exhaust, how loud is too loud?

[MarkM]

I am looking into buying a new exhaust that is rated at 95db and am trying to work out whether this is too loud for everyday use.

BTB exhaust is 87db
road orbisoud 86db
yozzasport track exhaust 97db
haitch (forum user) 97db


trackday limits range from 95 - 101 from what I can find although different tracks have different limits obviously.

Apparently a 3db increase is equivalent to double the sound!?

My current exhaust is quite loud but I dont know how loud.

Olin (forum user) seems to think 95db would be unbearable.

Anyone had there exhaust level measured on a trackday or know what db it is and what that is like in real life?

 

[haitch]

without doing a trackday there must be somewhere to get your existing one measured m8? mine is 98, every db counts eh ;-)

 

[MarkM]

without doing a trackday there must be somewhere to get your existing one measured m8? mine is 98, every db counts eh ;-)

There probably is. Do they measure it on an MOT?

How bearable is yours then. You said you wouldnt put up with it for everday use.

 

[LegoHead]

get a sound meter from maplin.

what distance are these measurements taken at though? This is the important bit.

 

[MarkM]

get a sound meter from maplin.

what distance are these measurements taken at though? This is the important bit.

Distance. Revs. Load. Angle. Are all factors.

Trackday is 3/4 revs no load(at stand still) and 1 meter if you have a static test. But you also have driveby checks on track. I dont know its quite complicated!

 

[haitch]

like you say one persons loud is anothers unbearably loud. everybody who gets in mine comments on the volume, had some minor work done on my washer pump today & the garage said it was loud, but i like the noise on full chat but i guess i would tire of it on everyday use (commuting), when i get a camera sorted il do some clips.

 

[MarkM]

like you say one persons loud is anothers unbearably loud. everybody who gets in mine comments on the volume, had some minor work done on my washer pump today & the garage said it was loud, but i like the noise on full chat but i guess i would tire of it on everyday use (commuting), when i get a camera sorted il do some clips.

OK thanks Chris.

How many silencers have you got and is it decatted?

 

[GaryB-Bikes]

On the bike trackdays we run, 95db is classed as a quiet day and 105db is a noisy day...

Bearing in mind that they test them at 6000rpm.

95db on a bike is still road legal although they have to be 89db on a standard manufacturers pipe.

 

[haitch]

decat with extra silencing

 

[MarkM]

I have just received some pics of the exhaust. Secondhand Orbisoud used by the dutch cup series apparently.

I really want it so unless anyone thinks the 95db is going to be too loud I will buy it tommorow.

 

[TheClioLad]

don't get a loud exhust. you'll look like a chav trying to be well 'ard. just leave your normal exhuast on its loud enough and miuch more classy.

 

[BenR]

Mark,

sound measuring is a funny affair, one which i constantly have jibs with marshalls about.

Firstly their sound meters are hardly ever calibrated so no idea how accurate they are. And they also never take into account temp, humidity, baro pressure. This results in an exhaust measuring maybe 95 at one place in the summer and 105 at another in the winter, it is never constant.

98db is not overly loud, it would be one of the more uninteresting cars at a track day noise wise.

95 is quiet......the differences are large.

But as you say, static tests and tests done under load (drive by) are again completely different as your also adding tyre noise and induction noise.

My system will be tailored with a variable centre section size silencer and rear silencers as to accomodate. The silencers we have are so efficient that i have a feeling that it wont be that noisy even with just the twin 'bean cans' at the rear.

 

[Fred@BTM]

we were going past the gantry at Donnington at 106db in our blue cup, but 90% of the noise was due to the TB's, on a standard car the same exhaust does just under 97db

as Ben says sound measuring is a strange affair!!!

 

[BenR]

Its not strange, just a total farce.

Some pillock with a sound meter that has no bearing on true DB level and tell you that you cant go out.

 

[Fred@BTM]

spa is ok, 130db limit!!!

 

[Lagerlout]

Hmm.. I wonder how loud my ProSpeed is....

Db is a logrithmic ratio of change rathre than an actual unit of sound, and as such there is quite a difference between 95 and 98.... the whole measuring thing sounds a bit hit and miss too by the sounds of it (boom boom).

in fact 10 log (P1/P2) = 10 log 2 = 3 dB. So yes, a change of three db would be double the power!

I presume P1 is the reference power and P2 would be the measured power.

 

[dannyboy172]

^spot on that Lager.

As long as you don't do constant motorway driving, then louder the better imo. Orbisound zorst looks sweet, get some sound clips up when its fitted :approve:

 

[Lagerlout]

The clips I've heard of the Orbisoud sounded lovely.

I can't wait to see the AngelWorks Tech offering though......

 

[MarkM]

The clips I've heard of the Orbisoud sounded lovely.

I can't wait to see the AngelWorks Tech offering though......

I would wait for the AWT one but this second hand Orbisoud is probably going to be half the price of Bens.

Perhaps when Bens is ready he can do a rolling road comparison vs this Orbisoud exhaust. I will loan him my car for a small fee

 

[Joe@ShedMotorsport]

I haven't had my 205 tested with the group n on but i think they generally come in at about 96 or so, for short journeys and thrashing its fine but on longer journeys its really draining. The human body is very susceptible to NVH and over longer distances its really fatiguing, within an hour or so it quite often makes me feel drowsy to the point where i have to stop and to the point of my passengers falling asleep despite the noise. Its not too bad if you're thrashing it for about an hour because the adrenalin keeps you awake, but mid-day journeys on motorways are a killer.

