Noise Bylaws and the Z4M

[aerobod]

I took advantage of a "noise clinic" that the Calgary Police were doing today, as the city has just brought in a 96dB drive-by noise limit (at 1 metre), with a $200 fine sent in the mail for non-compliance. I generated 93dB on the test at 50km/h in 1st gear (6000RPM) under medium throttle. Subjectively I would say the car is twice as loud at 8000RPM in 1st gear under full throttle, so I would probably hit 96dB worst case.

My car has a stock exhaust system, so any aftermarket system would probably exceed 96dB at full throttle and max revs.

When I talked to John Mar at the event (the local alderman who is the key proponent of the bylaw), he said that any un-modified vehicle that is running to manufacturer's specifications is exempt from the limit. So it doesn't look like I will have an issue if the drivetrain and exhaust remain stock, but I was surprised that the car registered so loud, as my son's somewhat stock 135i only registered 88dB under similar conditions.

From a Canadian city perspective, I believe all major centres are contemplating or have already implemented a similar bylaw. What is the situation like in US cities?

[Daemonblitz]

Ouch, the RPi's are not going to like this, hope this doesn't come into play in Toronto.

[ZStig]

what is this place of residence? Communist China? North Korea?

[thekurgan]

Originally Posted by Roffle Waffle

what is this place of residence? Communist China? North Korea?

+1, people sneeze louder than 96db.

[Finnegan]

Rule in California is 95db using According to SAE JS1169. What that means is hard to say as I can't find the actual rules anywhere, and it's 60 bucks to buy it from SAE. Some say it's measured 20" from the exhaust, some say behind, some say perpendicular (makes more sense), at halfway through the engine's rev range. But there is a set procedure.

When the law was first put in place (2002) lots of tickets were written, and almost all were dismissed upon actual measurement. It's still at an officer's discretion to write a ticket, and most were finding issues that didn't exist. Just like front plates, tint, and other things, it depends on where you live and other factors as to whether this would be an issue--it's more of a hassle/harassment factor than anything else.

Our recents tests, with a drive by @20 feet, found stock at WOT was measured at 87db My Diablos registered 90db and the RPIs 95db.

The testing procedure sounds, pun intended, rather flawed. How do they test at 1 meter on a driveby? How much throttle, and to what rev range, etc. The parameters seem a bit subject to quite a few variables which could mean 5-10db variances, unlike the SAE method, unless I'm misunderstanding the measurement methods.

What was behind this move? I can see keeping levels somewhat reasonable, but it seems rather severe in terms of expected levels if stock--which is really quiet--almost fails.

[beta]

To add to this, decibels don't quite correspond with what you'd expect. You'd think that the difference between 90 and 100 db would be small (1/10th), instead to most of us it would sound twice as loud!

Good article: Decibel Levels and Perceived Volume Change.

[Caddyshk]

What about the F-Ing Harley's Laughed today when two Ex-convicts went by on them... Told my neighbor I was more likely to get a noise ticket - I don't get it

[Finnegan]

Originally Posted by Caddyshk

What about the F-Ing Harley's Laughed today when two Ex-convicts went by on them... Told my neighbor I was more likely to get a noise ticket - I don't get it

[aerobod]

Originally Posted by Finnegan

Rule in California is 95db using According to SAE JS1169. What that means is hard to say as I can't find the actual rules anywhere, and it's 60 bucks to buy it from SAE. Some say it's measured 20" from the exhaust, some say behind, some say perpendicular (makes more sense), at halfway through the engine's rev range. But there is a set procedure.

When the law was first put in place (2002) lots of tickets were written, and almost all were dismissed upon actual measurement. It's still at an officer's discretion to write a ticket, and most were finding issues that didn't exist. Just like front plates, tint, and other things, it depends on where you live and other factors as to whether this would be an issue--it's more of a hassle/harassment factor than anything else.

Our recents tests, with a drive by @20 feet, found stock at WOT was measured at 87db My Diablos registered 90db and the RPIs 95db.

The testing procedure sounds, pun intended, rather flawed. How do they test at 1 meter on a driveby? How much throttle, and to what rev range, etc. The parameters seem a bit subject to quite a few variables which could mean 5-10db variances, unlike the SAE method, unless I'm misunderstanding the measurement methods.

