SO ANNOYED
 

Got stopped last night by the police for having a loud exhaust! They put the decibel tester on it and now im getting fined £30! I spent over 600 on that exhaust is there anything i can do guys!?

which exhaust and how many dB for it to be classed as "too loud" -

do you think the police can be discretionary

As I'm sure your all aware that there are laws regarding the noise levels of car exhausts. The Police can only issue a ticket and associated fine if the db test proves that the exhaust being tested exceeds that level.

They can also issue you with a ticket which effectively makes you change your exhaust and then you have to go to an MOT station to obtain a test certificate stating that the exhaust fitted to the car does not exceed the db limit for an MOT.

The second one is the ticket most people will be issued with but if the db test kit comes out your exhaust IS loud and you know it. They dont get this kit out for the fun of it and they cant issue a ticket and fine based on the issueing Officers personal noise level via him/her listening to your exhaust.

At the end of the day if you fit one of the louder type exhaust you know your close to the mark as it were. Just make sure you have a standard or quieter style exhaust to change over too should this happen. The exhausts on the market that are legal regarding db levels in the UK will be clearly marked as such, if not then its up to you. A legal exhaust will come with some form of proof/certificate and in the event of this sort of thing happening you just mention this when pulled over and you should just be given a producer. Then pop down to the cop-shop show your documents and the exhaust paperwork and everything should be a-ok.

Don't get me wrong, I love the sound of a Scoob burbling away, but systems from HKS and the like are VERY loud and the Police will be drawn to your car if fitted with one, so dont be surprised when you do get pulled :(

Just found this by the way ;)

"The current noise limit is 74 dB(A). It should be noted that off-road vehicles are allowed to be 1dB(A) louder, as are direct injection diesels and these are cumulative i.e. the limit for an off-road vehicle with a direct injection diesel is 76 dB(A)".

What is the mark showing an exhaust is UK noise legal?

I thought the requirement was that the exhaust be 'e' marked, and that only the Prodrive PPP system actually was - anything else is technically on dodgy ground, and the louder it is the more likely you are to be pulled for it.

Also what's the score with imports? A Japanese-spec car that passes SVA needn't have an 'e' mark anywhere on it, so are there different rules?

Custom systems do not have e marking.

Brian :D

Pretty sure you should be looking for a British Standard Kite Mark or the 'E' mark. The markings should be on the tail pipe but if there arent any then it doesnt conform to UK law.

With regard to import cars, i'm not sure what the rules are for them, will find out ;)

lol

Ok so in other words im screwed? Its a full hayward + scott system but i was never told it WASNT road legal. It tested at 115 db - pretty loud i guess. So pissed off.....

Noise doubles with every 3 dB. 115 db is a ludicrous amount of noise, and most people would find it offensively and intrusively loud. Not cool.

My standard Focus RS was 79 db at Castle coombe when tested for a track day ???
That was like a sowing machine upto a scooby ;)

Performance exhausts are okay in general but I would be a little narked if you drove by my house at 3AM with a 115db exhaust which is apparently equivalent to an ambulance siren. Just playing devils advocate.

lol...a pneumatic drill is 100db, your exhaust must make people's ears bleed.

I have a Power Engineering T75 back box and on the PE website it says that it conforms to noise and emissions regs but they cannot produce any paperwork for me to prove it! does anyone else have this Back box and have any paperwork for it.

Cheers

Steve

It was 115 db at 4000 revs. I didnt buy it for noise, i hadnt even heard a h+s till i got mine. Bought it purely for performance. Fair point but i dont drive my car at stupid hours in the morning so i dont see myself waking anyone up. Anyhow have i got any rights? can i get my money back? what if i go to court, do i have any legs? positive answers plz!

Tough. It's a good job they didn't do a roadside emissions test too, if you've had a decat.

I got pulled for a Blitz Nur SPec - though they didnt have a db tester - told the exhaust had to have a kite mark, and to get the noise level tested at an MOT station.

Went to the MOT station who said a noise check is not part of the MOT, so they signed the paperwork to say I was OK - they also told me the only exhausts with kite marks etc were motorbike exhausts!

Why would an imported car have a british kite mark on it?

