Recording your cars exhaust

[WP-UK]

About to put the car in the garage tonight and had a really weird thought, what does my exhaust sound like? Obviously I could have just got out and listened but I wanted to actually hear it rev etc and there was no one to help.

Completely stock Toyota Starlet with an old rusty exhaust, so I clipped my lapel mic onto the exhaust and dragged the wire in through the back window where my camera was. Only planned to do a quick test to get the an idea but was pleasantly surprised, sounded better than I expected

Alright the mic stinks of petrol now but it was pretty cool, is there proper equipment for the recording of exhausts so I could do it while driving? Don't really wanna b****r up my other mic.

Thanks

 

[TheNissanMan]

Most tracks will use a decibel meter and measure the exhaust 1m from the car at 4,000 revs, noise limit depends on the track but last time I went to Combe was limited to 98Db which was luckt as at the time I was reading 98Db and 97Db frmo each pipe of the Mr2 I had at the time.

 

[Lynton]

Ryan,

I think the OP wan't to record it for it's musical ability :shake: not to meet noise regs!

 

[gazfy]

I have an ATC action cam on my motorbike and it picks up the sound well as long as I position it away from the injection system electrics as the interference distorts the sound. It was pretty cheap (under £100) and it bounces well when it falls off!

 

[mxfun]

About to put the car in the garage tonight and had a really weird thought, what does my exhaust sound like? Obviously I could have just got out and listened but I wanted to actually hear it rev etc and there was no one to help.

Completely stock Toyota Starlet with an old rusty exhaust, so I clipped my lapel mic onto the exhaust and dragged the wire in through the back window where my camera was. Only planned to do a quick test to get the an idea but was pleasantly surprised, sounded better than I expected

Alright the mic stinks of petrol now but it was pretty cool, is there proper equipment for the recording of exhausts so I could do it while driving? Don't really wanna b****r up my other mic.

Thanks

Why?

 

[stupar]

Four simple steps

1 - get in car
2 - open window
3 - rev engine
4 - listen

 

[Ian D J]

I think the concept of quiet exhausts seem to have got lost on some of us over here. :shake:
Only came up with this after the umpteenth boy racer had just varoomed down the road complete with oil-drum exhaust that probably costed the driver a three-figure sum to buy and fitted only to sound like it's on it's way out anyway. :bonk:
I would DEARLY love to understand and grasp the concept of it all so that way I might appreciate the way my house shudder with each passing car fitted with such an exhaust.

 

[WP-UK]

I have an ATC action cam on my motorbike and it picks up the sound well as long as I position it away from the injection system electrics as the interference distorts the sound. It was pretty cheap (under £100) and it bounces well when it falls off!

Ahh right cheers, will look into that

Why?

I know, I know

Four simple steps

1 - get in car
2 - open window
3 - rev engine
4 - listen

That would have been too easy

 

[Byker28i]

Tunnels - seek out tunnels.

The drive through with the windows open.

Or multistory car parks are good, although I'm banned from a local one. My exhaust noise sets off car alarms

 

[Nod]

I've never heard my bike exhaust and there aren't so many around (RE Bulett 500 EFi) that I'm very likely to spot one going past!

 

[WP-UK]

Tunnels - seek out tunnels.

The drive through with the windows open.

Or multistory car parks are good, although I'm banned from a local one. My exhaust noise sets off car alarms

Good plan Not sure my car would do that though

 

[onomatopoeia]

Most tracks will use a decibel meter and measure the exhaust 1m from the car at 4,000 revs, noise limit depends on the track but last time I went to Combe was limited to 98Db which was luckt as at the time I was reading 98Db and 97Db frmo each pipe of the Mr2 I had at the time.

At Combe it depends on the planning permission for the day. For sprints it's 105dbA at 1/2 meter and 3/4 (or perhaps 2/3rd, would need to check) maximum rpm. For race meetings it's higher, for track days it's lower, 98dB as you say. I don't race or do track days, have been known to do sprints though, usually I end up as one of the event officials though.

 

[nilagin]

Tunnels - seek out tunnels.

The drive through with the windows open.

I did just that very thing last night through the Blackwall tunnel, not sure what other people thought though as the turbo whistled as it slowed down. I think perhaps they may have thought the tunnel was haunted.
This is my exhaust when revved, the puff of smoke is because it's deisel.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lt9OcCsLBio
I had the exhaust custom made for three reasons.
1. It disguises the diesel sound of the engine.
2. It allowed the car (along with other modifications) to be remapped from 155bhp to 190bhp
3. It is more economical, even when it is asked to sing at full volume.

