asong1

Today I took the time to wrap up everything on this new 24 LC Convertible in term of setting it up completely + cataloging maintenance items & schedules. One last thing I did today was to re-activate the Carista App for another month in order to disable the annoying seat-belt ding. Great app. Previously used on my GX 460 (disable seat belt chime) & Audi (disable start / stop). Not a bad deal for $9.00 if you have one of the supported bluetooth OBD2 modules. I have the OBDLink MX+. Anyway, back to the point:

I was very surprised to see that there is an option to turn off the Active Noise Cancellation, and Engine Sound Enhance (ESE). So I googled what it meant, and according to Toyota's Avalon site, it states:

"What is Engine Sound Enhancement and which Avalon models have it?Engine Sound Enhancement (ESE) is standard on Touring and available on XSE as part of the JBL ® Audio upgrade. This is a combination of an Intake Sound Generator (ISG) and sport-tuned exhaust working with the Active Noise Control (ANC) system to cancel out unwanted noise in the cabin while simultaneously pumping in a deeper and sportier exhaust note."

This is a big surprise to me. I can understand the active noise cancellation for road noise, but I thought the LC didn't have any fake sound, and all of the sounds are from the exhaust & the tuned sound pipe from the intake and into the firewall. WTH?? I didn't touch it for now since I won't be able to test it out tonight, and it require top up and down testing. Just disabled some annoying items, and set everything to 'remember last settings' as much as possible and called it a day. It's currently very cold and have freezing rain, so a thorough testing of these functions is not feasible. I am completely stumped on this one. If anyone has any more insight on this, please educate me. At least the option is there to turn these off. The question is, is our intake sound pipe valved somehow? If I turn this off, will it shut the sound pipe closed? Or is it my worst fear (fake sound from the speakers)? There are lots of discussions regarding the active noise cancellation and it's impact on the music/sound systems. This was also an issue on my F80 M3 where they used the speakers to pump fake engine sound in which impacts the durability of the speakers themselves while degrading the music/sound system. I sincerely hope that LC is supplementing the exhaust / intake notes with additional fake sounds from the speakers. I hope I am wrong on this.

asong1

This video confirms the noise cancellation bit. Will test it out with the ANC disabled to see how the stereo sounds. Hopefully it'll improve it even more. Just need to figure out what the ESE function is actually doing here.
Regarding ANC: I believe on some cars, it's a great feature to have, especially when the car is using run-flats. I know that prior to 24 models, LCs have run-flats. But the 24 MY doesn't. They moved to normal tires and threw in a flat-tire repair kit in the back. So for me, I will definitely be disabling this.

North1Star

The LC does not use fake sound, it uses another method to deliver the real engine sound to the cabin. The app mentioning ESE under LC category doesn’t mean it exists, yet try it and let us know if it works.

asong1

Yes, I've painstakingly researched this vehicle before ordering one. This is why I am also confused. One of the main selling point was the all natural sound generator 'tube' piped into the cabin for great natural sound. So this begs the question, is the pipe valved and activated depending on gas pedal load / rate? I am definitely turning off the noise cancellation (why do I need this if the top will almost never go up? I have a 718 Spyder (and a 718 Spyder RS inbound). Even for the Spyder, I've only driven that car with the top up just once (from dealership to the house). I plan on doing the same for the LC. So noise cancellation is useless. ESE feature is what I'm worried about.

Unfortunately, it's just way too cold outside for me to test this thing fully. I am however planning on doing some top up tests today with the ESE. I'll keep in in the manual mode and see if I can hear any differences of the exhaust tone.

I just hope that by disabling the ESE, the car won't shut the exhaust valves closed full time. If that is the case, then it needs to stay on I guess. As I said from above, I really hope that our intake tube isn't valved somehow. If so, I'll bringing out the scapels and doing some surgery on this to remove them

KennyFSU

In my BMW, it also came with a valved exhaust and it was as simple of a task as removing a fuse while the valve was open (no codes either) in order to keep it that way. Is that an option on the LC?

asong1

I'm not concerned about the exhaust. As there are solutions. My question / this thread is trying to figure out what exactly does the aforementoned features do / don't. I hoping someone with clear knowledge can educate us. But I will answer your question any way. 2 known methods:

1. Manually disconnect the exhaust valve plugs from tail pipe area.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13v_tdArJsY
2. Use a valve controller (does not work for 24 models)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIeXiScHqpk&t=1s

74Sprtstr

if i'm not mistaken the lack of participation on this speaks volumes, as most of us have never heard of this

asong1

I agree. I never heard this either. This is why I want to know. As you can see from the screenshot, the option to turn off the ESE is there. Hence it deserves further investigation as we were all sold on 'natural' sound generator. And because these cars aren't sold at high volumes, the community is very small, and not much information is out there regarding the sound tube. I just want to make sure I know exactly what I have here. If the intake sound-tube is valved somehow, I want to know. If Lexus has added fake sound to complement that 440hz frequency at all intake volumes via the speakers somehow, I want to know.

It's not like I'm crying wolf here without any evidence. The feature to turn off the ESE is there. Sure I can just simply turn it off and all it a day, but I am very curious as to what exactly am I turning off here.

74Sprtstr

certainly good questions. this feature does not exist on prior 24 yr models.

asong1

OK. This I had no idea. Thank you for this information. I am even more curious now. As soon as the weather improves, I'll test it out. I wish I had a db meter to make it more scientific, but if there is a fake sound generator, I should immediately be able to tell the difference.

tennman117

Check your phone aps. My Android has one available.

asong1

If anyone has any suggestions for a good test method, please chime in. It may be possible that Lexus has implemented this only on certain driving modes. Such as comfort vs. sport plus. i'll take some measurements at 4500 RPMs on Comfort & Sport + to see if there are any differences. If they are the same, then fake sound theory can rest for now. If they are different, then we'll know for sure that it's either fake sound or the intake tube is valved somehow. As a control, I will now disable the noise cancellation and start the test.

I'm going to drive it around and measure the DBs at normal + comfort, sport & sport plus @ 4500RPMto measure the DB levels at each mode at same RPMs. Doesn't necessarily give us the answer, but at least we'll know 'something' is changing the sound if there are any changes at all. In order to eliminate the variance from the traffic noise, it needs to be done late at night so reduce the traffic related noise variance. I've ordered a DB meter, and will test it out next week weather normalizes here in VA. Don't want to take this car on roads full of salt. I have the app also, but I've always wanted to buy a DB meter, and never got around to it. Probably a good thing since my Porsche is nearly straight-piped. Hasn't impacted my hearing yet, but as I get older, I need to be more careful

tecman

I don't recall seeing an option for the Chassis & Engine that you show. I am not able to get connected to Carista with my newer devices so I pulled out an old iPhone6 with Carista version 7.0.1 (new devices running v8.2.1) and I don't see it.
I do have a 2021 so wasn't sure if it would show.

Also not shown on Carista site. The "Other" is only for the panic button when I select it.




https://carista.com/en/supported-cars/lexus/lc/1st-gen

asong1

So then, the question is: Did Lexus add these new features onto the 24, or did they always have it, but for some reason, they've enabled the ability to turn it off on the 24 LC's ECM? I wouln't be surprised if they are using a new model of ECM to support the new driver's assistent features such as LTA / safety plus (v2.5), etc..., when I connected last night, the chassis option showed right up

Or.., You just have to connect it with the app / obd2 bluetooth, and perhaps this is something Carista has just recently enabled for the LCs. Please let me knowyour findings once you connect the app to your car.

Thanks.

asong1

Game on!

just waiting for a better weather..