In the recent Vince Vaughn movie, The Dilemma, the story revolved around a pair of car engineers who were developing a technology that would let hybrid and electric vehicles sound like regular beefy conventional gas powered cars. The movie apart, the idea of the tech seemed pertinent, since silent electric motors could cause a few issues if pedestrians can’t hear them coming.

Well it looks as though an enterprising young Canadian team may have cracked the code, by producing a product called DragFX, which is a hardware dongle and free iPhone app combo which makes your humble runabout sound like a Chevy V8 or worse. Unlike other kits which stick into the cigar lighter, this version includes an OBD connector which you plug into the car’s computer socket under your feet.

Once there it synchs to your iPhone via WiFi which then delivers a synchronized engine noise that mimics a big muscle car to your car stereo. Oh and the advantage of using a smartphone is the company can supply upgraded engine sounds as they get them, thus eventually giving you a choice of driving a Ferrari on Monday, and maybe a Shelby Mustang on Tuesday.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Odqwj3C5-b4

The other difference with this product is it copes with music and engine noise simultaneously, and the app actually has a setting to let you adjust the relative volumes. We’ll leave the issue of whether all this makes you drive more safely or more dangerously to another time, we can see arguments on both sides.

The full kit costs $85.98, and the developers are looking for sponsors and/or backers to expand the business.