So I treated myself to a 31 roadster a couple of weeks ago. Something to drive/enjoy while building the 30 coupe (if I can sort the bloody frame out!! $%&#%*%$ ). Anyway, the roadster has what I have to describe as a very loud exhaust, cant hear yourself talk kinda loud. Now don't get me wrong, I have owned some loud'ish cars (an AC Cobra that was SUPER loud) and I don't know whether it is me getting older but I am considering switching something out to make it quieter. Not one person I have asked considers it to be too loud but if I am driving for more then 30 mins it grates on me badly. I would prefer something more low key that doesn't get tiring on a long'ish run and doesn't turn heads at 100 yards! So, am I getting old and cranky (VERY likely ) or do you also prefer something less 'shouty'.
Over the winter I swapped my 18 inch Cherry Bombs for 26 inch Thrush mufflers. Quieter and much more comfortable (for me at least).
it depends if its loud but has a rumble to it I can handel it if its loud but sounds tin cannish or like the fart pipes that the tuners use I cant stand it if you don't enjoy it then change it whats the use in having something you don't enjoy
I drove very loud cars for eons... wonder why I can't hear for shit? I tend to go for not-so-loud these days, really need to preserve what's left of my hearing. Loud cars for buzzing around town can be fun, I agree with long trips not being as fun as they once were. Bob
lol I am the same way, short trips was okay, longer drives the drone killed me. I ended up replacing the "mufflers" that came in the side pipes with the guts from a 24 cherry bomb. Much more comfortable on longer trips now.
yep, your getting old...and wise. as written a good sounding exhaust is better than a loud exhaust. they make electric/cable exhaust dumps...gives you an option.
When I start working out how to get a comfy sofa in as a bench seat I will accept the fact I am an old fart......
Yea you must be getting old. I have quieter mufflers on my coupe mostly because I travel on long distances with it. But the truck is loud and obnoxious. I keep tell my wife hotrods are suppose to sound like that.
You like what you like What you like is subject to change. I like fireworks, but I think I'd get really sick of them if they were around every day and a few hours long displays and noise.
I spent too many days in the Navy around loud stuff... and what's left of my hearing is very sensitive to loud / sharp sounds now. And wind noise in an open car is just as bothersome, with or without loud pipes. Until you get your pipes redone, use foam ear plugs - they turn my 27 into a cream puff Caddy on the interstate. So what if I can't hear the phone ring... I can't hear it ring without the ear plugs, either! Gary
I apologized to my wife because I thought the mufflers on the coupe were too loud. She said "cars like that are supposed to be loud". No wonder we've stayed together 44 years. .bjb
The 'old and cranky' bit would depend on how you refer to the loud cars. Something like; "Man that thing is loud but it sounds so good",= Not old and cranky, just preserving your hearing! But when you find yourself saying things like........... "Dagnam kids in them confounded loud cars. Wouldn't have happened in my day, I tell you sonny!" Just maybe the 'Old and cranky' aspect is creeping in there......... Doc.
I think it's both. My '39 has "turbo" type mufflers and it's a little quieter than my F-150 with Flowmasters on it...I like it that way! What didn't bother me (and probably you) at 16-30 yrs old probably does now. My 43 yr old son just bought a hot rod with turn downs at the rear axle. He LOVED that stuff for years, but is now annoyed by the constant drone and is installing tailpipes....It's just normal evaluation, I believe.
Yep it could be an age thing. now that im old i want the exhaut quiet. my lawnmower, tractors vehicles etc. i even wear those ear muffs when chainsawing. I was driving a semi truck a few years ago that had dual straight stacks I didnt care for that even though it sounded good. Then the owner sold that truck and put me in a different truck that had quiet exhaust and it was more to my liking. Now the great number of lous motorcycles has desensitized the cops to loud exhaust they dont bother loud cars anymore. the Cessna airplane I fly doesnt have any muffler but going 120 mph I cant hear it. The prop noise is louder than the engine. My 55 chevy has open hedders and I like it that way. however it only get,s driven in front of the place about a half mile & turn around and return,and do it again. I only use it to keep a good coating of rubber on the highway out front. and see how many driveline parts I can tear up. Im past 60 and Ill vote that its an old age thing. Old Wolf
What??? I like a good sounding set of pipes,but not too loud.Some of my favorites were the old factory Duster340 pipes with resonators, and hate to say it (Ford you know !!!) but I like the later 5.0 Mustang GT pipes
I have cherry bombs with turn downs in front of the axle on my 32 , but thinking of going to a turbo style with sliced tips over the axle and out the back,although a sheriff friend says what I have isn't too loud
Too loud is just, well, too loud. What I don't like is when some limp-wrist motor gets fitted with either open pipes or seriously loud mufflers. That ugly lame blubber that results is something I'd be embarrassed to roll into an event with. On the other hand, bump the compression, cam it up, tune it right, that can be a thing of beauty to the senses. Perhaps not all day, but a badass motor shamelessly breathing through big loud pipes always works. Too much noise will tire you in a big hurry. I drove a fairly loud 383 (cough-cough) Cuda to a national event in 85. A 5hr drive, I was beat down fairly well when I got there but was too young to understand why. Then there's resonance issues even if the actual sound level is nice, but mix both and you can get the "...not today..." syndrome pretty fast. So what's the best? I know everyone has a different ear for things, but in the 70s, the high perf Firebirds had a dual exhaust cross flow muffler that nothing else sounded like. Pleasant for a regular drive, kick ass when you made it talk to ya. The idle and low RPM load tones just made you wanna stomp it. A close 2nd, much more tame yet very pleasant to the senses, again the F-body GMs from 93 up. Just enough to threaten a "Try me...", but nowhere near obscene. I actually want to duplicate that tone in an upcoming build, perhaps even going with the same OEM muffler minus the cats and the single pipe element a tad larger. Last comment, I've come to sincerely despise the sound of Flowmasters. 2 or 3 chamber, doesn't matter, and I admit that some of that is the "me too" thing, but I'll pass on those and anything that sounds like em. I find I'm in a minority on that score, and even Mrs Highlander disagrees with me.
I stongly dislike the sound of a stock motors with open pipes as well. They sound like a motorboat..... blub, blub, blub....... heard a lot of that at the Nats east this past weekend.
Gotta agree with the above 2 replies. Loud don't make it fast, fella. And what's with the cutouts on stock engines lately? You want to talk about horrible sounding? there's some local yokel with a bone stock new SS camaro with cutouts on it. Sweet Jeebus, the racket that thing makes.
As they say "If it's to loud your too old",,and some say the exhaust on cars are in the same category. The exhaust doesn't have to be obnoxiously loud to sound good,,the same goes for music,,every thing in moderation. HRP
Yep, I'm getting old. I used to like the exhaust note my SBC with 11 to 1 comp made but after about an hour I'm ready for quiet. My current 33 Ford project is going to be more old man friendly.
I tell ya what, for the first two years I loved my straight pipe 460... sounds badass. But its starting to get old. I'd actually like to hear my surroundings when we cruise down the street now. I also feel like a total dick when I have to warm it up at my girlfriends subdivision as I can hear the thing rattling peoples garage doors. I live in the country so it's usually not a problem.
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