Opinions on loud exhausts
Discussion
B'stard Child said:
AC43 said:
Pit Pony said:
I have memories of an RD350LC with Microns.
I love the sound of an LC on standard pipes - but Microns were ear-splittingly-loud.Had microns on an RD200 and I swear they were responsible for my poor hearing these days
Back in 2013 when Jag's F-type debuted in North America at the Los Angeles Auto Show, I was one of the four lucky Jaguar forum members that got to take a V8S home from the show for the better part of a week. From the first start up, I just could not believe this could have been a street legal exhaust, it was so loud and deep. But it was never, imho, offensive. It was melodic in its tuning and always sounded sweet. My modified De Tomaso Pantera, however, is brutishly loud and does not earn me any admirers among my neighbors upon a 6am startup on a Sunday morning when I typically like to go out on a canyon run. But again, it's that rich baritone voice that only big Ford V8s know how to make, and is a pleasure to hear on the open road.. I have on occasion been behind modified exhaust BMW M3s and M4s that have the staccato shotgun exhaust that are just disgusting to be stuck behind. So, often it's not the sheer volume of the exhaust but the tone that makes an exhaust bearable or unbearable.
I used to have a replica of a DBR1 - the 6cyl 4.0l engine was essentially unsilenced. I took it to a track day at Goodwood and went for a sound check in scrutineering. The chap with the dB meter failed me before he even tested the car.
"Why aren't you testing it?"
"The limit is 94dB at ⅔rds of the red line"
"So test it?"
"Yours is 102dB at tickover..."
Funnily enough, the car was road legal, so I could have taken it for a drive around the public roads that surround the circuit.
"Why aren't you testing it?"
"The limit is 94dB at ⅔rds of the red line"
"So test it?"
"Yours is 102dB at tickover..."
Funnily enough, the car was road legal, so I could have taken it for a drive around the public roads that surround the circuit.
Red9zero said:
B'stard Child said:
AC43 said:
Pit Pony said:
I have memories of an RD350LC with Microns.
I love the sound of an LC on standard pipes - but Microns were ear-splittingly-loud.Had microns on an RD200 and I swear they were responsible for my poor hearing these days
Sadly no bikes for quite a while, but I'm hoping to rectify that soon.
For now I'm making do with my BMW Z4M that has Powerflow back-boxes and sounds great when opened up, but can be driven quietly when appropriate - like when I'm near a Ford V8 owner.
Edited by Mr Tidy on Tuesday 13th April 23:41
d_a_n1979 said:
It's your car; you don't do the mods for anyone else...
I think that's what a lot of folk seem to forget on here...!
spot on! the constant comments of "impressing girls" or "showing off" has literally nothing to do with why my exhaust is louder than OEM.I think that's what a lot of folk seem to forget on here...!
it is louder because I like the sound it makes, it works for me..
PH forums these days feel a bit like mumsnet.
Court_S said:
sunnyb13 said:
M140i/340i/440i all seem to have hideously loud cold starts from factory. Not even modified.
Mine doesn’t appear to be all that loud. It’s louder on start up than tick over, but I don’t think it’s much louder than my other half’s 125i (6 cylinder as well).Some of the pop and bang maps people add to the 40i cars are bloody ridiculous. A heavily modified one overtook me the other week and it really did sound like fun fire on the overrun. I know my stock exhaust will make a few silly noises in sport / sport + but this was ridiculous.
I don’t equate noise to nice if that are sense. Some cars sound really nice despite being quite muted. My old 330 sounded chunky on start up, but it wasn’t particularly loud. There are some cars that are loud this do sound good as well (TVR).
my friend has a 140i which does the same. Trust me he does not like it either, it can be mapped out but the car tends to stutter or stall if this is done.
I can't recall the last time I thought a passing car was too loud, meaning genuinely anti-social. However, there's two types of bikes that are properly unpleasant, to my ears anyway:
- Harley Davidsons, always ridden by a member of ZZ Top it seems, which appear to have no silencing at all (the bike, not the band). They are deafening, to the point of stopping any conversation if you're outdoors when they go past.
- scooter type things, definitely 4 stroke and quite small engines I think (125 cc?). Often delivering food, they make an incredibly loud droning noise which is horrible and can be heard from a long way away.
Makes you look like a dick. Removing a silencer to make a car "sound like" a powerful car. Seems very common with 125cc bikes. Then you see them riding around "as if" they've got a big powerful bike. It's actually the definition of "dick".
Exhaust note isn't about decibels, it's about tone. Nicest I've heard was a 1970s Aston Martin V8.
Exhaust note isn't about decibels, it's about tone. Nicest I've heard was a 1970s Aston Martin V8.
Brave Fart said:
Do the riders of such bikes just not give a toss? It's not as if they're even going that fast, so what's the point of the noise? With Harleys especially, is it the "I'm a badass American outlaw" thing?