 

[AJQS]

Four simple steps

1 - get in car
2 - open window
3 - rev engine
4 - listen

Ah but they sound so different when you're out of the car. I lent my car to my Dad for the day as his was being serviced, and I'm pretty used to the sound my car makes. When he arrived back I though my Neighbour must have arrived with his rally car because it sounded so beasty when it came back, looked out the window and it was just my Civic! Didn't realise quite how loud it really was!

 

[marcusp13]

The reason for just having a stupid backbox is lost on me, however I can understand having a full straight through system from the cat as (when coupled with other engine mods) can increase horsepower. But even this confuses me when you get it on little 1.1l scrapsos

 

[Lynton]

I did just that very thing last night through the Blackwall tunnel, not sure what other people thought though as the turbo whistled as it slowed down. I think perhaps they may have thought the tunnel was haunted.
This is my exhaust when revved, the puff of smoke is because it's deisel.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lt9OcCsLBio
I had the exhaust custom made for three reasons.
1. It disguises the diesel sound of the engine.
2. It allowed the car (along with other modifications) to be remapped from 155bhp to 190bhp
3. It is more economical, even when it is asked to sing at full volume.

And I trust your insurer knows all about these mods!!!

 

[stupar]

And I trust your insurer knows all about these mods!!!

Poo stirrer

Personally I don't get the whole car tuning malarky.
I did that in my teens and rapidly grew out of it. Whats the point in bolting X,Y & Z onto your car when ultimately you are still restricted by the law (well for those who obey it and don't make their cars sing at full volume)

 

[nilagin]

And I trust your insurer knows all about these mods!!!

Yes. I knew exactly what I wanted to do to the car when I bought it last year. So when renewal came up, I specified every planned modification as if already fitted to the car.
The insurance started in October and I only did the last of the modifications last month. I wonder if it works that they could negate your insurance for not having carried out the notified modifications.

 

[nilagin]

Poo stirrer

Personally I don't get the whole car tuning malarky.
I did that in my teens and rapidly grew out of it. Whats the point in bolting X,Y & Z onto your car when ultimately you are still restricted by the law (well for those who obey it and don't make their cars sing at full volume)

I'm 48. Second childhood? >
The main reason I applied all the modifications is to allow the car to rev and drive more freely like a petrol. As a plus side my economy does not suffer in fact it has got better. Averaging 60mpg over a full tank from a 2.2 ST TDCi Mondeo is a great bonus. If I were to drive it very carefully and spend alot of time on motorway cruising I can get mid to high 60's, but I do love the sound of the exhaust.

 

[stupar]

If I were to drive it very carefully and spend alot of time on motorway cruising I can get mid to high 60's

Is that you admitting that you thrash it everywhere then

 

[Lynton]

Poo stirrer

Not in the slightest, just having worked with underwriters and variois insurers......... some are looking to pay out if they can, some will invalidate a policy for fitting an aftermarket exhaust and not declaring it claiming a power increase.

Personally, I could not give a poo............. not going to make any differnece to me, however, many, not necessarily the above, does not realise their duty to provide info.

 

[stupar]

Not in the slightest, just having worked with underwriters and variois insurers......... some are looking to pay out if they can, some will invalidate a policy for fitting an aftermarket exhaust and not declaring it claiming a power increase.

Personally, I could not give a poo............. not going to make any differnece to me, however, many, not necessarily the above, does not realise their duty to provide info.

Only messing with ya mate, wasn't being serious!

 

[WP-UK]

When he arrived back I though my Neighbour must have arrived with his rally car because it sounded so beasty when it came back, looked out the window and it was just my Civic! Didn't realise quite how loud it really was!

This is what I found.. Sounded different to what I was used to. It's a 1.3 and I accept it's crap this was just the stock exhaust, personally wouldn't bother sticking anything better on it lol.

 

[onomatopoeia]

And I trust your insurer knows all about these mods!!!

As another owner of modified vehicles ...

The insurer of my Clan Crusader stage rally car doesn't know about most of the mods (and there are a great many, very little is standard). I offered to list them all and they said that since I had insured it as an MSA logbooked competition vehicle they didn't need or want to know the details. Just the capacity and whether it was forced induction or naturally aspirated.

I'm used to filling out about four sides of A4 for the Singer when I insure that and it's much less modified than the Clan.

 

[nilagin]

Is that you admitting that you thrash it everywhere then

I don't have to thrash it to be honest, with 326lb/ft of torque, just a bit of extra pressure see's the car take off quick enough especially uphill. I like to give it a good boot full once in the while just to clear any soot buildup. If I do give it full throttle, the car can be heard at least 1/4 of a mile away, or so workmates have told me.