“My expertise is sound, mainly controlling vibration and noise,” Osamu Matsuda commented.

“Vibration is an important issue for a car’s occupants, but not so for people outside the car. On the other hand, noise not only affects both occupants and people outside the car, but is regulated in each country, making it a complex matter.

“The new Type R is a global model, so we have to consider it being sold in regions all over the world. It has to have a powerful sound on a race track, yet while cruising, we have to shut out as much unwanted noise and vibration as possible. What becomes important is a clear distinction between delivering pleasant sound to the occupants when needed, while minimizing unwanted, unpleasant noise and vibration.”

To achieve this, the team carefully determined the positioning and spring settings for the mount supporting the engine and transmission so that it had the high support rigidity, yet effectively blocked vibration. The team then optimized the positioning and amount of sound insulation and damping materials, and began designing the exhaust silencer to produce an authentic Type R sound in and out of the car.

“That’s when we had to revisit the exhaust system,” Matsuda recalled.

“The development team decided to reduce the weight of the flywheel, a component within the transmission, in order to improve engine response. This component rotates with the engine at high speeds, so even a minute change in weight slightly changes engine rev and noise volumes and frequencies. The new Type R was no exception, and we heard new sounds with the new flywheel. We overcame the new noise by slightly increasing the exhaust sound over the new rev range, managing to create a congruent sound overall.”