Soundaktor

[REGS12]

Has anyone been able to anesthetize that silly soundaktor on their Mk7 GTI ? I would like to experience the silence rather than have that artificial brmm brmm noise played to me. I don't like doof doof music, back to front baseball caps and VL Commodores much either.

[Lucas_R]

If its anything like the Mk6 GTI and R, you will find it under the plastic cowl where the windscreen wipers are. Unplug the silly thing and enjoy the silence.

[spellbound]

Absolutely , unplug that rubbish ,

There is a thread in mk6 which shows how , should be similar to mk7 , takes about 5 mins .

[REGS12]

Reminds me of the thing that you can plug in to the lighter socket of a Hyundai Getz to make it sound like a v8 supercar.

[Mac135]

I don't like doof doof music, back to front baseball caps and VL Commodores much either.

I liked my old VL commodore........that Nissan turbo was fun. Then again it was a/ a company car and b/ back in the days when driving was fun. With you on the baseball caps and doof.

[AgentFruit]

So did you manage to get rid if it? I've just ordered a Golf R but have also just seen/heard video nasties of the worst yet noise fakery. I've got the option to change to a GTI and am having a panic.

[readerr0r]

I thought you could control it via the driver profile? Set it to individual and leave the actuator at eco and the rest sport?

[AgentFruit]

Seriously? This would be great news and a revelation. The UK forums are full of people worried about it. How did you hear about this option to turn it off on the R?

[AgentFruit]

Just heard back from VW technical:


Technical Reply
We have tried it on a Golf GTI (we haven’t got an R yet) but in Odis
self-diagnostics, select A9 Actuator for structure borne sound, select
Adaption, there is only one thing to select, Volume, reduce from 100% to 0%
press enter then apply. I would expect this to be the same on the R.

[REGS12]

What's Odis self-diagnostics? Can I do it or does it need to go back to dealer?

[46neil]

What's Odis self-diagnostics? Can I do it or does it need to go back to dealer?

Hi everyone, I hope this helps, I have just disconnected the Sound Actuator on my 5 day old MK7 GTI,

this is how I did it, open the bonnet and look at the plastic cover (water tray) underneath the wipers, it is held in place by small metal clips,
on the passenger side, remove the 2 clips on the passenger side, and lift up the cover a little bit, you will see the Sound Actuator right in the middle of the the car, underneath the plastic cover, its a small round cylinder, remove the small round plug that is plugged into it.
This only takes about 5 minutes.
This is my first post, so I hope I have bee helpfull

[Adam84]

Hi everyone, I hope this helps, I have just disconnected the Sound Actuator on my 5 day old MK7 GTI,

this is how I did it, open the bonnet and look at the plastic cover (water tray) underneath the wipers, it is held in place by small metal clips,
on the passenger side, remove the 2 clips on the passenger side, and lift up the cover a little bit, you will see the Sound Actuator right in the middle of the the car, underneath the plastic cover, its a small round cylinder, remove the small round plug that is plugged into it.
This only takes about 5 minutes.
This is my first post, so I hope I have bee helpfull

Hey mate,

How does it sound now? Can you give us a comparison of before and after at different speeds etc?

Thanks,
Adam

[REGS12]

Thanks to neil46, I now have the silence I hankered for. The round plug he told us about was a bit hard to flick off and has now fallen away never to give any trouble I hope. The difference is like chalk and cheese, the motor now sounds as it should with none of that resonating loud induction type noise generated by the soundaktor. The car now sounds slower, which means I can sneak my foot down a little further before I hear a squawk from the driver. [I'm only the steerer] All good!

[Paul_R]

There were a few Mk6 owners who put a switch in their Soundaktor cable and ran it to one of the blanks in front of the gear stick. I think this should be a standard feature as part of the customisation setup. It would be very nice in Eco mode, or for some people just switched off all the time.
That said as the Soundaktor only amplifies engine noise and therefore has absolutely no effect on the rear muffler you will still get the crackle on over-run. Although that might be modifiable too as I think it is controlled by an electronic by-pass valve which only opens under higher revs?

What is it with all of us buying sporty cars and then trying to make them quieter? 20 years ago we were all buying cheap base models (because that's all we could afford) and doing the opposite...

[REGS12]

I agree that the soundaktor effect should be optional.
Many years ago we had cars with tiny restricted exhausts. We fitted a nice free flowing system to improve performance with the side benefit of a nice note that could be heard by other people, and with the window down and head hanging out. We never tried to make our cars noisy inside.
Anyway, my GTI now sounds as a superb car that it is should.