'Woo'ing the petrolheads in Ballymoney

For it is a case of ‘woo’ing some petrol-heads as drivers have installed systems which means cars make a loud ‘woo’ sound when changing gear.

The sound simulates the sound of a dump valve on turbo-fitted cars.

One town centre officer worker said: “It is a sound I am starting to hear a lot more. You can hear these woo-cars driving about a lot more now and it is certainly different.

‘At the start I always wondered what made the sound and I have been told it is possible to get a piece of kit which can replicate the sound of a turbo dump valve.

“It certainly attracts your attention to the cars,” said the man.

On the internet there has been a mixed response to dump value simulators.

Some people said it is only “muppets” who fit such devices to cars to make them sound like something that they are clearly not whilst another person said it had helped him get a girlfriend because she thought he was driving a high-performance turbo-charged car.

One manufacturer of a dump value simulator said it will ‘fit all vehicles, regardless of whether your car has a turbo fitted or not. It has been designed specifically with non-turboed vehicles in mind.’

The manufacturer said the device is ‘the only way to gain the dump valve sound without spending thousands on a turbo conversion.’