Anti-Noise Group Honked-Off At Noisy Hot Rods

CNSNews.com ^ | October 5, 2002 | Michael L. Betsch

[H8DEMS]

(CNSNews.com) - A national organization devoted to fighting noise pollution has taken its battle to the streets, to combat loud exhaust systems installed in cars after they are sold.

Noise Free America spokesman Mark Huber says the manufacturers of hot rod mufflers are selling a product that is "lawlessly terrorizing" neighborhoods across America.

The Richmond, Va.-based group insists that noise pollution is a serious health hazard. It mentions hearing damage, sleep deprivation, aggression, chronic fatigue and high blood pressure as specific maladies stemming from our noisy world.

Noise Free America recently awarded Flowmaster, Inc., a manufacturer of high- performance, after-market mufflers and exhaust systems, with its Noisy Dozen award, an "honor" given to the nation's worst noise polluters.

According to Huber, Flowmaster was singled out for aggressively marketing products that bother people and are even illegal in some states. He said Flowmaster and other companies that distribute the noisy mufflers systems specifically boast about the "deep aggressive tone" or "deep throaty rumble" that their products produce.

A diverse cross-section of teens and twenty-somethings are installing the equipment that sells for thousands of dollars.

An article in Flowmaster's customer magazine, Power Press, acknowledges that there's a strong demand for loud exhaust systems: "Market surveys continually show...that many buyers purchase a Flowmaster system because of its unique and distinctive sound."

But Huber said he sees nothing desirable in Flowmaster's product line.

"For some reason, both fans of after-market exhausts and 'boom cars' seem to be obsessed with the lower frequency noises, which can disturb more people at a greater distance in all directions from their vehicle," he said. "Sounds of a lower pitch or frequency travel further and penetrate solids, such as windows and exterior walls of homes more easily than sounds of a higher pitch."

Illegal equipment

According to Huber, it is completely legal for manufacturers such as Flowmaster to market and sell their exhaust systems. However, he said, as soon as the car owner installs the equipment and hits the road, that car owner could be breaking the law.

Huber said approximately 40 states prohibit the modification of exhaust systems contrary to factory specifications. Virginia is one such state, he said.

Virginia's State Code (Sec. 46.2-1049) specifically states, "No person shall drive and no owner of a motor vehicle shall permit or allow the operation of any vehicle on a highway unless it is equipped with an exhaust system of a type installed as standard factory equipment, or comparable to that designed for use on the particular vehicle as standard factory equipment, in good working order and in constant operation to prevent excessive or unusual noise."

But he said local and state police are lax in their enforcement of the state code in cases where vehicles equipped with noisy after-market exhaust systems are clearly in violation of the law.

Contrary to Huber's observation, Virginia State Police spokesman Sergeant Morris said the law enforcement officers statewide are cracking down on illegally installed exhaust systems; it's just that some counties don't enforce the law as strictly as others, he said.

"Different people have different things that they go after, fortunately or unfortunately," Morris said. "They have some police officers in Chesterfield County who are sticklers for those mufflers."

He said Chesterfield County's local police force writes a lot of tickets for vehicles with noisy mufflers because the devices are not standard factory equipment, nor are they compatible with standard factory equipment, as state code mandates.

However, Morris said judges in Virginia's county court system often rule against officers who issued tickets for noise violations. "Some will convict, some won't," he said.

Assault on freedom

Huber believes that people who purchase noisy mufflers see them as "some sort of extension of their personality that they want to share with the whole world."

"That's where the line is crossed," he said. "That's where they take away my freedom and they rob quiet off of my property and out of my personal space."

Aside from being a threat to public safety and an assault on the quality of life, Huber believes the tailpipe rumblings also affect the property values of homes within earshot of the hot rods.

He pointed to studies showing that homes located near airports lose almost two percent of their property value per decibel level emitted by jumbo jets. Similarly, he said, owners of vehicles that produce "aggressive, muscle car sound" may decrease the value of homes.

Noise Free America takes a grassroots approach to noise pollution. It lobbies politicians, even supplying model legislation, to address what it perceives as a health problem.

Flowmaster defends its products

"We have been in the business for over 20 years - and not by advocating that people break the law," said a Flowmaster spokesman who refused to identify himself to CNSNews.com . "That's why we make off-road products and products for street and emission vehicles as well."

According to the Flowmaster spokesman, the company designs exhaust systems for "race cars" based on the good-faith assumption that they will be installed on track-based race cars - not open-road passenger vehicles.

However, he said, "People, when they buy their cars and trucks, are free to do whatever they want, to a point. They go beyond that, oftentimes, and get in trouble."

[stainlessbanner]

My buddy owned a few early 80's rx-7s. He would run one in the ground and then buy another one, like changing socks! Never been to the beach quicker than in one of those little rockets - they are wound tight. I like the V-8 power, the rx-7 was a little squirrly, but no doubt fast as lightn'n!

[nobdysfool]

Noise Free America spokesman Mark Huber says the manufacturers of hot rod mufflers are selling a product that is "lawlessly terrorizing" neighborhoods across America.

Some people just can't stand anyone else not being as miserable as they are...this guy needs to get a life! If you don't like the noise, move to the country! Get used to it! There is no requirement that other people must meet his standards. I'm sure there's something that he does that drives other people crazy, too. Let's find out what that is, make a big fuss over that, and see how he likes it...

