I'm in Canada so I dont think its illegal to remove it yet here.
Seems its easy to access, is it as simple as unplugging it???
Any help is appreciated.
Any help is appreciated.
How to delete pedestrian warning sound?
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OptimusPrime4
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It's interesting people are saying that older model years are louder. MY2019-2023 appear to use the same Hybrid / Electric Vehicle Sound Alert Speaker Part Number: 8657042030. Any other difference would have to be related to whatever volume level is dictated by amplifier hardware and software.
If you want to permanently reduce the volume of the speaker you could literally fill it with some silicone epoxy. Anything that stops the cone from moving will drastically reduce the output volume. You won't be able to revert back, but you won't have to mess with the wiring either. The speaker is around $77 MSRP from the Toyota parts website but you can get it for closer to $50 from other places online so it's not an insane amount to replace.
For reference, our 2019 Chevy Bolt doesn't seem nearly as loud as the 2023 Prime, so Toyota probably could have reduced the volume of this thing by quite a bit.
If you want to permanently reduce the volume of the speaker you could literally fill it with some silicone epoxy. Anything that stops the cone from moving will drastically reduce the output volume. You won't be able to revert back, but you won't have to mess with the wiring either. The speaker is around $77 MSRP from the Toyota parts website but you can get it for closer to $50 from other places online so it's not an insane amount to replace.
For reference, our 2019 Chevy Bolt doesn't seem nearly as loud as the 2023 Prime, so Toyota probably could have reduced the volume of this thing by quite a bit.
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Interesting to note that a couple of people now have mentioned the ‘23 seems quieter. You would think that would mean it’s the software/programming that’s different - which would make sense because it’s the same speaker that makes the sound both in reverse and in forward (and it’s much quieter moving forward). So maybe they can reprogram the older Primes so the reverse sound is quieter like the ‘23’s? 🤷♂️ (or maybe I’m completely out to lunch on this 😆)
They absolutely could... if they wanted to. Unfortunately there's a slim chance they'll ever update that for the previous model years solely because of cost.
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I took delivery of my 2023 R4P, yesterday. I agree with @Kuper's "spaceship" description for the sound, found its volume to be lower than the 2021model, and repeat my previously stated need to completely silence the thing for wildlife photography. @Elgaucho, I can confirm that during our first livestock feeding with the R4P, my wife was with the horses, goats and chickens when I had to back up the car and depart for another chore. I was approximately 200 feet (70m) away from the animals with no obstructions in between. As soon as I put the vehicle in reverse, my wife reported that every animal stopped eating and looked my way. She didn't think they were scared, as they're all accustomed to automobiles, but they were definitely wondering what in the world was making that unusual sound!
That's the same thing my neighbours all used to do when I backed into the garage LOL
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Interesting. I’m curious to hear this spaceship vs angel sound.
This is a recording of a 2023 R4P shifting from park to reverse, then drive, then back to park in a closed garage with the driver window open. The volume of the noise is about twice as loud in reverse compared to drive. The other noise you hear is the parking brake disengaging at the beginning and reengaging at the end.
Change the extension from pdf to mp3.
Change the extension from pdf to mp3.
Thanks for posting the recording. I ran it into an SPL meter program and the reverse level is 10 dB louder than in drive. That's consistent with what sounds subjectively twice as loud -- but glad to be able to get an objective confirmation.
If you're interested in the spectrum, see the figure.
was this a cell phone recording? I would have guessed there is some processing (similar to how the camera imagery is processed in a variety of ways) of the sound data that would make estimating dB differences impossible. this might be in the ballpark though.
We'll have to ask @bwrx who posted it.
I detected no dynamic processing (peak limiting, AGC, etc) on the audio.
Yes, it was recorded with a galaxy S20 cell phone, but it sounds very close to what you actually hear. I played it on systems that can reproduce more than the full audio spectrum and you can't tell a difference. Note that the driver/speaker on the car is a small 2 inch transducer. It's meant for high efficiency in the human hearing range, which matches the mic response of most cell phones. The dB values should be pretty accurate. You can use any free audio software to do your own analysis if you want. I have a real USB mic to capture frequency response of speakers but there's no point going that in depth for this.
