Exhaust noise level
Discussion
Hi all,
I did have a quick look to see if this had been discussed in the HSV section before - but, given most of us have modded exhausts etc, has anyone actually fallen foul of the law/MOT/plod etc with this? Trying to read between the very muddy lines of the current regs, it would suggest there is not actually an upper noise limit for cars, other than you should not modify louder than standard, but I have also seen links to 90dBA (not very high at all), to 99dBA, to none at all - thereby only possible representing an anti-social aspect.
I know none of us are the usual 17 year old, backwards baseball cap wearing oiks with their drainpipe clad 1.0 litre corsa's, which no doubt helps a bit, but just canvassing opinion......
I did have a quick look to see if this had been discussed in the HSV section before - but, given most of us have modded exhausts etc, has anyone actually fallen foul of the law/MOT/plod etc with this? Trying to read between the very muddy lines of the current regs, it would suggest there is not actually an upper noise limit for cars, other than you should not modify louder than standard, but I have also seen links to 90dBA (not very high at all), to 99dBA, to none at all - thereby only possible representing an anti-social aspect.
I know none of us are the usual 17 year old, backwards baseball cap wearing oiks with their drainpipe clad 1.0 litre corsa's, which no doubt helps a bit, but just canvassing opinion......
Most of the track days I've done seem to have a limit around 105db at X number of feet from the exhaust at 3 or 4 thousand revs and that allows some (in my opinion) really loud cars to pass.
I wouldn't want a 100+db car for a general road use, yes you may well think your car is far superior and deserves to make more noise than a Corsa but the majority of people will think you are a t
t an every bit as antisocial as your stereotypical youth!
I wouldn't want a 100+db car for a general road use, yes you may well think your car is far superior and deserves to make more noise than a Corsa but the majority of people will think you are a t
t an every bit as antisocial as your stereotypical youth!aka_kerrly said:
Most of the track days I've done seem to have a limit around 105db at X number of feet from the exhaust at 3 or 4 thousand revs and that allows some (in my opinion) really loud cars to pass.
I wouldn't want a 100+db car for a general road use, yes you may well think your car is far superior and deserves to make more noise than a Corsa but the majority of people will think you are a tt an every bit as antisocial as your stereotypical youth!
Agreed - though what I meant with that comment was we're probably less likely to get targeted by plod, and also, being a bit more mature, don't use every throttle press as an opportunity to floor it and make as much anti-social noise as possible. Yes, my exhaust is very loud, but I'm feather light and as careful as in built up areas, only opening up on faster/wider/less populated roads. I'm very much aware that it is loud and therefore try to mitigate it as much as possible until I'm away from people where it could cause a nuisance/problem - whereas being fully stereotypical, a lot of younger types will just be anti-social with theirs purely because they can be.I wouldn't want a 100+db car for a general road use, yes you may well think your car is far superior and deserves to make more noise than a Corsa but the majority of people will think you are a t
t an every bit as antisocial as your stereotypical youth!Just trying to gather opinion as to whether anyone has actually had any bother with theirs (legally).
blue666uk said:
Just trying to gather opinion as to whether anyone has actually had any bother with theirs (legally).
Never had any bother at all, just lots of compliments! I've lost count of the number of "thumbs ups" I get. 
And thats at 115db. But like you, I drive very carefully in built up areas. I guess that makes all the difference.
blue666uk said:
Just trying to gather opinion as to whether anyone has actually had any bother with theirs (legally).
Surprisingly I've not been stopped purely for having a loud exhaust, other pathetic reasons like daring to drive around late at night or early in the morning to an from work but not specifically for the exhaust. The police have even checked the underside of the car but never asked about the lack of silencers.A friends father has both a Maloo and a VXR8 with Walkinshaw headers and systems which are noticeably louder than a standard car but also never attract the police.
I suspect it is purely down to where we chose to "let rip" i.e not through a sodding 30mph limit which is what some people feel compelled to do.
aka_kerrly said:
but the majority of people will think you are a tt an every bit as antisocial as your stereotypical youth!
Both of my cars are loud, and I'm sure they do think I'm a tt an every bit as antisocial as your stereotypical youth!t 
And I'm probably passable as a bloody yoof too, although I don't wear caps, admittedly.
If it's late or a built up area then I'll try and use the lowest revs possible and as little throttle as possible, the Ro will be switched over to quiet etc. A couple of neighbours have asked me about the car, but none of them have complained
On the road I've never had any police problems at all in the Alfa or the Monaro. In fact I've only ever been pulled over twice, both in the Clio years ago, and both at about 2am in the morning. Once for not indicating and to generally enquire where I was going and why I was out so late etc. the second time was because I hadn't changed the registered address on the V5, and furthermore had walked out of a pub at 2am and driven home... So I think that was pretty fair of them too (for reference I'd done an open mic night and helped tidy up after, so was alcohol free
).I'm very attentive to 30 and 40 limits though, I think really the noise thing is just a suitably irrefutable reason to pull you over if you're behaving like a bit of a knob. If you continue behaving like a prize bellend once out of the car, then you'll end up making problems for yourself
I chug around in high gears on slow roads, thankfully my cam and tune are up to that (i.e., no major bucking), that should keep the noise down. I don't really want a switchable exhaust, more to go wrong. I think my current noise level is pretty ideal for a lairy(ish) car, and if/when the cats go back on it will actually be pretty subdued (and I would map out the pops/bangs to save the cats, although I love them...). This is headers, and centre and rear Wortec silencers.
jameshsv said:
Thats because goldy has a swichable exhaust quiet/loud
Ah, true that...although I don't know how quiet 'quiet' is!One has to remember that exhausts are not too noisy on neutral throttle. Our beasts have lots or torque and we can make brisk progress without trying. The corsa driver with the oil drum as an exhaust is foot flat to the floor to go very slowly. Go back to the days of your first car I remember my 0.9 litre polo taking about 2 miles to get to 60. I once managed to beat a milk float.
jameshsv said:
Thats because goldy has a swichable exhaust quiet/loud
Bloody handy that switch lol I was given a 12month asbo by my nice neighbours back in 2010, I had a walkinshaw performance exhaust with no centre box at the time but my garage is in the side of a hill with properties above so it did make a bang on startup.
So Asbo gone I now have a walkinshaw bimodal fitted and to be honest the quiet setting is no quieter than the performance exhaust i had previously, no asbo yet but did get a ticking off by plod as i entered a motorway as he was in lane 2, his words "I heard the roar and looked in all my mirrors and I was expecting a thunderclap above me" Wag of his finger and I was on my way, believe he was a ford owner !!!!
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