Its now going to get sold and switched for a std pug system. I used to have a Lupo GTI and i could do a 3 hour + non-stop journey in that and get out fresh as a daisy every time. This was also one of the considerations when developing the BTB. Think carefully when buying a loud system for a commuter.

 

[MarkM]

I haven't had my 205 tested with the group n on but i think they generally come in at about 96 or so, for short journeys and thrashing its fine but on longer journeys its really draining. The human body is very susceptible to NVH and over longer distances its really fatiguing, within an hour or so it quite often makes me feel drowsy to the point where i have to stop and to the point of my passengers falling asleep despite the noise. Its not too bad if you're thrashing it for about an hour because the adrenalin keeps you awake, but mid-day journeys on motorways are a killer.

Its now going to get sold and switched for a std pug system. I used to have a Lupo GTI and i could do a 3 hour + non-stop journey in that and get out fresh as a daisy every time. This was also one of the considerations when developing the BTB. Think carefully when buying a loud system for a commuter.

Thanks for the info^

My drive to work is only 15-20mins and for any longer distance stuff I use my wifes car so I suppose it wont be to bad.

 

[TheClioLad]

Thanks for the info^

My drive to work is only 15-20mins and for any longer distance stuff I use my wifes car so I suppose it wont be to bad.

don't do it mate. you'll look like a chav.

 

[theduck]

Do it, I love my exhuast, was even better when it was decatted. Just wish I hadnt had to change it for work, lol.

 

[TheClioLad]

Do it, I love my exhuast, was even better when it was decatted.

Very classy.

 

[MarkM]

don't do it mate. you'll look like a chav.

at least my mates will like it

 

[d4ve86]

^^ lol are they your mates cliolad?! the exhaust mark is talking about is not chav its not a peco big bore 4 its there for performance not the sound that chavs go for!

 

[theduck]

Very classy.

have you ever heard my car? no i dont think you have. Its a nice sounding loud exhaust, as members on here who have will confirm. Just because its loud doesnt make it chav

 

[cK]

Mark, your exhaust sounds good enough as it is. I don't think you need to go louder. Spend your money elsewhere.

 

[TheClioLad]

have you ever heard my car? no i dont think you have. Its a nice sounding loud exhaust, as members on here who have will confirm. Just because its loud doesnt make it chav

I hate loud exhuasts. When I hear one I don't think ''Wow you've got a powerful car, or ''Wow, you're cool'' or ''Wow, you're well 'ard''. I just think ''self-centred, attention-seeking w**k*r'' :rasp:

 

[MarkM]

Mark, your exhaust sounds good enough as it is. I don't think you need to go louder. Spend your money elsewhere.

It has a 50cell metallic sports cat so should be better then my current setup. I want my twin exits back aswell. It is an Orbisoud. Which are the main reasons I want it.

I was never that impressed by custom exhausts generally and wanted to get something that had a bit more thought and quality built into it. Unfortunately tuning bits for the RS clio are limited. Last year when I got my custom done there was nothng else available. Now Orbisoud, BTB AWT(soon) are making some proper systems.

I hate loud exhuasts. When I hear one I don't think ''Wow you've got a powerful car, or ''Wow, you're cool'' or ''Wow, you're well 'ard''. I just think ''self-centred, attention-seeking w*nk*r'' :rasp:

Fair enough mate. I was really after some constructive comment on peoples experience of exhausts specifically around the 95db mark.

 

[cK]

You have ditched your twin exits for a single exit exhaust on your 182? I thought you still had twin exits with your current setup?

Go to pro-speed and say "Make it sound like a ferrari"

 

[haitch]

lol @ cliolad, mine is loud due to the bore size & decat but its for a reason, it compliments the work i have had done & the work im going to have done. if i was an attention seeker i wouldnt have bought a clio.

 

[Brown.]

what the f@@k is btb..... why cant people explain these letters
lol

 

[len_beach]

It's the manufacturer of the exhaust Miss Geldoff.

 

[Hutchie]

98db is the brittish road limit, my bike is 97.8 lol, the old girls in our village complain about me going to work at 8 am lol

 

[deviltronics]

i have the ktec stealth with a decat, at first it was very loud. then i got my second centre box (first one started rattling) and it got even louder. then i got my third centre box (second ones welds split/cracked along the sides) and now it is pretty reasonable, although loud above 3000 rpm.

i can drive my car around town fine, i just don't take it above 3000rpm, its silly to in 30mph zones anyway, and it does not sound chavvy.

with regards to trackdays (and my first centre box) i got black flagged at bedford autodrome for being too loud and 0.1db just below the limit on the driveby. they let me back out only because the wind was blowing away from the nearby houses. was told i'd have to stop if the the wind direction changed!

so, be careful at bedford and evening/weekend trackdays anywhere else, as at these times the noise limit is lower.

 

[Fred@BTM]

AFAIK there is no noise limit for uk roads? unless someone knows different (police officer???)

 

[kully]

actually i believe there is a noise pollution limit on exhausts

 

[M.C..]

i think there is Fred as the police do roadside checks on bike exhausts but i don't know what the limit is

 

[MT AUDIO]

yep there defo is but i cant bloody well remember what the limit is