The impact onto speech perception of the intrinsic dynamical properties of the speech articulators is addressed by studying how models that account for these dynamical properties can predict some aspects of formant trajectories that are relevant to speech perception. Two sets of simulations were generated that involve a target-to-target scheme of speech production control. In the first set formant trajectory variations simulated in case of vowel reduction, using a simple second-order model of the articulatory dynamics, are perceptively tested. In the second set, the shape of articulatory loops generated in [VkV] sequences with a 2D biomechanical tongue model, including seven muscles, is analyzed and related to the formant trajectories towards and from the consonants.