Sound at SASC Events

[DannyO]

I was one of the marshals running the meter - I was almost apologetic for brushing off the driver that came by to complain while we were manning the meter (please don't do this).  We're competitors as well, and it's not to most complex thing to understand.  You know you're loud - we're not the "sound police" or there to ruin the event.  I really appreciate Wayne's clarification and the others for chiming in - it's not the sound meter or the marshal's fault that your car is loud.

The monitoring was more than fair - come on...a tip pointed away from the meter is spoofing the meter, bot reducing sound pressure!

I hope this wasn't me that you thought was complaining. I was in the #68 car and came by after my final run to see if that box had made any difference to the sound levels and also to see what others were running before heading over to my station. I definitely wasn't complaining, I know my car has hit the sound limits at times in the past.

[Reijo]

There were a couple of people who were "rather excited" or "concerned" whom I spoke to (not you).

However, the way I took it was that it was not a personal attack (it is easy to assume that and I understand that ... we human beings are "reaction machines" and we need to grow from this and realize this fact).

Some times people just need to be heard and know that they were heard.  Usually when they have a chance to say their piece, and feel that they have been understood, then we can move on and work on the problem or issue or whatever was causing the angst).

In this case, the reaction from them was exasperation on their part with a baffling situation or seemingly odd sound readings.

They did not want to be loud.

But, rather, I guess they felt something somewhere was wrong and "How the hell can the car be over now whereas it was ok before?". 

I understood that really well because we were facing the same thing in our car (hope I didn't offend anyone either ... nothing personal was meant at all!). 

All of sudden the car got louder?  Huh?  WTH?  Something has to be wrong somewhere was the feeling/impression.

[SKI-R]

Well, sound limits are LIMITS....

Whether it's w.o.t. or liftoff and exhaust burble or B.O.V. release - the same limit applies.  Unless the meter calibration is off there's no need to apologize - you should be able to have sound meters everywhere on the course without anyone exceeding maximums.

Well, if we put a sound meter right behind the exhaust pipe of all cars, I guarantee all cars will fail.....every single one, even with stock exhaust.

So unless you have some valid scientific reason, that is just nonsense.  Maybe we should think of the children too ... and the world is going to end etc.  That's the same kind of reasoning.  Nonsense.

R

Seriously Reijo?! 

That's what you understood from what I wrote? 

Disappointing in the least, regardless of the respect I have for you.

[Reijo]

Well, sound limits are LIMITS....

Whether it's w.o.t. or liftoff and exhaust burble or B.O.V. release - the same limit applies.  Unless the meter calibration is off there's no need to apologize - you should be able to have sound meters everywhere on the course without anyone exceeding maximums.

Well, if we put a sound meter right behind the exhaust pipe of all cars, I guarantee all cars will fail.....every single one, even with stock exhaust.

So unless you have some valid scientific reason, that is just nonsense.  Maybe we should think of the children too ... and the world is going to end etc.  That's the same kind of reasoning.  Nonsense.

R

Seriously Reijo?! 

That's what you understood from what I wrote? 

Disappointing in the least, regardless of the respect I have for you.

 
Yeah, seriously ... your post came across as pretty offensive so I threw it back to you.  It came across as an f-u to me.  Very simple - back at ya! 

Anyway, it sounds like that was not your intention?
 
Therefore, let's get this straight then, exactly what did you mean to say?  The message did not get across obviously.  So, please clarify.

Reijo

[Stuart]

Well, sound limits are LIMITS....

Whether it's w.o.t. or liftoff and exhaust burble or B.O.V. release - the same limit applies.  Unless the meter calibration is off there's no need to apologize - you should be able to have sound meters everywhere on the course without anyone exceeding maximums.

Well, if we put a sound meter right behind the exhaust pipe of all cars, I guarantee all cars will fail.....every single one, even with stock exhaust.

So unless you have some valid scientific reason, that is just nonsense.  Maybe we should think of the children too ... and the world is going to end etc.  That's the same kind of reasoning.  Nonsense.

R

Seriously Reijo?! 

That's what you understood from what I wrote? 

