NOISE! My car's a Cop Magnet! What should I do?

SuperK · Post by **SuperK** » September 24th, 2006, 12:37 am

Always start out with a picture! Here's my car w/the exhaust:

When I bought the car this summer, it had that muffler on it. I don't know what kind it is (Glasspack, maybe?) but I do know it's LOUD!
How loud? Well, I was making a left hand turn at an intersection from a stop light (stopped of course)
I hit about 4-4.5k on the revvs in 1st before shifting, and it sounds like a BEAST. You think I'm exaggerating? A local cop stopped me and wanted to pin reckless driving on me because I apparently ripped it and was going completely super fast or whatever.
Lets ignore the fact it's only a 1.6L.

Anyways, I have GOT to get this thing quieter. I don't want to suffer performance loss, and I've looked and looked to see what are my options.

If I can do something performance/aftermarket that keeps a low level noise, that'd be my first choice. If I have no other options, I have to go with OEM, which I don't want to. It has the stock cat and little resonator still in there, so that's good.

Please give me your suggestions to make it quieter. Everything on the car is stock save the CAI I just put in it.
What do I need to make it quieter?

mitmaks · Post by **mitmaks** » September 24th, 2006, 12:53 am

maybe try putting in silencer

SuperK · Post by **SuperK** » September 24th, 2006, 12:58 am

Apparently getting a hold of a silencer is an outrageous deal... muffler didn't come with one and to hell if I can find one for it

LooseChangeRacing · September 24th, 2006, 1:02 am

i actually have the same muffler on my car, and I have a ZE with headers and 2.5 back exhaust.....i do have a resonater though so it's a bit quieter but yeah it's loud lol, get a better resonator or get a silencer

SuperK · Post by **SuperK** » September 24th, 2006, 1:27 am

resonator as in that tiny muffler looking thing some ways down the piping, right? is it possible to purchase a better one?

lowflyinmx3 · Post by **lowflyinmx3** » September 24th, 2006, 4:14 am

i bought an Auto Gear muffler from Smyth shortly after i got the car and in the box was a letter describing the company dedication to quality blah blah blah. anyways it also states that the muffler is designed to obey some kind of noise ordinance. i've got pulled over twice for my muffler being "too loud" and both times i got off when i showed them the paper. But most of us here knows what its like to get a look from the cops because of an exhuast. lol

reaper of souls · September 24th, 2006, 10:48 pm

just take off the cannon and replace it with a flowmaster muffler it will lower the tone but not kill your prefomance

but it can't be any louder then mine i'm running the cat on the headers and then 2" straight pipe to a twin cansiter thunderbolt exhaust.

the cops can't do s--- for them to charge you with a noise charge the exhaust has to be tested with a Db meter at a distance of 3feet away from the rear of the muffler and can not be any higher that 6db at idel, a 350 v8 with just headers at idel will only produce 3db so the chance of your car or mine producing 8db at idel is far from likely so don't worry about how loud it is and enjoy it

reaper
Greg

SuperK · Post by **SuperK** » September 25th, 2006, 8:27 am

I didn't get noise charges, that's the problem. The cop didn't want to charge me for noise levels, reckless driving. Tennessee cops are completely aweful, they'll try to pin every little charge on you, the courts don't give a flip of what your standpoint is either. I don't want to risk it.

But you say flowmaster's keep a lower Db rating than my raging straight-through? Do you know of anywhere I can compare Db levels of the mufflers, and do you recommend a certain model? Do I need to consider any mufflers that contain a resonator on the muffler itself? (I do believe the OEM had one)
Or will that completely negate my desire to keep the performance portion?

reprobation · Post by **reprobation** » September 27th, 2006, 11:43 pm

Also, if you go with a larger, high flow resonator that will deaden some of the sound and give more of a deeper tone.

Also, is there any engraving on the top of the tip of the mufler?
That mufler looks like the Bolt on kit from Ractive.. same muffler I have.
I have CAI, and this muffler and it's really not that loud :/

Easy way to find out, is check to see if the mufler bolts up directly in front of the passenger side rear wheel.. Look at the color differences of the two sides of where the bolt up occures.. if one looks newer you probably have the ractive muffler.

Also, check your cats to see if there are any holes in them? a hole the size of a dime.. maybe smaller... can make a world full of difference when it comes to exhaust note.

-Chris-

LooseChangeRacing · September 28th, 2006, 2:08 am

I looked online for PA's requirements and went outside to test my car right now...

I have the same muffler with a ze with ceramic coated pacesetter headers....2.5 exhaust with a hi flow magnaflow cat and a hushpower resonator...

the test must be conducted 50 feet from the FRONT of the car, NOT THE BACK...

Heres what I tested...

Test was performed in front of the car, roughly 50 feet (you have to be between 48-52 feet) In front of the car was grass (a non reflective surface which results in a soft site test)

62.5 with the car off, 68.5 with car on

PA CODE REQUIRES 76 DB's or less on a soft site test

now it's 84 DBS if I was travelling at more than 35 mph (and i think i would probably BREAK THAT, becuase I keep my idle about 800 or so, (psst do this if you want to MAKE the car quiet at idle)

Look at your state laws, in some places they actually will have 2 officers and there will be a few tests performed...usually same distance and everything, but to counter what I have done (set the idle lower) they will test at IDLE, 2k RPMS, and 3k RPMS, some places even 4k RPMS.

SuperK · Post by **SuperK** » September 28th, 2006, 4:44 am

did you use the hushpower in place of the aux. resonator?
I was thinking of doing that... what are the audible differences? louder?

I'm thinking of getting a magnaflow 11225. They got good reviews for the miata's, and they're quite similar to the mx-3's engine specs and such.

lv2xlr8 · Post by **lv2xlr8** » September 28th, 2006, 5:26 pm

If you go with a flowmaster, I would suggest a 40 series. It would be quieter than the glasspack and have a nice deep tone. Also you can go with a 50 series which is quieter than the 40.

SuperK · Post by **SuperK** » September 28th, 2006, 6:12 pm

I did a bit of reading on flowmasters, and I heard their expertise is for big block engines, not small imports? The general thought was their performance on small sport import vehicles was dismal at best.
Can anyone confirm/deny this?

lv2xlr8 · Post by **lv2xlr8** » September 28th, 2006, 9:59 pm

Well, I used to work with a guy that had an Escort GT. He had a two chamber flowmaster (40 series) on it. It wasn't too loud (my car with the fart can is louder) and it sounded pretty good. Plus with a muffler that has chambers, you have less of the popping noise when letting off of the throttle.

lycanthrope · Post by **lycanthrope** » September 29th, 2006, 2:01 pm

I can almost assure that I lost some low-end torque, however, I'm a highway driver, i just compensate with the 5-speed in my car...

Although I've never driven behind my car, i personaly think it's still kind of loud, oh, and when i'm in parking garages, it sets of a few alarms while idling by the sensitive ones...

My exhaust terminates with a 2.5" x 10" in length exhaust tip welded onto the muffler...

Raspy before the cat fires, afterwards, it's relatively clean...