An excellent exhaust note remains a great joy. The right aural blast can take an okay drive and turn it into something that sticks in your mind. You know the drill when you're approaching one; roll the windows down, drop a gear, and scream towards the light on the car end. Porsche gets this, too. So much so, in fact, that the automaker has patented its own Tunnel Mode.
CarBuzz uncovered a recent Porsche patent from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) that's likely to leave you muttering a soft "oh, hell yeah" under your breath. Porsche's patent describes a mode where your vehicle detects a tunnel ahead. The system picks up an approaching tunnel via the onboard camera system.
Next, your car essentially takes the same steps you would in this situation. It just does it all for you. The windows are lowered, a lower gear is selected, and your ears tingle in anticipation. Being Porsche, of course, things are taken a step further.
If it's cold outside, the Porsche will raise the temperature a little bit so you don't get too cold. I assume Tunnel Mode will do the reverse if the weather outside is rather hot. The system puts the car into Sport mode. If your vehicle has active exhaust, the flaps open up to max attack. And if you happen to be in a convertible, the car will remind you to slow down or stop so it can lower the top.
Gallery: 2026 Porsche 911 Turbo S First Drive Review
It's all a bit silly... but it's also pretty awesome. In fact, it shows a light-hearted side to a brand that's usually a bit too serious at times.
Tunnel Mode isn't just for gas-powered vehicles, either. There are provisions for electric vehicles to get in on the fun. Well, in their own EV-sort of way. Basically, you just get more EV noise. Since Porsche bakes in tones derived from its more potent gas vehicles, dubbing in more can't hurt, right?
On the flip side of the fun, Porsche has a version of Tunnel Mode that turns down the noise. Not everyone wants a shouty send in an enclosed space. The exhaust would close up, the drive mode would relax a bit, and perhaps your windows would seal back up, as well.
For now, Tunnel Mode remains just a series of words and engineering graphs in the patent office. But there's someone in an office in Stuttgart figuring out how and when to bring this market. It's definitely silly—but it's the right kind of silly.
Source: WIPO via CarBuzz
