Exhaust legislation?

Testament1

Hey I got pulled recently enough and am currently awaiting a summons over my exhaust. I'm wondering whats the current legislation on exhaust noise? Whats the current accepted dB level and at what RPM, distance from car etc..? The car is a Toyota Levin BZ-R and i don't really know what make of exhaust is on it as I haven't seen any visible markings on it. Any help appreciated.

JimmyCrackCorn!

Search is your friend
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/search.php?searchid=10186378

Testament1

That link just says "No matches found" when i click on it?!

Atomic Pineapple

There is no current legislation in place as the Eu Directive hasn't been brought over yet.

Currently its simply up to the opinion of the Garda that stopped you, if he or she says your exhaust was too noisy when you were stopped then thats all they need for a prosecution

greglo23

(7) Vehicle Exhaust Noise
Mass produced vehicles have type approved exhaust systems fitted which limit their noise to acceptable levels. The fitment of replacement non-type approved exhaust and silencer equipment is illegal and a new test is proposed at NCT whereby sound levels will be checked in order to ensure acceptable sound levels are not exceeded.
The nuisance caused by excessive noise from vehicle exhausts is regularly the subject of comments and complaints received by the RSA.
Examination of a cars exhaust silencer, and its effectiveness at reducing noise is part of the current NCT. It is proposed to implement a noise check of vehicles that the vehicle inspector deems to be excessively noisy. This check will measure the level of noise a vehicle is producing through its exhaust system. The vehicle will be required to have a level of noise no greater than 99db in order to pass the test.

This info is from the proposed changes to the NCT test which is available here http://www.rsa.ie/publication/publication/upload/NCT%20Consultation%20Paper%202009%20FINAL%20ROB200209.pdf

You will notice that is specifically says non type-approved exhausts. If your exhaust has a type approval mark then they can't prosecute you given my reading of this doc.

Testament1

No greater than 99dB? But at what RPM though? Like my car is at 2900rpm in 6th when travelling at 100km/h so would it be that the 99dB refers to? Also since this isn't implemented yet then i guess im going to be judged like Draffodx says, under the guards view of reasonable noise.

Atomic Pineapple

if you google the propsed eu directive you can see what the measuring technique is, I'm on mobile internet here so would take too long to search it out but I have read it.

Its something like 3 metres away at a certain angle with the car idle and revved to 3k revs

homer simpson

i'd imagine the distance or rpm of the engine have no effect on this at all, i mean your not always doing 100kmh in 6th im sure your revs go up and down when going up and down the gears, so that rules out the revs, and distance wouldn't matter either cos if your revving to change gears from 1st to say 2nd near a footpath the person walking would be no more than a few feet away from the exhaust, only my opinion....

altough i dont really agree with the noise limit thing though even if i did it definently has dam all to do with safety so why is it tested in the NCT centre, im sure 95% of cars will be well under the limit also what about cars that are less than 4 years old cos they are not tested? plenty of golfs ect out there with after market exhausts.

P.S. what about the person who spends 100's of k on a car to be told that its not allowed on the road cos its too noisy (what was the reading on the episode of top gear in them tunnels can anyone remember?)

Owen

The NCT isn't just about safety, it's about making sure cars are road legal. I welcome this, even though my car has a performance exhaust, it's TUV rated, and fully complies with the db rating at the required rpm

The big exhaust on a tiny engine annoys the hell out of me anyway, all your doing is showing the world you've a small engine by taking forever to accelerate to the gearshift point and making a racket while you do it. If you had a nice raspy noise, and got to the shift point in a tiny few seconds - then I'd be impressed.

Testament1

PaintDoctor wrote: »

The big exhaust on a tiny engine annoys the hell out of me anyway, all your doing is showing the world you've a small engine by taking forever to accelerate to the gearshift point and making a racket while you do it. If you had a nice raspy noise, and got to the shift point in a tiny few seconds - then I'd be impressed.

Bit of a difference between something like a 1 litre Fiesta and my Levin going up the gears! In fairness Levins aren't a slow car.

Owen

I didn't mention a Levin anywhere in my post.

Testament1

PaintDoctor wrote: »

I didn't mention a Levin anywhere in my post.

I know. I didn't mean it as an attack on you. Just wanted to get my point out that at least its not a slow, 1 litre sh*tbox that the exhaust is on.:)

--Kaiser--

Testament1 wrote: »

Hey I got pulled recently enough and am currently awaiting a summons over my exhaust. I'm wondering whats the current legislation on exhaust noise? Whats the current accepted dB level and at what RPM, distance from car etc..? The car is a Toyota Levin BZ-R and i don't really know what make of exhaust is on it as I haven't seen any visible markings on it. Any help appreciated.

Post up some pics and I should be able to tell if it's standard or not. Is it decatted?

Owen

You're not the same guy who was in here a few weeks ago saying he got pulled in his levin for having a 7 inch exhaust and was awaiting a result?

thirtythirty

Im afraid if you're car sounds like one of the glanza boys who sound like someone is playing a didgeridoo through a dustbin, then i've no sympathy.

Reminds me of this

If however you have a nice car with a nice engine and the exhaust is either performance enhancing or gives a nice whine or gurgle (there's a difference between gurgle and dustbin drone btw!), then I'd say go ahead and fight your case. No point otherwise, you'll just look silly.

Midnight_EG

I can say his car is quite nice, only thing I don't like are the spot lights on the front :P

The exhaust is aftermarket methinks, 6 inch bore no?

-Chris-

homer_simpson wrote: »

i'd imagine the distance or rpm of the engine have no effect on this at all, i mean your not always doing 100kmh in 6th im sure your revs go up and down when going up and down the gears, so that rules out the revs, and distance wouldn't matter either cos if your revving to change gears from 1st to say 2nd near a footpath the person walking would be no more than a few feet away from the exhaust, only my opinion....

That makes no sense at all.

If you're not measuring all cars at the same revs at the same distance, then how do you expect figures to be comparable?

Pdfile

Testament1 wrote: »

Bit of a difference between something like a 1 litre Fiesta and my Levin going up the gears! In fairness Levins aren't a slow car.

levin isnt exactly Fast either.


Honestly - This legalization had to come through sooner rather then later as most lads have hand Fab'd back boxes on their cars ( which isnt a bad thing if you know what your doing ) or cheap Chinese knock-offs and their completely un-acceptable.

Performance exhausts Not only give boosts in power but their tuned to give a nice note at volumes that don't deafen.... how these people don't cop that ill never know.*

* Edit: just reilsed their all poor and cant afford the gear they'd like to use...

Their bad - Not mine.

Flyer1

I was told I was getting 2 points and an €80 fine for my exhaust. I challenged it with the gard, asking them for proof that my exhaust is illegal, and could I please have it measured in the correct testing envirionment. He failed to prove that it was illegal so I did feel a little bit smug pulling away just that little bit harder then I normally would.

Testament1

Just a few bits:

@PaintDoctor: nah that wasnt me anyway with the 7 inch exhaust issue!!

@Kaiser: when i was stopped it wasn't a standard exhaust but iv managed to get the standard cat-back exhaust since. Cat was in place at the time when i was stopped along with a silencer in the back box.

@Midnight EG: ha thanks man and i know the fogs aren't to everyones liking..some people love em, some hate em!

After examining the exhaust after taking it off its a 2.5 inch pipe and appears to be a custom exhaust made up for the car when it was in Japan. (Since its a full system i guess the manifold was probably custom too.) I have the standard cat-back pipe in now and theres still a nice enough purr out of it.