They've been doing emissions tests round my way all year! Decat boys have been very lucky so far, though! :)

Is there a noise test in the normal MOT, or is it just for emissions?

What do people do if they get caught with a loud pipe? Change it back to a legal one, get producer stamped by MOT station, pay fine, lie low for a while, put loud pipe back on again when the dust has settled?

Just wondering as i'm getting a Blitz Nur Spec R at the weekend. It's cat back (theres only 1 cat on a P1 in the downpipe) so i know i'll be safe on emissions. I guess i'll just have to be discrete around town - maybe i'll get better MPG trying to keep quiet!

>Anyhow have i got any rights?
If your system falls out side whats legal, no.

>can i get my money back?
No

>what if i go to court, do i have any legs?
Don't even bother going to court, you will be landed with costs in addition to the fine you already have. People I know who have been stopped with exhausts that are not legal have swapped them for their old systems, had an MOT station test the car and stamp their paperwork. Then off to the boys in blue with the paper work showing that everything is ok. Then swap the exhaust back.

You have no legs, stumpy ;) , 115 is bloody loud!

How did you work that one out?

If a product is sold as legal for road use, and turns out not to be, then how can you say that you have no comeback against the supplier?

You won't win the right to use the exhaust on the road, of course, but I can't think of any reason why you shouldn't try to get a refund from the supplier. It all hinges on how the system was described - road legal or 'off-road use only' (or some such euphemism).

Why not speak to Hayward and Scott and ask their opinion. They made the exhaust and surely must stand by their work.

0db (20µPa) Silence, Threshold of Hearing
-Safe-

10db Lowest Audible Sound
-Safe-

20db (2µPa) Watch Ticking, Whisper, Still night in country
-Safe-

30db Quiet Garden, Quiet Conversation
-Safe-

40db (0.2µPa) Suburban Street (No Traffic)
-Safe-

50db Bank of a Stream, Quiet Office
-Safe-

60db (0.02Pa) Normal Conversation
-Safe-

70db Noisy Restaurant or Office
-Safe-

80db (0.2Pa) Electric Typewriter 46cm, Factory Floor, Loud Music
-Safe-

90db Lorry Revving at 5 metres, CO2 Pellet Gun 30cm, High Street
-Risk of injury-

100db (2Pa) Loud Rock Concert
-Risk of injury-

110db Thunder, Foundry
-Risk of injury-

120db (20Pa) Jet Aircraft 6 metres, Pneumatic Drill 1 metre, Threshold of Pain
-Probable Injury-

Noise generate by Concorde (measured at a distance of 450m laterally, and when Concorde was 0 - 100m high) at full thrust was 112db!

So at 115db I guess your exhaust was a tad loud! The police don't go around with noise testing kit as a general rule, so I'd say you've probably been upsetting some of your neighbours...

115db LMAO!

Here are some examples of how loud that is:

http://www.lhh.org/noise/decibel.htm

You're just quieter than these:

120 thunder
120 jet plane (at ramp)
120 ambulance siren
117 football game (stadium)
120 band concert
120 pneumatic drills, heavy machine
120 chain saw, hammer on nail

hohoho :)

Hopefully the quieter ninja backbox I just ordered will not have this problem ;)

Ok thanks guys, ill need to get an oe exhaust i guess. Just gutted like i say i spent over 600 on that system and now i have to take it off cos of some anal **** who probably has no life, no crack + no balls....
Ho-hum.

could try a quieter BB I guess... why get rid of the whole thing?

Milltek do a whole system that passes all regulations.... emissons/sound Plus max performance gains.... just an idea?

Yeah thanks matey i might give that a try. Im gonna speak to h+s see what they say.
Cheers.

M8, I'm sort of reading into this that maybe the reading taken was wrong.

If it truly was 115db, you would really notice. You seem to think its not that bad, are you sure the measurement was correct.

Alternatively, you might want to get your hearing checked.

get a bung made for it :)

my mates got a bung for his skyline, it passes the noise test now, still pulls ok, but gets removed for track days as it slightly restricts the power output.

I agree with Matt, 115db & youd know about it ...unless you've gone deaf! :D

Get a second independant test done m8