Dreaded noise on track
Discussion
I have just set up a trackday company Apex Trackdays, and having done trackdays for years, and always being borderline on noise it is for me one of the most annoying parts of the day. Time of work , getting to track then no play time!! I realise it is not the track or organisers fault if you fail but I am going to try to keep my customers on track. I am looking at various remedies to quieten down noisy cars ad the normal ones seem to be
a. Supertrapp
b. Bolt in exhaust bung
c. Bolt on additional small silencer
d. These http://www.advantage-motorsport.co.uk/car-preparat...
I would be interested in peoples views on these particularly a and d, as I have tried b snd c myself and they seem to work OK.
I plan to buy a number of these items for customers to try should they fail the noise tests.
Thanks for your help
Mike Apex Trackdays
a. Supertrapp
b. Bolt in exhaust bung
c. Bolt on additional small silencer
d. These http://www.advantage-motorsport.co.uk/car-preparat...
I would be interested in peoples views on these particularly a and d, as I have tried b snd c myself and they seem to work OK.
I plan to buy a number of these items for customers to try should they fail the noise tests.
Thanks for your help
Mike Apex Trackdays
Hi Mike,
It's a noble gesture and something we've always tried to do. Unfortunately it's not as easy as it sounds, nor is it particularly financially viable. At one point a few years back, we had over a grands worth of mufflers on our truck at any one time. You're still not guaranteed to be able to help people. In fact, what we found was that more and more of the cars that are failing noise have got odd-shaped exhausts, or exhausts that couldn't have a muffler fitted.
We still carry a few mufflers, but nothing like the number we used to -it's simply not worth it. I'd say only 1 in 4 of the cars that fail noise test now are suitable for bolt-on mufflers. When an exhaust system on a 911 is costing over a grand, the owners don't want to clamp something on the end that could damage or even just scratch the system.
Finally, in my experience, probably less than 1 in 10 clients are willing to pay over £50 for a bolt-on item. 9 times out of 10, they want to rent it for the day instead. I had to throw away at least half of the mufflers we rented out because they came back damaged or un-useable.
My advice these days is that prevention is better than cure - make sure the clients are aware of the noise limits and if they don't know how noisy their car is beforehand, advise them to get it tested.
/2p
Jonny
BaT
It's a noble gesture and something we've always tried to do. Unfortunately it's not as easy as it sounds, nor is it particularly financially viable. At one point a few years back, we had over a grands worth of mufflers on our truck at any one time. You're still not guaranteed to be able to help people. In fact, what we found was that more and more of the cars that are failing noise have got odd-shaped exhausts, or exhausts that couldn't have a muffler fitted.
We still carry a few mufflers, but nothing like the number we used to -it's simply not worth it. I'd say only 1 in 4 of the cars that fail noise test now are suitable for bolt-on mufflers. When an exhaust system on a 911 is costing over a grand, the owners don't want to clamp something on the end that could damage or even just scratch the system.
Finally, in my experience, probably less than 1 in 10 clients are willing to pay over £50 for a bolt-on item. 9 times out of 10, they want to rent it for the day instead. I had to throw away at least half of the mufflers we rented out because they came back damaged or un-useable.
My advice these days is that prevention is better than cure - make sure the clients are aware of the noise limits and if they don't know how noisy their car is beforehand, advise them to get it tested.
/2p
Jonny
BaT
Thanks for the advice Jonny, much appreciated. I know what you mean about people being a bit precious with their tailpipes! I would simply rent them out but as you say, they will have a relatively short lifespan. The other issue I thought was that reducing noise invariably leads to more back pressure that not all engines like. Still, there is nothing more frustrating going to a track only to not be allowed on and being able to do nothing to rectify it. I had a 320 mile trip to Croft wasted that sticks in my mind from a few years ago.
8pot said:
Thanks for the advice Jonny, much appreciated. I know what you mean about people being a bit precious with their tailpipes! I would simply rent them out but as you say, they will have a relatively short lifespan. The other issue I thought was that reducing noise invariably leads to more back pressure that not all engines like. Still, there is nothing more frustrating going to a track only to not be allowed on and being able to do nothing to rectify it. I had a 320 mile trip to Croft wasted that sticks in my mind from a few years ago.
would you run the risk of being accused of being responsible for causing damage to the engine if one of the customers engines went pop?I could imagine some people trying it on with "well you said i had to put this XXX muffler on my XXXX car, and now you've made my engine go bang - what are you going to do about it ?' They could try and claim that your muffler was totally to blame.
I think i'd stay well out of what is done to pepoles cars and let them make their own modifiactions for noise.
simples
Your Idea sounds grand, but I'm afraid that your good intentions would be for nothing.
Imo, you'd be standing on top of a slippery slope of liability.
I can think of a few scenarios .
1, the rented muffler does not work.
2, the customer walks off with the rented muffler, straps it to the tail pipe with gaffer tape, it falls off and collides with another car...
3, the customer bashes his valence panel in, trying to install the unit, then comes after you...
4, You try to minimize liability by paying a pro.
5, your pro has to"make things fit" and customer is not happy.
No good deed goes unpunished in todays world.
m
Imo, you'd be standing on top of a slippery slope of liability.
I can think of a few scenarios .
1, the rented muffler does not work.
2, the customer walks off with the rented muffler, straps it to the tail pipe with gaffer tape, it falls off and collides with another car...
3, the customer bashes his valence panel in, trying to install the unit, then comes after you...
4, You try to minimize liability by paying a pro.
5, your pro has to"make things fit" and customer is not happy.
No good deed goes unpunished in todays world.
m
PAULJ5555 said:
Just out of interest I going to buy a car soon something standard (Golf GTI, Megane coupe 2L, Saxo) something like that. would I have any noise problems from a standard car? what if I removed the cat?
Paul
You should be okay as long as you use a resonator in place of the cat, and keep the length of the exhaust the same.Paul
m
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