2011 Chevy Equinox

Improving fuel economy and reducing noise can occasionally be mutually compatible - the smooth aerodynamics of a 2011 Toyota Prius making it a refined highway cruiser, for example. However, GM is trialling a technology in the Chevrolet Equinox that makes quietness an outright necessity for economical cruising, using a trick used in high-end headphones. Noise-cancelling headphones are specially designed emit an "antinoise" sound to cancel out external noise, such as the background hum on a plane. Known as active noise control, sound waves opposite to those of the background hum combine with...