How loud is your car in cruise?
 

So daily driving this S2000 has become a headache.

It has a full 3" exhaust off the turbo (wg plumbed into exhaust) with two rear mufflers and no resonator. I never had any complaints with my turbo 1.9L with its 3" exhaust to magnaflow straight thru muffler, it was actually really quiet. But mothe r f ucker is this Honda ever loud!

Although its not the most accurate thing in the world Im getting approx 92dB on my dB meter app, vs my stock civic si which reads about 75dB @ 100km/h

Anyone ever measure how loud it is inside there car in cruise? (windows/top up obviously)


Time for electric exhaust cutouts and different mufflers maybe?

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1334740106

I would do this but I don't want the cutouts to flow thru the resonators aswell, kinda defeats the pupose of cutouts if they are being restricted.

Then again I guess this car is still quiter than the FE3 in my Miata lol

So how many people here roll with earplugs? Or do you have your exhaust system are plugged up with cats and resonators?

mine is completely liveable (no drone, no loudness unless on pedal); wife approved. IIRC savington measured his (same muffler) at 82dB.


----

I see no benefit to those cutouts but for MORE NOISE.

You want less noise, get bigger mufflers.
/thread

Mine is pretty loud..but very deep. 3" no cat and one "resonator" in place of a muffler. Driving normally requires and elevated voice to carry on conversation, but when the WG opens, it's RACE CAR ON. The last auto-X I did I hit the dB meter with 91 at WOT....115dB if I backfired. I think since the exhaust was new that it has gotten louder and louder over the years. I'd be curious to know what it is now.

Strangely, Jenn's MSM with a 2.5" FM DP, a nd Enthuza 2.5" exhaust w/cat and resonator was louder than my car by a lot. The exhaust note was MUCH "sharper" than mine. In fact, it had just the right frequency that is caused a lot of vibrations through the exhaust adn now I can't keep one of the manifold studs tight. I did put the stock muffler back on (still having the 2.5" dp and mid-pipe) and the car sounds nice and sporty now...ver quiet inside the car when driving and deep/mellow outside the car and it's clear the exhaust note is not stock. Perfect.

Too loud. I even wear ear plugs driving on the street and anymore than 20 minutes, my ears are ringing after.

I have one small round Magnaflow muffer (14" iirc), 3" exhaust. I can't hear my engine if I'm beside my friend's skyline though, so I don't feel too bad.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-D...1024/photo.JPG

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1334756231

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1334756231

I think last time I measured mine on the highway, it was about 85db at 75mph. This is from about face level in the driver's seat with a cheap SPL meter. The biggest problem I have is that it drones really bad at 1700rpm and about 3500rpm, and a little bit at one spot in between. I currently have a 3" enthuza with a cat and 18" magnaflow. I want an exhaust like Brain's, maybe even with an extra resonator somewhere just for extra quietness. If I could get it stock-quiet, I would be a happy camper.

Mine is nice and quiet, looks like Brain's with the huge 3" Magnaflow.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1334763648

I'd vote to add a resonator, especially if you have a straight through test pipe on the car now. It'll be very easy to swap in, still straight through and will help to quiet it down a good bit.

it bugs the sh*t out of me that your install looks so much better than mine.

Damn... I thought mine sucked at 86dB at a 75mph cruise with the hard top on and the windows up.


That's measured on the 'Sound Meter' app on my Samsung Galaxy S2.

What are you guys measuring on?

I'll measure mine on the way home.

Brain, how is your muffler tucked up so nicely while all the NBs I've seen have a giant muffler dangling below the bumper? That has always bugged me about my exhaust.

i dunno.

Just loud enough so I can't hear all the sqeaks, rattles, vibrations and ---- being thrown up into the wheel wells. It's also too loud for my neighbours if it idles for more than 2 minutes.

I would swear Brainy has an NA, and not a NB.

He does. IIRC its a NA6, maybe a '92?

Yes, I guess my question was more whether the difference is his exhaust, or the car.

91

Reading fail. His sig clearly states it's a 91.

My full 3" looks like this.

https://www.miataturbo.net/picture.p...pictureid=2376

https://www.miataturbo.net/picture.p...pictureid=2323

There is plenty of room for a bigger muffler without it hanging down below the bumper.
Mine is also very tolerable. Its louder then the stock exhaust by a good bit but I never have a problem with it and neither does my girlfriend.

because y8sfabbed.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1334774092

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1334774059

The cutouts would be for dyno days/track events, the other 99% of the time it would be nice and quiet.

My miata had the same magnaflow as most of you guys and it was so much quieter then these duals.

quite and exactly the same speed, spool, torque, hp, etc.

I have a smaller, round magnaflow model.... 3". I keep ear plugs in the glove box for long drives.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1334784929

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u...a/107_0903.jpg

Mines..

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1334836789


Wind noise on the interstate with the top down is louder.

Tested mine with some free dB meter app, soft top and windows are UP for the tests.

idling in traffic: 55dB
engine off, at stoplight: 49-50dB

cruise top up (40-60mph): 72-74dB
cruise in nuetral same speeds: 67-68dB

WOT: 77-80dB

stereo on: 85-90dB


at worst, the exhaust is adding 7dB to the road/wind noise in cruise. At WOT, most the noise is coming form my intake.

Picked up a free app (Noise Meter) and tested this morning. Soft top and windows up, no stereo.

Exhaust is 2.5", no cat, straight through to a 14x9 Magnaflow.

Idle 53dB

5th gear cruise:
40mph 60dB
65mph 74dB

Mine is retarded loud. Ive got one of the quietest exhausts and it doesnt help.

Ive got road noise from the 275s (upgrading to a better tire to reduce noise). Sound from all the gaps. Realigning all the fenders and doors made a difference, and realigning the windows to seal better, helped. Gonna do ttop seals to kill the last of it. And when I finally get around to putting the carpet in, Ive got sound deadener, closed cell foam and some jute im putting down.

I cant stand a loud car anymore.

yeah my road noise is louder than anything else.

same here. i have a big magna muffler with 3inch from the turbo. cruising 60-80 on the highway the car is really quiet.

I have to wear earplugs because if I don't, and go WOT and QSV and WG open, I die.

In my old 3" setup, I still always wore earplugs.

When you guys measure dB you MUST measure dBA.

The 'A' weighting mimics the ear's response. Without it you get plain sound energy, and the bass will waaaaaay overstate the numbers.

The quietest straight-through muffler in cruise is probably the Dynomax VT muffler due to its spring loaded flapper:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1335057963

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1335057963

I did one better and cut the flapper out and installed it after the bigassest Magnaflow 3" muffler that fit. The effect on drone at light throttle was dramatic:

https://www.miataturbo.net/diy-turbo-discussion-14/my-3-custom-exhaust-spring-loaded-flapper-valve-62488/

I really like the dynomax, but when I looked they didnt have one that I thought would work well for the fbody.

2OTL for Opti. I also liked having the stock WS6 catback with dual cutouts before the Y. I currently have a HUGE Magnaflow on the Miata now.

I'm going to pick up a DBa meter next day I have off.

I'm running a 3" catback my self.. giant magnaflow muffler like 24" or something along with a 3" resonator and a 3" cat... Quiet as stock or a tiny bit louder. I barely hear it over the turbo whistling.

If i was to do it again, i'd run a cutout right before the cat right after the sensor and leave the stock exhaust on.

Currently its painted black.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1335068138

Any words on the reliability of that flapper? I had heard rumors that it didn't last as long as one would like (forever, really). I like the idea, but I want my exhaust to be forever, like a diamond.

I used a free app for my phone. I realize it's not even close to accurate, but I gave a few reference points to get the idea.

one more point of reference, my office measures 44 "dB"

The DSM/EVO guys have been running them for a while, and they tend to get less than a year out of them before they start to clatter at idle. I guess the little fiberglass cushion on the end of the flapper wanders off over time. They are moving a LOT of air, and run their cars quite a bit harder than most of us do, though (EGTs, race gas, etc) so one might last forever in a 300whp Miata where it only lasts months in a 600whp EVO. They also run them in the muffler, where JasonC runs his after the last muffler, so it will run MUCH cooler like that.

I now haz flapper backpressure data, suckaz!!

Difference between flapper normal, and flapper wired open, is < 0.2 psi!

I assume that's at WOT? What is the total pressure?

You need to put some more PSI's to the car so we can see pressure at full tilt.

According to my phone, the car sits around 76db at idle with the windows up. This is with a huge Magnaflow and 30 pounds of insulation.

?? The point of that particular dataset was to show the difference between flapper wired open vs. flapper sprung normally.

The whole dataset including full power (270 whp) is here: (<5 psi at 6000 RPM)
https://www.miataturbo.net/showpost....2&postcount=47

Mine isn't too bad. Full RB from header to exhaust tip, the resonated version mid-pipe. No carpets or sound deadening though. Carpet will soon go back in, so it will be more livable.

Just tried out the phone app. 93dbA at idle from the driver's seat windows down.

I don't know which app and phone you used, but mine maxes out at 93dB. Which mine reads in my car pretty much any time the car is moving.

suckers.

dB Meter Pro on the iPhone. No idea how accurate it is. Shows 54dBA in a silent bedroom.