SoundRacer adds V-8 sound, but not the power

That's strange, I thought a V-10 engine would be a bit bigger than this...

(Credit: SoundRacer)

Have you ever caught yourself thinking, "I wish I had a V-8?" Well, what if I told you that you could give your crappy car a V-8 rumble or even a V-10 scream for $40? Now, what if I told you that you wouldn't actually be getting any extra performance to go along with that sound? If you're still interested in this shady deal, then you're probably a poseur. In any case, you'll want to check out the SoundRacer.

The device plugs into your vehicle's cigarette lighter, where it uses fluctuations in the power flow to calculate your engine's RPM. It then broadcasts a fake engine note to your car's stereo via an FM transmission. The general idea is for your vehicle to sound like it's powered by a V-8 or V-10 engine, but I predict that the outcome will probably sound like a crappy, fake revving played through crappy speakers on top of your car's already crappy existing engine note. Of course, your mileage may vary.

The best part is that if you keep your windows rolled up, no one will know that you're riding around pretending to be driving a V-10 Aveo. Nice!

Once you get bored with "the thrilling sound of a powerful Super Sports Car engine," you can plug your MP3 player into an auxiliary input and use the SoundRacer as a standard FM transmitter. The SoundRacer has an MSRP of $40.

Check out the embedded video for a demonstration of the SoundRacer V-8 and V-10 in all of their goofy glory.