An article from EVO magazine

NOISY EXHAUSTS - GOOD OR BAD? By: Adam Shorrock

I understand why us petrolheads love the good raspy grunt of a car. Accelerating down one of my favourite roads on my way home from work last night, I was actually laughing at not only how quick the Mugen Civic was, but the colossal noise it makes. Sound really does add to a great drive and coincidently one of my main gripes with my long-term Mazda MX-5 is the lack of tonal grunt (see evo issue 141). However, after this morning, I felt almost uncomfortable driving the Mugen.
It all unfolded last night as I headed round my girlfriend’s after work. She only lives around the corner so I could have walked but she is a fellow car lover and I figured she’d like to have a look at the Mugen.
It’s usually a five--minute walk tops and she could hear me coming from my house. I pulled up and headed straight out for a drive. I stopped for petrol and then hit the A1, she was impressed with the car but not with my gear changes as I fluffed a couple. I blamed the gearbox of course. So for the rest of the trip back to her house, she took great joy from ridiculing my driving skills.
I stayed round and woke at 7am. Possibly being over thoughtful, I wondered, what should I do? Start up the Mugen, wake everyone in her neighbourhood, go home, get ready for work, start the car up again and disturb everyone in my street and proceed to work? Or… should I leave the Mugen outside her house, take the five-minute walk home, get ready for work then walk back to the car to give everyone an extra hour of sleep? In the end, I felt that I couldn’t live with the shame and chose the latter.
As I was walking home I thought, are noisy exhausts necessary? As much as they sound amazing on a country blast or a trackday, I’m very aware and embarrassed when I start up and drive a loud car around other people. Are they really worth the hassle? So, noisy exhausts - good or bad?

http://community.evo.co.uk/users/Ada...---good-or-bad

 

Yes they are worth it, that's why I love America. It is our freedom to **** other people off with loud noises. With all the dumb annoying **** other people do, they can try and withstand my loud exhaust noise for a few minutes a day, probably more like a few seconds.

Despite it being a redneck thing...loud exhausts save lives

 

Good ol american answer!!

 

I completely agree with you. I see too much stupid sh*t on the road that I could care less if my exhaust bothers people. There are TONS of other cars on the highway that make way more noise and pollution. Mind as well do it with some style.

 

I have a really loud Race car I enjoy driving on weekend and to races... but to have to live with something that loud every day would drive me insane. I prefer a more subtle growl in a car rather than the sounds of a freight train. I mean sometimes after work you just need something quieter not to **** you off.

I chose a quieter exhaust for the EVO that is just the right mix of louder at WOT and being pretty civil at the lower RPMs. Also louder does not = faster.

 

I like a performance sounding motor for any reason, even the big Diesel heads. Its actually enjoyable to turn 'down' the radio in my car to a supercharged Supra, Corvette, and sometimes even the well (not likely often) tuned Civic.
However the beauty of the exhaust note loses the appeal just as soon as the driver becomes a douche at or around me. I'm still in awe that a mass of moving metal can stop at the top of a stroke, zip back down a bore, stop again, rinse, and repeat 100 times a second. Or for us EVO d00ds, spin up a shaft on the turbo to over 100k rpm which is about 1.6kHz. That's mechanically amazing.
What I do not support is frankly loud stereos in my neighborhood. Music can transfer emotional meaning greater than makin' power at the engine level. Most cars will spin up a motor and zip away with a great exhaust note. Stereo idiots will linger, forcing musical merda down your ear canals "just because they can."
0.02 ~j.

 

Too loud of an exhaust draws way to much negative attention from everyone including cops.

 

True and True... Especially if you're riding motorcycle like me. Noises from my exhaust saves my ***. But noises from harleys are just plain annoying. They're the LOUDEST out there hands down... And yet those are legal =[

 

I like to fly under the radar. So a loud exhaust is a no-no for me.

 

I love the sound of a nice loud exhaust. I have to agree with boostedxevo about the annoying Harley sound.

 

Harleys are the worst sounding uncorked engine ever... ugh.

But I believe the Evo X should have a loud exhaust. It sounds phenomenal with the stock exhaust mani and an uncorked exhaust. Mostly goes the same for any turbo 4 banger. They just sound mean in general.

I had a turbo V6 running for a while and that sounded great with an open exhaust. Almost like an exotic...

However. Turbo Hondas. No, they sound terrible and are an embarrassment to have a loud exhaust on. Turbo EcoTecs - terrible. Supercharged EcoTecs (like the Slobalt SS) are absolutely atrocious and embarrassing as hell with exhaust. They sound worse than N/A Civics with fart cans.

And then there are regular old N/A 4-bangers with exhausts. It should be made illegal. That is right up there with Harley trash.

Anyway, I love having a full, uncorked exhaust on my Evo X. Why? Because it actually sounds good and aggressive, and I couldn't care less that people stare every time I start it up. I actually cannot wait to annoy people even more with a cammed setup!

 

Annoying people even more is fun

 

Totally disagree about Harley's. I had several, loved the sound, and I think most people love the sound of a Harley and it's as American as you can get. Mustangs sound great too because of the firing order of the pistons. You can put whatever exhaust you want on any other muscle car and it won't sound as good as a Mustang. In general though, I think performance cars should have an exhaust the befits them. The EVO is sadly lacking in stock trim.

 

When I was younger I was all about the load exhaust , now I hate it ! I guess theres a reason so for many different exhaust systems for the same car - taste !

 

A loud exhaust to an extent is great. I love to see a car pass by that rumbles and pops in a race car kind of way... However 3" catless straight pipes are a bit overdoing it...

I love the way my 9 sounded with the Greddy Ti-C. It was a deep growl while driving slowly and at wot it sounded like a rocket. Love it love it love. On the other hand - driving around with a car that has an exhaust of a race car around town won't work for long. Cops, neighbours, random... Someone is going to do something to you eventually.