Noisy exhausts - good or bad? blog on Evo Community by Adam Shorrock

NOISY EXHAUSTS - GOOD OR BAD?

February 1, 2010 11:29 AM | Posted By: Adam Shorrock
23 Comments | 4054 Views
Related Categories: Random car stuff

I understand why us petrolheads love the good raspy grunt of a car. Accelerating down one of my favourite roads on my way home from work last night, I was actually laughing at not only how quick the Mugen Civic was, but the colossal noise it makes. Sound really does add to a great drive and coincidently one of my main gripes with my long-term Mazda MX-5 is the lack of tonal grunt (see evo issue 141). However, after this morning, I felt almost uncomfortable driving the Mugen.

It all unfolded last night as I headed round my girlfriend’s after work. She only lives around the corner so I could have walked but she is a fellow car lover and I figured she’d like to have a look at the Mugen.

It’s usually a five--minute walk tops and she could hear me coming from my house. I pulled up and headed straight out for a drive. I stopped for petrol and then hit the A1, she was impressed with the car but not with my gear changes as I fluffed a couple. I blamed the gearbox of course. So for the rest of the trip back to her house, she took great joy from ridiculing my driving skills.

I stayed round and woke at 7am. Possibly being over thoughtful, I wondered, what should I do? Start up the Mugen, wake everyone in her neighbourhood, go home, get ready for work, start the car up again and disturb everyone in my street and proceed to work? Or… should I leave the Mugen outside her house, take the five-minute walk home, get ready for work then walk back to the car to give everyone an extra hour of sleep? In the end, I felt that I couldn’t live with the shame and chose the latter.

As I was walking home I thought, are noisy exhausts necessary? As much as they sound amazing on a country blast or a trackday, I’m very aware and embarrassed when I start up and drive a loud car around other people. Are they really worth the hassle? So, noisy exhausts - good or bad?

Add Comment |

COMMENTS

mark87 at 8:58 PM April 16, 2010

A loud exhaust is fine on something that delivers like a Ferrari or a Maserati but some of the aftermarket systems are so loud that they can hurt your ears at certain revs. I'e had a Fiat Cinquecento Abarth a few years back that had a performance silencer on it and it sounded superb. I replaced it with another one that was almost straight through and it boomed so badly I had to take it off again. I replaced it with a Janspeed stainless back box and it sounded really nice after that. I dont get the huge drainpipe exhausts that some of the "boy racers" fit to their Corsas and other Chav motors. They are just noisy and dont really help the performance at all.

Mark34bn at 2:01 PM February 4, 2010

I don't mind an exhaust if it sounds good, what gets my goat is the cheap boomy/farty nonsense people stick on the back just to get noticed.

djchocice at 3:07 PM February 3, 2010

as long as the car is quick then its ok, the 4 pot scream of a Civic type R, the 6 cylinder wail of an M3 CSL, the bellow of a Corvette's V8, the wail of a Gallardo and the earth shattering scream of a Lambo Murci LP670. The louder the better but only when the noise is good, I could listen to the deafening V12 scream of a Aston DBR9 all day but cant stand the sound of a current WRC car (apart from that anti lag on the over run).

Nutty at 11:14 PM February 2, 2010

I am 'one of those' who uses an 85cc two stroke scooter.. and honestly its staggering what a din it makes. Starting that in the morning while it chokes and splutters and plooms blue smoke into the air is embarrassing... but for a 2 mile commute starting the garaged mr2 is not worth it.....

howser_uk at 2:25 PM February 2, 2010

I think the argument really should come back to 'purpose'. We can argue all about what sounds good and what doesn't till we go blue in the face (take a look at x-factor for proof!). If you have a performance enhancing exhaust then it is justified. It has valid purpose. If you have a 'cherry bomb' just to pose around town making needless noise you need to re-think you're transportation ideology. regardless of whether your car is £1k or £100k

RickJames at 1:17 PM February 2, 2010

I have a solution, there is a company here in Australia which makes a muffler that has a solenoid inside of it which is remote controlled. I installed one to my car because I had this same issue, now when I wish to make a smooth get away I just press a button on a remote before starting up my car, and start it and its quieter than the car was originally. Then once I get down the road a bit, just pressing the remote again which opens up a valve and you can wake everyone up in a street you couldn't give a stuff about!

moe at 10:45 AM February 2, 2010

There's a difference between a loud exhaust, and one that sounds good. There's nothing like waking up to the V10 of a Gallardo or the V8 of a 430. There quite a few around where I live...so it happens quite often, and I can't complain.

jamieo at 10:06 AM February 2, 2010

The thing that bothers me is that we live in a world of banning things - sure noisy exhausts can in some cases be annoying. Notbaly lying by the pool on a sunny afternoon and a 4 stroke mosquito flies down the road at 30mph upsetting everyone. But on the contrary, I can't take my challenge stradale on 95% of UK trackdays because it's too loud. Nearly all recent Fezza's sound awful as well, thanks to the sandal wearing plonkers down at the EU.

MartinB18C6 at 9:20 PM February 1, 2010

"4-pots just don't sound good with a big exhaust". An S2000 going at 9,000 revs. You can't tell me that won't sound amazing. I think it's all about restraint and knowing when loud really is too loud for the road. Some people are like the clots who run around on noisy 2-stroke scooters. Do they like being annoying or are they so ignorant they don't care if it bothers someone?