Disappointing in the least, regardless of the respect I have for you.

 
Yeah, seriously ... your post came across as pretty offensive so I threw it back to you.  It came across as an f-u to me.  Very simple - back at ya! 

Anyway, it sounds like that was not your intention?
 
Therefore, let's get this straight then, exactly what did you mean to say?  The message did not get across obviously.  So, please clarify.

Reijo

I took SKI-R's comment to mean that if you put the meter anywhere along the track at the proper 50ft offset your car should be able to meet the limit, not just at the point of full throttle but also approaching corners or at the finish where people may be lifting off, or at locations where turbo BOV's would be opening.  We never know where each individual car is going to be making the most noise as even at a location where everyone is full throttle will be at a wide range of RPM's which will also be a major variable in the overall sound readings. 

I remember at Packwood in 2013 there was an rotary car that was having major backfires when he lifted the throttle, loud enough that you could hear it echo off the surrounding hills.  His sound readings were nothing special yet if he was running at YYC I guarantee the hotel would have been calling bylaw at the very least (or the police due to the sound of gunfire near the airport).  This is why it is important to recognize the noise of an entire run vs the reading on one side of one section of track.

[nnywg]

On a tangent to what Stuart just posted.  I was over at the Tim Hortons for my break while the second run group was out in the morning.  Something was backfiring like mad and I could hear it loud and clear over there, which is quite a distance, and there is a tall building in the way.  If I didn't know any better I would've thought gunshots for sure.

I also wanted to say some cars (like the 911 GT3) are just loud from the factory.  While the rules still apply, you can't always fault the driver for putting unreasonable mods on their car.  I was mainly plugging my ears for the n/a V8 cars, some of which have exhausts dumping in front of the rear axle. 

[94boosted]

There were definitely some questionable readings, very inconsistent from one run to the next and obviously inconsistent with previous events. While I fully agree that there will be changes in SPL from one event to another due to temperature, wind, ambient noise etc. in my opinion there really shouldn't be such large swings in SPL (4-5dB+) from the same car from one event to another. I've sent a message to the manufacturer of our sound meter to see what sort of calibration is required and when. On a side note has anyone seen the hard carrying case? Within that case I believe there were instructions.

Hindsight is always 20/20 but I do wish we moved the meter to a different location for the afternoon runs to be sure.

if you put the meter anywhere along the track at the proper 50ft offset your car should be able to meet the limit, not just at the point of full throttle but also approaching corners or at the finish where people may be lifting off, or at locations where turbo BOV's would be opening.  We never know where each individual car is going to be making the most noise as even at a location where everyone is full throttle will be at a wide range of RPM's which will also be a major variable in the overall sound readings. 

As per the rules though we're meant to only be taking the measurement at a section of the track where a car can reasonably be expected to be at WOT, though I agree that Joe Blow doesn't care if it's engine noise, BOV, tire squeal, backfire etc. etc. but trying to enforce and regulate anything other than engine/exhaust noise is very difficult and arbitrary.

[SKI-R]

See Stuart's explanation of my intended message. 

I appreciate your passion.

[94boosted]

On a tangent to what Stuart just posted.  I was over at the Tim Hortons for my break while the second run group was out in the morning.  Something was backfiring like mad and I could hear it loud and clear over there, which is quite a distance, and there is a tall building in the way.  If I didn't know any better I would've thought gunshots for sure.

I also wanted to say some cars (like the 911 GT3) are just loud from the factory.  While the rules still apply, you can't always fault the driver for putting unreasonable mods on their car.  I was mainly plugging my ears for the n/a V8 cars, some of which have exhausts dumping in front of the rear axle.

I myself and also Duane I believe spoke with him about that, iirc he changed something in his tune to stop/reduce that. On that topic I'd also like to add that most that were given warnings about sound were polite and professional and did try to make a change (I saw folks packing steel wool into the muffler, a silencer, a turndown, adjusting the active exhaust valves etc.) to those folks, thank you.

[E6Cueman]

At the request of the original poster I've locked this topic.  The club executive will discuss further.

Those with more to add might consider attending our monthly club meetings.