'noises off'

[JonnyS]

I have just returned from a track day at Castle Combe very disappointed as I failed the exhaust noise test reaching 102 decibels. Even when I tried an add-on unit, the thing still failed. Although I was gutted, the trip from London wasn't entirely wasted as I saw some great driving and met some good people. I certainly don't blame anyone at CC - just myself for being so naive I guess.

 

Someone please tell a novice what I am doing wrong. I have a 1700 Supersprint Xflow with a 4 into 1 exhaust. What I don't understand is that my exhaust is meant to be a 'competition exhaust'; is that just a marketing ploy for novices to be fooled? Well if it is, why did it fail the test when the unit was intact?

 

The guys at Merlin told me that I needed an exhaust that can be repacked? That's fine, but why can't mine be repacked if it is a so called 'competition exhaust'? Doesn't that defeat the object of it being for the track? Or was it packed in the first place and I have eroded all the packing away?

 

I know this sounds twee, but I like my current exhaust for road use; it is fruity and it looks good. Perhaps the solution is to buy a repackable exahust and swap the two depending on whether I use the Seven for the track or the road???

 

Also, where can I get it noise tested so I don't waste another trip from London to Chippenham? I usually go to Ratrace Motorsport - perhaps they can help?

 

Jonathan mad.gif

[Blatman]

What I don't understand is that my exhaust is meant to be a 'competition exhaust'; is that just a marketing ploy for novices to be fooled?

 

I don't think you've been fooled. "Competition" exhaust usually means that the exhaust is optimised for producing greater power/torque, rather than abating noise. It may or may not be re-packable. Is one end of the can secured with rivets or boltsquestion.gif If so, reomve that end of the can and re-pack. There are various methods, use the search facility above, and type in "repackable".

 

I can't help with a noise meter in North London (near meblush.gif), but you could try your local MOT station (but NOT the one that MOT's the car!) and see if they will test it, "for a drink".....

While you're in the saearch facility, type in "noise". I think Tony Martyr "wrote the book" on noise tests, and suggests some conditions under which the noise test could give less than favourable results.

 

[luddites7]

You can hire a digital noise meter from bookatrack.com