What was behind this move? I can see keeping levels somewhat reasonable, but it seems rather severe in terms of expected levels if stock--which is really quiet--almost fails.

From what I know, the device in use in Calgary captures stereo sound and video tracks along with taking the measurement. The value is normalised to a sound pressure value at one metre distance, but I don't know if they can manually or automatically adjust the distance (it could easily be measured as the vehicle passes by).

The bylaw is drafted in such a way as to ignore the number of revs or throttle opening, they are basically saying it is up to the user to keep the noise down, if you drive a vehicle with a loud exhaust gently yoiu may be quieter than a vehicle with a quiet exhaust that is driven aggressively. The police officer who gave me my result said "you'll be fine as long as you don't scream away from stop signs" (but I do get a waiver anyway, as I haven't modified the exhaust).

It remains to be seen if the fines will stand up in court, I'm sure there will be many Harley riders fighting it. The bylaw was inspired by the noise of open pipe Harleys roaming around the city on hot summer evenings when people are outside or have their house windows open. During the "noise clinic" the police held today, more than half of the vehicles there were Harlerys. I talked to a Harley rider while waiting at traffic lights after leaving the event, he also registered 93dB, but didn't pass the measurement device at full throttle or high revs.

[Z4-VILLA]

Originally Posted by Caddyshk

What about the F-Ing Harley's Laughed today when two Ex-convicts went by on them... Told my neighbor I was more likely to get a noise ticket - I don't get it

best retort EVER

[mfanatic325]

I hate those chopper bikes, especially when they wake up the neighborhood at the shittiest hours of the night
There's some *** that likes to ride through every once in a blue moon, making sure he does a burnout at every stop sign

[boydgti]

I think i might have seen u there, was yours a blue vert? I had the bike there and passed. It has a aftermarket pipe, bmw k1200s and passed the van in 1st gear and got a 91db.

[Walkurie]

Harleys are not naturally loud, and obviously many have aftermarket or modified exhausts. Ask any rider the reason for the loud exhaust and they will tell you, 'safety.'

Let's see, the basic root reason for safety is because they want you to know they are coming up from behind when lane splitting.

So, in order to make an extremely unsafe (nevertheless legal) act such as lane splitting, 'safe' one must add another unsafe condition (blaring exhaust) on top of it. Work out for yourself the intelligence needed to rationalize that.

Not anti-bike, I hold an M license myself, but whenever I ride I try to be safe and sensible about it.

[thekurgan]

Originally Posted by mfanatic325

I hate those chopper bikes, especially when they wake up the neighborhood at the shittiest hours of the night
There's some *** that likes to ride through every once in a blue moon, making sure he does a burnout at every stop sign

Yup, white trash noise

[aerobod]

Originally Posted by boydgti

I think i might have seen u there, was yours a blue vert? I had the bike there and passed. It has a aftermarket pipe, bmw k1200s and passed the van in 1st gear and got a 91db.

Yes, mine's a blue vert, I arrived there just after 11am.

[ZStig]

Originally Posted by Caddyshk

What about the F-Ing Harley's Laughed today when two Ex-convicts went by on them... Told my neighbor I was more likely to get a noise ticket - I don't get it

cops drive loud ass Harleys, plus they're sometimes intimidated by gangs. Therefore they just ignore the noise levels

[zubydafa]

my area has an influx of civics, crx's and the like as of late...all equipped with campbell's soup exhaust.

i don't think they're worried about how loud my car is - and i live 1/2 mile from township police.

[dazed^]

Originally Posted by Finnegan

When the law was first put in place (2002) lots of tickets were written, and almost all were dismissed upon actual measurement. It's still at an officer's discretion to write a ticket, and most were finding issues that didn't exist. Just like front plates, tint, and other things, it depends on where you live and other factors as to whether this would be an issue--it's more of a hassle/harassment factor than anything else.

Yeah, hassle... I think something is not right when driving a stock car becomes something you can be hassled for. Basically it means that the police can have you at their every whim, and treat you as a criminal even if you did absolutely nothing wrong.

It's kind of like innocent civilians getting taped everywhere by cameras. Oh wait, they do that too. /rant