Probably like everybody else who modifies their exhausts "they" like the sound of the exhaust, "they" think it's perfectly fine and not anti-social at all, One person's "what a complete tosser" is another's "wow, that sounds great!".
Brave Fart said:
Do the riders of such bikes just not give a toss? It's not as if they're even going that fast, so what's the point of the noise? With Harleys especially, is it the "I'm a badass American outlaw" thing?
Whilst there are a few competent bikers around unfortunately many weekend bikers in particular are closet Sons of Anarchy wannabees on the noise issues and invariably also ride like utter morons being responsible for an increasing number of onerous speed camera enforcements due to fatalities following their reckless riding.Usual story they spoil it for true petrolheads.
f
kwits.I got a loud exhaust by accident. The back box on my old Pug 106 diesel shed fell to pits so I bodged one into place from a petrol 106 I had bought for spares. I don't know why, but the result sounds rather like an old Mini with a Peco big bore system, really fabulous rasp at 3000 rpm upwards. I usually have my basset hound in the car: every time the revs hit 3000 he starts howling. I have no idea what the thing sound like from outside - feeble and crap, probably. But it makes the car more fun to drive. It will be a sad day when the exhaust disintegrates and I have to go back to a standard one.
Court_S said:
Some of the pop and bang maps people add to the 40i cars are bloody ridiculous. A heavily modified one overtook me the other week and it really did sound like fun fire on the overrun. I know my stock exhaust will make a few silly noises in sport / sport + but this was ridiculous.
I don’t equate noise to nice if that are sense. Some cars sound really nice despite being quite muted. My old 330 sounded chunky on start up, but it wasn’t particularly loud. There are some cars that are loud this do sound good as well (TVR).
It's Focus RS's round here - they can't even drive "accelerate, lift, cannon fire" followed by "accelerate, lift, cannon fire" rinse and repeat until out of earshot - by my calcs for one on sunday it's close to three miles!!!I don’t equate noise to nice if that are sense. Some cars sound really nice despite being quite muted. My old 330 sounded chunky on start up, but it wasn’t particularly loud. There are some cars that are loud this do sound good as well (TVR).
av185 said:
Whilst there are a few competent bikers around unfortunately many weekend bikers in particular are closet Sons of Anarchy wannabees on the noise issues and invariably also ride like utter morons being responsible for an increasing number of onerous speed camera enforcements due to fatalities following their reckless riding.
Usual story they spoil it for true petrolheads.
fkwits.
And of course, owning (supposedly) Ferrari's and Porsche's they will all be completely silent Usual story they spoil it for true petrolheads.
f
kwits.
You can't help having a pop at bikers can you chap, I would have thought you'd have learnt after last time 
Red9zero said:
B'stard Child said:
AC43 said:
Pit Pony said:
I have memories of an RD350LC with Microns.
I love the sound of an LC on standard pipes - but Microns were ear-splittingly-loud.Had microns on an RD200 and I swear they were responsible for my poor hearing these days
It spent a lot of time on it's back wheel........
320d is all you need said:
Reason the 135/140 and all the other 3 and 4 series etc have a loud start is to warm up the catalysts quickly.
my friend has a 140i which does the same. Trust me he does not like it either, it can be mapped out but the car tends to stutter or stall if this is done.
I know why the cold start is the way it is. my friend has a 140i which does the same. Trust me he does not like it either, it can be mapped out but the car tends to stutter or stall if this is done.
Mine isn’t actually that loud; no louder than the N52 in the previous generation 1 series.
The loudest, and strangest noise I ever heard from a modified exhaust was a Mk6 Golf. It appeared to be a 1.4, but had this weird diffuser and quad pipes. The noise it made was a metallic high pitched note, may well have had a screamer pipe on there. It was so loud, and a noise which was unpleasant at all volumes. Very odd indeed.
AC43 said:
Red9zero said:
B'stard Child said:
AC43 said:
Pit Pony said:
I have memories of an RD350LC with Microns.
I love the sound of an LC on standard pipes - but Microns were ear-splittingly-loud.Had microns on an RD200 and I swear they were responsible for my poor hearing these days
It spent a lot of time on it's back wheel........
ddom said:
Fork brace, boost tube, Stan stephens choon and short microns. Happy days 
Not forgetting the paddock jacket, tight jeans, baseball boots and a Simpson Bandit...Anyway, it's always interesting to read all of the comments about teenagers and their motorbikes. My teenager's bike, a 2 stroke 125, sounds fairly fruity at full chat with its Arrow pipe (BS stamped!) and a lot of his friends have a variety of 4 stroke 125s with loud pipes and they all love them, so presumably it's a case of "if it's too loud, you're too old" ???
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff