Cdr. Cody's thoughts & teachings: Enterior Exhaust Db's

[Commander Cody]

Yes - beauty is in the eyes of the beholder and noise is in the ear of the listener. Many of us interested in an exhaust or header system want to know what are the decibels inside the car. I repeat - inside the car. With this in mind lets look at the following:

INTERIOR NOISE - Passion Coupe
Idle neutral 49 dBA
Maximum in 1st Gear 75 "
Constant 50 mph 70 "
Constant 70 mph 74 "*

* Road & Track Pg. 59, Mar 2008

It doesn't say anything about the windows up or down. I assume they were closed.

To cut to the chase - it would be nice if the manufacturers of the various exhaust systems could give us an idea of what kind of cabin pressures we can expect knowing what we do from the quote above.

[nonuro]

Yes,I would like to know also before I spend $500.00 on it and then find out I can't stand the drone.I make a 600 mile trip twice a year and.........well you get the picture.

[mendo]

There are so many variables that it would be VERY hard to get comparable numbers.

Different Meters.
Different Meter Placement in Car.
Different Cars.
Different Roads.
Different Weather.

It could be closer with "Car A drives along Road B at X mph with meter mounted on passenger headrest.
Change exhaust, one hour later Car A drives along Road B at X mph without changing meter placement."

testing on a track with no other traffic would be even better.

[mdfortwoguy]

Another one would be A/C on or off.

The stock intake on the 2008 is the source of much of the engine noise underway... turning the A/C on makes it growl a lot more it seems.

[Commander Cody]

I agree about the many variables but I need some slack here. You have to start somewhere. We read about how the Rolls or BMW rolls along and the loudest thing one hears is the clock. We read that but who's thinking about variables? We are 3-ft from the exhaust . The figures I quoted are a starting point - and according to the article - were done at 66 F./Humidity 35%/elevation 350 ft/wind - calm/location - Irvine , California. I'll bet that the AC and or heat were off and the windows up to give us these Db's from the stock exhaust system.

It's a valid concern to say look - I'm spending 5-800$ on a great sounding exhaust system but do I need to bring a megaphone to converse in the cockpit?

Absent all of the above - you better test drive the system you're thinking about - on someone else's car who has installed it. What better Db meter than those things on the sides of your head. Now it they are both on the same side....you got problems and this post is of little value to you.

More thoughts and teachings: the Flounder has two eyes on one side but this is for future discussions.