The Toyota Prius Has No Mouth, and It Now Screams

Just kidding. No, the Prius is not an evil computer from a Harlan Ellison novel. Instead, the real Prius now can make an optional electronic humming noise. Due to complains that the whisper quiet Prius in not noticeable and a possible hazard, the concerns for safety has given rise to this audible device.

I think it is a welcome addition. I will admit that I didn't notice a Prius once, and it was very quiet where I was crossing a street. However, the sound they chose to use makes it sound like the Prius is from the future. Learn more about this product, and watch the video here.

Cabe

awinning over 15 years ago

Add a laser sound and I'd be interested
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Catwell over 15 years ago in reply to awinning

If it also played "La Cucaracha," I would drive the new Prius too.

Cabe
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WestfW over 15 years ago

Heh. I wanna be the first to market to "custom movement-tones" for Priuses (Priusi?) Downloadable and complete with scubscription scams. I'll be rich! I wonder if the car sound from The Jetsons has fallen out of copyright?

Um. Patent pending on automatically changing arbitrary sounds in ways that indicate velocity! Yeah. Right.
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awinning over 15 years ago in reply to WestfW

Sounds like really good marketing spin for me...Prius, a car so quiet and smooth you won't even realise its moving unless you deliberately make it noisy.

I think Toyota need all the good publicity they can get at the moment!
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B.Mahoney over 15 years ago

The Prius does come with a horn does it not? To me that signifies all you need to make pedestrians "get out of the way".
However if they changed the sound to something like an Abrams tank then I think that would be more effective than a horn.
Or simply re-market the Prius as a "criminals car", you know some thing like.."Prius, so quiet the only thing you need to
worry about is your stolen schwag making noise !" Or perhaps market it for the military..."Prius, so quiet your enemy
will never know what hit them !" Still I think I would prefer a Terminator version only because I think thats funny.
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eokerblom over 15 years ago

I think they need a noise that sounds more like a conventional car to be safe but I suppose a humming noise is better than the sound made by the sirens they put on World War II era dive bombers.
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