sound pulse waves,” which can be a rod, a spring, or a volume of compressed air.

On the other side of this “connecting means,” the second membrane (which can be called a radiator membrane), has a conical, trumpetlike, or dome shape. This radial sound outlet can be made of paper, plastic, or metal – as long as it has partial rigidity to prevent uncontrolled vibrations and is of low mass to enable “high acoustic efficiency.” McLaren says that the right combination of partial rigidity and low weight can even recoup acoustic losses sustained by the first membrane, which is, as mentioned, separated by an airtight seal.

Basically, gases flow in and over the first membrane, and out again. As they do so, they cause a movement in the internal walls of the first membrane, which is connected to a second membrane. As the kinetic energy of the sound waves is transmitted through the seal, it affects the radiating membrane, and the movement thereof amplifies the sound waves, creating a louder noise than would otherwise be possible.

Numerous Applications

This is a fascinatingly simple solution to the complex issue of sound manipulation, and although it may take several tries and various material tests to get the sound McLaren is after, how is that any different from manipulating the intake and outlet paths and chambers that make for great induction and exhaust noises currently? All McLaren is doing here is separating sound from noxious gas, and if this method is as effective as it seems on paper, there may be potential for even more exciting intake and exhaust notes than previously thought possible.

McLaren’s patent notes that the principle can be applied to inline, flat, and vee engines with any number of cylinders, whether a pure-combustion motor, a range extender, or a hybrid, and that bodes well for whatever comes next, from the upcoming W1 hypercar to the four-seater of tomorrow.

McLaren is committed to combustion for years to come, but with ever more stringent emissions regulations continually muffling the sounds of cars across the spectrum, telling two engines apart has become increasingly difficult. Perhaps with acoustic technology like this, as well as advanced aerodynamics and lightweight batteries, automotive enthusiasts can continue looking to the future with a hopeful air of expectation, even if that future doesn’t involve a combustion engine directly powering the wheels.