I have a double regional at Gateway this weekend (which you guys should join, I'm the only one registered) and the sound limit is 103db. Can I stay under that w/o supertrapp?
I have a double regional at Gateway this weekend (which you guys should join, I'm the only one registered) and the sound limit is 103db. Can I stay under that w/o supertrapp?
#18 Formula Mazda
When is the last time you had a reading at a track?
If seems like from other posts you have a serious concern about your muffler. You have one sure fire remedy. Just buy another one and carry it around with you. After about 8 races you'll need to replace it or use a super trap. I had a pipe made that attaches to the end of my muffler that I face away from the sound meter. So far, so good.
Weren't you at Barber a month or so ago? Did they say anything to you? If not you were under 103. Just take your supertrap with you or get a pipe made you can turn away from the sound monitor. Bruce has some of those pipes already made up. He can probably ship you one pretty fast...
At almost any racetrack, if you point a directional pipe away from the meter your FM should be good. BUT...at a place like Gateway could the sound bouncing off the oval wall be trouble for a car that depends on direction? If it is, try pointing it straight up.
Dale V.
Lake Effect Motorsports
FM
Spartan VP-2/Mazda
thespeedconnection.com
Depends on where the meter is and what the engine is doing when you pass it. I would come prepared with the super trap and the ability (new nuts and bolts) to tune the super trap stack accordingly.
A lot of people are cutting the elbow off of an old supertrapp muffler and then bolting it to the car's muffler. You can then clock it around away from the meter location. You can weld on a second flange and still be able to bolt on the tuning plates if you want.
Last edited by Dave Cutchins; 04.17.13 at 8:04 AM.
Dave Cutchins
Stohr F-1000
Thanks all! I will take a supertrapp, and try to get a turn around in time.
#18 Formula Mazda
It shouldn't be a big deal if you don't get something figured out for this weekend. The last I heard, we are not going to be recording and enforcing sound at this event.
Bryon Prokopf
St. Louis Region T&S Chief
You could pass 103 without the supertrapps. But if the overcast is low and there are other conditions, you could meatballed for 106+. Been there.
Bring some plates and the endplate (cover). You only need the cover and a few plates to make sound. Put some fat (spacer) nuts in between the plates and you'll have virtually no backpressure but still be under 103.
Ted/FM # 13
Shoe String Racing
On a Wing & a Prayer
No sound at this event, so I'm good, but I was told that my car is the loudest here. Probably have to use supertrapp for future sound-limited events.
#18 Formula Mazda
Don't want to sound like a buzzkill hippy or anything, but there is a reason these events have sound limits. Usually the tracks that post and enforce sound limits, are in constant conflict with the surrounding towns, or even a couple of vocal neighbors. Pointing your exhaust away from the meter so it barely passes (but is obviously still louder than the proposed limit..) is doing the track no favors and could eventually jeopardize your ability to race there in the future..
Just sayin'
Driving up at BIR, we have a sound meter going into turn 2. The drag strip is in use at the same time as our races. Those top fuel guys put out huge noise. It's funny that there is no monitoring of the top fuel guys, but we are down at 102Db. Hardly seems fair. Guess the 4 second bursts are Ok, but our 1:40 laps don't give neighbors a break.
When I was out at Laguna Seca a few years back, there was apparently a requirement to have the track time end at some predetermined hour. When the event went a few minutes too long, the neighbors called and complained. It is going to get tougher at our tracks in the future. The issue I have with it is these complainers move into the area then complain about the tracks that have been there for decades.
They do the same at airports...
"An analog man living in a digital world"
Laguna is a prime example of when a "sound budget" controls
1. which days are unlimited (pro money making events) and which days are 103 (SCCA) and which are 92 or even 90 (track day clubs), and
2. what hours are 103 (mid day at SCCA) and which are less (down to 95 in early AM and later PM).
So I'd be willing to bet the dragsters get a pass on sound because their events are few and far between compared to the daily track day clubs and more important, they bring in money.
Ted/FM # 13
Shoe String Racing
On a Wing & a Prayer
Interesting discussion, I did think it was a bit odd that there were dragsters running right next to us that were way louder than any club racing car I've heard. They didn't run sound, so it was a non-issue, but it seems weird to run 103db limits on some cars and unlimited on others. The dragsters running while I was there were not the top level cars with tons of spectators, it looked like amateur rail cars.
#18 Formula Mazda
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