BlackPrince at 7:07 PM February 1, 2010

I agree Shorrock that its wannabe Schumachers and not wannabe Rossis that create the most noise. Perhaps not in terms of decibel level, but in terms of the number of vehicles about, noisy cars far far outnumber bikes. Besides, most bikes w/ exhausts sound quite good in my opinion and its sad that Harris can't appreciate them. Perhaps he's not that much of a petrolhead after all :P That being said, a proper exhaust, on ANY car sounds good. Touring cars have four cylinders in general and they sound brilliant. As do some WRC cars. The Problem is that most people have crap exhausts on their Civics and these are the ones that sound tragically bad. I agree that valves to let others hear you are stupid tho, as personally on my straight-piped Ducati while in town I short shift through the gears in order to NOT let others hear me and to create as silent an aural space around me as possible. On the open road tho...

Adam Shorrock at 5:49 PM February 1, 2010

Mr Harris, there are surely more wannabe Jenson Button's on the road with Max Power exhausts, blasting up and down McDonalds car park on any night of the week, rain or shine, giving true petrolheads a bad name than there are wannabe Valentino Rossi's in the summer? Thus making them 'the real menace'.

shomann at 5:49 PM February 1, 2010

A nice exhaust note is terrific, but too loud and it becomes very annoying. It's fun when it's MY noise, annoying when it's someone elses (just like a thumping car stereo).

Louis Sidey at 5:13 PM February 1, 2010

Eastwu, I agree in certain cases (mainly four pot) that induction noise can be more exciting. I sometimes open the airbox a bit on my Panda, although I would not put a wobbly back box on it! When I'm pootling about it's as quiet as with the airbox closed. No hate from the neighbours and discreet when I want to be. Which is most of the time. A 1.2 Panda is far from a performance car, but a bit of induction noise makes it feel more like it's enjoying the pasting it inevitably gets on numerous occasions. A quiet road and a car as happy to be on it's door handles as I am to lay 'em down. Sounds like the Thrill of Driving to me. The way forward for exhaust valves is surely to have a quiet mode, as the antithesis to the increasingly ubiquitous 'Sport' mode...

Monkey Harris at 2:05 PM February 1, 2010

I'm becoming an old git because I hate the flipping things. All modern 'valve' exhausts sound contrived and there's a silly emphasis on making as much noise outside the car as possible and keeping the cabin relatively quiet. That's all about-face. I want the thing to sound loopy inside (when required) and not draw unnecessary attention from other people/plod etc. The SL63 is a magnificent sounding lump, but it's way, way too loud. The 512 Fandango is a great balance: it sounds special but not silly from the outside and plain gorgeous from within. The real menace is a bike with special cans. Or rather several hundred bikes on open cans - as we'll doubtless be hearing once the weather improves. I don't care how fast they ride, I just can't abide the noise. It travels for miles and makes people's lives a misery.

Bruceincary at 2:04 PM February 1, 2010

A good sound track is a must. Imagine attending a silent F1 race, I don't think so. Check out my new exhaust here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lb0pc-7VPu0

KJDay at 1:51 PM February 1, 2010

In my opinion the best thing for a great sounding car is a variable valve exhaust such as those fitted to the supercars as standard! Alas if you can not afford such things people should choose their exhaust wisely, there are plenty of systems out there that offer you the great sound only when the engine is working hard and offer no more idling warble than a standard performance car exhaust giving you all the blame for waking the neighbours and not your car!!!!

Neil_Magill at 1:39 PM February 1, 2010

I think I agree with you all. IMO exhausts dont need to be that noisy, a resonator shouldnt sap that much power. Stephen Dobie - Regarding the Mountune Fiesta, I totally agree. But its part of the package that they feel the Fiesta drivers want.

David_Yu at 1:30 PM February 1, 2010

Noisy exhausts are great provided they are also releasing more power. A sporty soundtrack is at least half the fun of having a fast car, hence why I am already on my second aftermarket system for the Datsun. The stock system is waaay too quiet.

Eastwu at 1:30 PM February 1, 2010

I think most people on here would agree, if the car's worth hearing then it's undoubtedly a good thing. I must admit though, with my car, above about 4000rpm the exhaust is overwhelmed by the addictive roar of induction noise, which in my opinion is a much better sound...

Martin Spain at 1:29 PM February 1, 2010

There seems to be a theme here: anything with 5+ cylinders is OK, but 4-pots just don't sound good with a big exhaust. 4-cyl boxer engines may be an exception to this, however.

howser_uk at 12:51 PM February 1, 2010

I agree with Mr Dobie, I'm all for hearing a nice straight six, or V8 woffle past, but a boy racer Corsa with a 4" back box is just plain silly. It's embarrassing.

Jack_is_Back at 12:32 PM February 1, 2010

Bad. My neighbour's son has a clapped out Honda Civic with an exhaust that makes an awful racket even at tickover. He likes to sit in the car for five minutes with the engine on every time he leaves/returns. If it was a V12 Aston I wouldn't mind so much...

Stephen Dobie at 11:59 AM February 1, 2010

Noisy exhausts are great, so long as the car backs up the sound with power. Grumbling Maseratis get away with it, antisocial Mountuned Fiestas do not...

Privacy | Terms & Conditions | Report this page

MEMBER LOGIN