90db limit on road cars?

[Hobbit]

A guy at work got du-nova by police/vosa last night, he got pulled by the feds than was asked to follow them to a lay by, where vosa held a meter a few feet from his exhaust and was told to rev his car upto 4k. As it was over 90db he was given a 30 quid fixed penalty and told to fix it.

I didnt know there was a set limit for exhaust noises but apparently this is a new thing?

Just a warning really...

[Jack]

Ha, he should have contested that.

There ARE noise limits, but in terms of MOT its down to tester discretion (and comparible to other cars in totally OEM form - for a fair test they'd need to have exactly the same car, same age, same mileage but completely standard there at the same time and do the test on that to compare). There is also Europe legislation which governs noise as well, but there isn't set limits - I believe the only time actual numbers are mentioned is for use in lab conditions. Suffice to say a db meter held near the exhaust by a VOSA rep doesn't satisfy these conditions.

Plus as well the meter could have picked up sound from other sources, or sound that had bounced off nearby objects thus magnifying it, etc. You get my drift.

[DAFTJOHN]

Ha, he should have contested that.

There ARE noise limits, but in terms of MOT its down to tester discretion (and comparible to other cars in totally OEM form - for a fair test they'd need to have exactly the same car, same age, same mileage but completely standard there at the same time and do the test on that to compare). There is also Europe legislation which governs noise as well, but there isn't set limits - I believe the only time actual numbers are mentioned is for use in lab conditions. Suffice to say a db meter held near the exhaust by a VOSA rep doesn't satisfy these conditions.

Plus as well the meter could have picked up sound from other sources, or sound that had bounced off nearby objects thus magnifying it, etc. You get my drift.Correct, I live near a harley shop and they're louder than 90db in standard form

[let_nova]

the other day i was taking the nova to tuck it up for winter.. copper came down to the lockup and said "bit loud that" he then went on to say that cars are not aloud to be any louder than when they come out the factory. I told him that it was off the road for 7 months anyway.... I was then told that he would pull me if he seen me on the road.

mso cars to have the same loudness and standard exhaust as when came out factory....

so where do i purchase a standard exhaust for a C20let nova officer?

[Ernie]

mine is 94db on combe's sound test at 4500 rpm so mite be ok ish.

[Stuart]

even the electric car sounding VX is 89db FFS!!!!!

bear in mind that for every 3db increase the actual noise level doubles (or something like that as its a log sacel not linear)

[Tidy Max]

we do sound testing, mainly for night clubs and football stadium etcs..acoustics ftw

[stevie-p]

my dad was wondering this too but ive hears some stupidly loud bikes and they have been dine else my dad's in trouble

[Lee H]

What about TVR's and the like, they are rediculously loud from the factory?

[George g]

I always thought that was the case with road cars, that 90db was the limit. I thought that was the reason that road rally cars had to be below this limit.

R/r rules state that the noise from the exhaust should not exceed 90db when measured from 0.5m, perpendicular to the tip of the exhaust at 2/3 max rpm. So it sounds like your mate got tested correctly.

But I would argue it as there was external pollution from the road noises. But just remember that for every db you increase, the noise level doubles. (so 4db is twice 3db... etc.)
Hth

[Rexy]

this is going to be funn if they start pulling up at shows lol.

Imagine if they banned exhausts which were aftermarket fitment ouhhhh the problems they make themselves are unreal. Granted anything above 120DB should be ****ing banned as there is nothing worse than hearing a car for about 30 mins razzing about at 1am in the morning.

[AlexW]

this is going to be funn if they start pulling up at shows lol.

Imagine if they banned exhausts which were aftermarket fitment ouhhhh the problems they make themselves are unreal. Granted anything above 120DB should be ****ing banned as there is nothing worse than hearing a car for about 30 mins razzing about at 1am in the morning.

There was a post on corsasport a while back about aftermarket exhausts and MOT's, aload of rubbish by the sounds lol.

And agreed with the 1am, 10mile chav in his ****ron ****so.

[Cle]

the other day i was taking the nova to tuck it up for winter.. copper came down to the lockup and said "bit loud that" he then went on to say that cars are not aloud to be any louder than when they come out the factory. I told him that it was off the road for 7 months anyway.... I was then told that he would pull me if he seen me on the road.

mso cars to have the same loudness and standard exhaust as when came out factory....

so where do i purchase a standard exhaust for a C20let nova officer?

The police come to your lock up ??? ahh i dont want a blast in mine when its fixed then lol

[matt_vaughan]

Mate of mine got pulled once by a copper who rekoned his Zorstek (think thats how they spell it) custom made (and to his spec he said he wanted it under 90db) backbox (to the tune of £170) was too loud, and told him to sort it out. I think its a case of get a jobsworth and they'll have something to say about the fist thing that springs to mind.

[NathanSRi]

When my brother was driving the Nova, he got pulled by the police for his exhaust. They never tested it or anything though, the just warned him with the £30 fine. He made up a few excuses and they said he had to fix it before they see him again. He made a removable silencer you get in some exhausts of eBay and put that in... for about 3 days lol then took it out and hasn't been pulled since

[Jack]

^ Yep, my Blitz exhaust on the GT4 has a silencer bung. I put it in once when I first put the exhaust on, then removed it and its stayed off ever since. I do however carry it in the car. Mind you, I don't consider the Celica to be that loud (the filter and turbo are pretty noisy though), unless I'm giving it beans and then thats only out of town on open roads so is unlikely to attract the attention of the local woodentops.

The Nova exhaust is pretty quiet too. Its just the engine that makes lots of noise there lol

[Ernie]

The Nova exhaust is pretty quiet too. Its just the engine that makes lots of noise there lol

Is that when the gearbox lets go ?



Again lol.

[Jack]

None of them have broken. Yet.

Despite trying :d

[Ernie]

you just change them for the hell of it lol

[large_steve182]

whats on the theory, my big stupid engine makes that noise not the exaust?
your engine has to be standard from factory aswell?