[al_c]

You know you are a riceboy if...
...You find yourself using the excuse, "yo, but you gots twice as many cylindas, as I do" after every race.
...you drive a 4 door 'Type R'
...your drooping, gumby pants make it hard to shift
...more than 20 of your mods involve shielding whats under the hood
...you have stickers plastered all over your car that even most Asians don't get
...you have stickers for parts that you don't even have
...you have stickers for parts that aren't even MADE for your car
...you refer to a 50hp NOS system as "The big shot"
...when you drive down the road, WW II vets run for cover
...your car has SO much camber, it can drive on it's side
...your exhaust tip diameter is 4 times the size of the inner diameter of your muffler
...birds make nests on your spoiler, because it is taller than the trees
...you sell crack for the image, not the money
...you have N/T on the side window in shoe polish, but don't have a clue as to what bracket racing is
...you will only race if the other guy removes enough sparks plugs to equal yours
...you can't race uphill
...you have "All Motor" on your rear hatch, right next to your 15.5 dial-in
...you brag about your nitrous system, but dial-in at 14.5
...your exhaust system for your 1.8L is bigger than most Pro-Stock cars
...you spent more money on stickers than your parents paid for the car
...you go to performance shops and immediatly start digging in the decal bin
...your tach is bigger than your head
...you have a shift light, and you let your automatic shift by it's self
...you refuse to race because your car is for show only
...your only mods are cut factory springs and a 5" chrome exhaust tip
...at autocross events you don't run because you have a drag race setup, and at drag racing events, you brag about how you kick ass at autocross
...you have more lights on the front of your car than the USS Voyager
...you brag about the turbo or NOS kit that never seems to get installed
...your exhaust sounds like a swarm of bees, or a dying moose
...your bright green $300 air filter is bigger than your engine

www.riceboypage.com

[stainlessbanner]

You can spot a "JC-Whitney" special a mile-a-way!

[billbears]

ROTFLMBO!!!!!

[stainlessbanner]

Good post - The windshield banner says TURD!

[HELLRAISER II]

My boy likes the RX 7's but I would have trouble fitting in them, at 6'2" & 290 lb's I fit in my MX 6 just fine but I could never be comfortable in the RX 7. But you are right about one thing, those rotary engines are unbelievably strong and fast.

[HELLRAISER II]

You know I get tired of all those Honda's to, that's why when I bought a 4 cyl. I went with a Mazda instead. The Honda's are way over rated, however occasionally one of them will suprise you on performance if they're dialed in right with a turbo or NOS. I personally don't run NOS, 1 good run with NOS isn't worth blowing up my motor.

[templar]

Apparently now a loud muffler is a terrorist act

Of course it is in todays America. The same as anyone we hate politically is a Traitor, or a NAZI. After all, those people who attacked the WTC aren't really anwy worse than someone with a loud muffler, so lets equate them.

As I've iterated on other threads (and been attacked for so doing):

Words have meaning.
Words have power.
Use them carefully.

[nobdysfool]

Heart attacks, high blood pressure, jumpiness and anxiety are sufficient cause to ban this junk

Gee, and here all this time we've been told that those things are caused by bad diet, lack of exercise, genetics, and the fast pace of modern life...we've been lied to! It's those damn loud mufflers! yeah, right....

[1FreeAmerican]

In my town most of the Harley's have straight pipes- no muffler at all! When 3 or 4(and sometimes many more) are lined-up at the signal and take off the roar will shut out anything!!

[HELLRAISER II]

Toyota Racing Development, I know your just ragging but have you ever run up against a Toyota Supra? Some of these cars are bad to the bone.

[Charles Martel]

You can spot a "JC-Whitney" special a mile-a-way!

Yep, it's been like that for as long as I can remember, too. It used to be the pimpmobile naked-lady and "flying swan with colored plastic wings" hood ornaments, now it's this "riceboy" garbage. If you've been in one of the large auto parts chain stores such as Pep Boys lately, you probably know that they have an aisle full of those decals and other assorted "sport-compact" rubbish.

I still deal with the old independant parts dealers whenever I can. You know, the guys with a rack of greasy books on the sales counter - the only computer is the 486 in the back office that they use for billing. If the shop has bare concrete floors and an old housecat sleeping on the shelf next to the STP Oil Treatment, so much the better. :-)

[billbears]

You know that's what I was always led to believe. The quickest way to get rid of an engine is to run NOS. But from my understanding the mix or something is different now. At least that's according to over priced Hot Rod. Maybe one more reason I read Car Craft

[justshutupandtakeit]

I know what happens to my blood pressure and heart rate when one of those "Bunker Busters" goes by my house at night. While some consider me an anomaly I don't believe I am unique in this case.

[Xenalyte]

I love pulling up at the light when the car next to me is playing loud rap. Drowns it out completely.

I do the same thing, but with talk radio. Nothing pisses off a post-teen more than Rush and O'Reilly drowning out Xzibit.

(Not that there's anything wrong with Xzibit.)

[MissMillie]

I like to call them "members of the club."

"What club?" you ask.

The teeeny weeny peeny club.

[templar]

I happen to like the "muscle car sound" coming from a well tuned V-8.

And what of those who don't? When I was a kid they used to offer an exhaust cutout system. That way you could use your quiet factory muffler in the city and an open pipe system in the country (to gain the alledged mileage and power benefits). In practice, the factory system was usen only when the presence of police was feared, and the open system was never used in the country.

[billbears]

A diverse cross-section of teens and twenty-somethings are installing the equipment that sells for thousands of dollars

What kind of Flowmaster system costs 'thousands of dollars'?

[billbears]

So what about women that like the sound and the rumble. Is there something deficient with them as well?