If anyone is wondering what's inside the speaker assembly, then have a look at the attached photos. Both the top and bottom appear to be snapped on to the main housing, but they're actually glued and the snaps just hold it in place while the glue dries during assembly. This makes it impossible to open up cleanly unless you use a real thin saw blade to cut just the perimeter.
The driver inside is a Foster SAM-50A-4, which isn't listed on the Foster website. Easily a custom part for Toyota. Micro Acoustic Transducers｜Foster Electric Company, Limited
You could add resistors internally if you drill a 3/4 or 1 inch hole on the back cover right above the connector so you have access to the terminals. Wouldn't be too hard to snip the wire and solder in a resistor or two. A 2 ohm resistor in parallel with the driver then a 3 ohm resistor in series would bring the total impedance to about 4-5 ohm total, although others have said the amplifier doesnt seem to care about the load impedance as long as it doesnt get too high. That would make the speaker see about 0.31 times the original power which would reduce the output power by about 10dB or roughly half the original volume. Just spitballing though...
Then you'd need to seal the hole back up. Alternatively, you could drill two small holes on the back cover and fill it with some silicone or epoxy. Toyota did a good job of sealing the rear cavity really well. They also went to a lot of trouble designing the acoustic lens in front of the driver. Seems quite a bit overkill, but they've got to spend those R&D dollars/yen somewhere.
The driver inside is a Foster SAM-50A-4, which isn't listed on the Foster website. Easily a custom part for Toyota. Micro Acoustic Transducers｜Foster Electric Company, Limited
You could add resistors internally if you drill a 3/4 or 1 inch hole on the back cover right above the connector so you have access to the terminals. Wouldn't be too hard to snip the wire and solder in a resistor or two. A 2 ohm resistor in parallel with the driver then a 3 ohm resistor in series would bring the total impedance to about 4-5 ohm total, although others have said the amplifier doesnt seem to care about the load impedance as long as it doesnt get too high. That would make the speaker see about 0.31 times the original power which would reduce the output power by about 10dB or roughly half the original volume. Just spitballing though...
Then you'd need to seal the hole back up. Alternatively, you could drill two small holes on the back cover and fill it with some silicone or epoxy. Toyota did a good job of sealing the rear cavity really well. They also went to a lot of trouble designing the acoustic lens in front of the driver. Seems quite a bit overkill, but they've got to spend those R&D dollars/yen somewhere.
Attachments
this seems ripe for someone to make a plug and play product to solve this problem.
I've already got something planned, just need to find a few pieces. Is this something most people would want? It would literally plug in between the harness and the speaker and reduce the volume to whatever level you want. It could be as simple as using different resistors or as complicated as having selectable levels.
Edit: After a bit of searching, the connectors are not what I thought they were, so there aren't as many options. I was hoping there was at least a PCB mount version with the male pins so it could be more compact, but there are only wire-wire versions so it would have to a black box with two pigtails. From the one video of the guy showing the speaker on his car, it looks like there is nothing directly behind the speaker. This could be a good place to zip tie a black box to the bracket.
Edit: After a bit of searching, the connectors are not what I thought they were, so there aren't as many options. I was hoping there was at least a PCB mount version with the male pins so it could be more compact, but there are only wire-wire versions so it would have to a black box with two pigtails. From the one video of the guy showing the speaker on his car, it looks like there is nothing directly behind the speaker. This could be a good place to zip tie a black box to the bracket.
I think it would be a limited customer base. I think this forum represents a small subset of Rav4 Prime and Hybrid owners and the number of people who would tinker with their Rav4 in this manner is even smaller. But, there is definitely demand for something like this. I just don't know that the demand would be enough to make such a device profitable.
That said, I personally think it's a great idea!
On this sort of scale it's never profitable unless you ridiculously overcharge for it, and I don't want to be in the business of small scale electronics assembly. It would be more of an open source, or possibly provide the parts in a kit, sort of thing. Finding spare time always seems to be the bigger challenge.
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