EU legislation is set to strangle once-proud soundtracks of performance manufacturers

The death knell has officially sounded for noisy performance cars.

Mercedes-AMG has warned its incoming generation of new sports cars will be noticeably quieter than in the past due to tightening European sound restrictions. And by rights, that means its key rivals will be subject to the same measures.

The first examples released under the new regulations are the new Mercedes-AMG A 45 S and Mercedes-AMG CLA 45 S, which were driven by carsales.com.au in Europe this week sporting a noticeably quieter soundtrack than before.

The manager for Mercedes-AMG compact car development, Bastian Bogenschutz, said all markets including Australia would be affected by the legislative changes.

“It’s coming from the European regulations,” he explained. “It doesn’t make sense to offer a single exhaust system for every single market … but we will see what the future will bring.”

The original A 45 and CLA 45 gained an instant following in Australia and abroad, thanks in part to its soundtrack – a raspy note punctuated by a cacophony of pops, crackles and bangs on the overrun.

However, the new rules are measured against the loudest exhaust setting in the car’s driver mode menu – in effect doing away with the fizz and crackle.

To counter the legislation, Bogenschutz said Mercedes-AMG had employed sound enhancement inside the cabin as a means of channelling the original car’s bassy tones.

“The regulations were getting pretty difficult for the sound to just come from the exhaust system,” he said.

“So we added the AMG pure performance sound, there we take the real sound from the exhaust system, the pulsation of the real sound and move it inside the car. It works together with the exhaust system.”

Bogenschutz revealed manufacturers were subject to a stepped legislative regime which introduced tighter tolerances every two years.

The duller exhaust note comes despite plenty of fire power for the baby AMG pairing. Both the A 45 S and CLA 45 S boast the world’s most powerful four-cylinder series production engine, with 310kW and 500Nm outputs.