Get a pair of those roll up foam ear plugs. Put them in when you drive around. For a couple of bucks you can find out if its worth spending bucks on redoing your exhaust. I am 64, and have lost some hearing in certain frequency ranges, in addition I find some background noises hyper annoying. We have a grocery store in the area that has quarry tile floors, the sound of the grocery carts passing over that floor while not loud, just totally irritating, can't stand it for more than 10 minutes. So in some cases it's not the volume but the type and frequency of the noise that your brain finds bothersome. As for exhaust, I have turbo flows on mine, and I like how they speak when working, and quiet down at cruise.
Over 40 mph.. the wind noise is too much in my left ear, the one that rings constantly. My wife has people in their family that like to clap their hands to music, sounds like a .357 going off next to me. I wear hear-os to concerts, they filter out the bad noise and I hear the music perfectly. And I hear the next day. I also wear ear plugs when using an explosive hammer and sitting at the stock car races. Bob
OK, from the myriad of replies I can assume that a) I AM getting old and b) I am not alone... I go to F1 from time to time and that is VERY VERY loud but I don't mind it one bit, actually enjoy it. A time and place for everything etc. I just want to be able to enjoy driving my car without having to scream to be heard over it. I am sure there are those in their 20s reading this thread that are shaking their heads in despair.
Actually no, I had pretty loud side pipes on the 48 when I first put it together with the 283 in it and some guy I was passing in town at 07:30 am on an empty street turned right into my right front fender and claimed he wasn't anywhere close although the salesman at the car dealer who helped put out the fire under the truck told me that it sure had a nice set of pipes coming down the street. He heard the truck before he saw it but the guy next to me couldn't hear it. My ot truck had burned out glasspacks behind headers with pipes that dumped in front of the rear tires and any trip over 20 miles caused a headache from listening to the drone of the pipes. Now it has turbos that dump behind the rear wheels and sounds great but doesn't get annoying on road trips especially under a load pulling my boat.
As my musician nephew says, you can play good or play loud. Same with pipes, quite often the best sounding set of pipes in a group of cars isn't any where near the loudest set. There is a little 54 Ford up in the PNW with a Y block that has the best sounding pipes in the Northwest when cars are cruising by one at a time and it isn't loud but what a sound.
I like it where if it were just a little louder, it would be annoying. My 55 runs SuperComps and 40 series Flows, dumped ahead of the rear axle. Nice and deep, but not overbearing. I'd rather shake your guts than pop your eardrums. Plus, the deep rumble sets off OT car alarms. What it sounds like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xth2oTXLk1Q (Yes, I know. Burnouts on a public road are irresponsible. It was a show at a local hot rod shop, and the guy who owned the shop helped me out of a pinch with my car when he didn't have to. He only asked that I lit them up when I left, so I felt obligated.)
I think a lot depends on if it is an open or closed bodied car. In my roadster I don't mind the loud exhaust and even run with open Limefire headers sometimes. But the noise seems to bounce around if you have a top on the car or it is a coupe. My Don was complaining that the exhaust on his rpu was louder than he hoped so we played around with various baffles.......finally got it toned down to where he can now hear the radio. He has a soft top on the car and that seems to be keeping the sound trapped around your head. A friend has a really built Z06 Vette and I went for a long trip on the interstate one time with him and we couldn't even talk going down the road. It was very annoyingly loud, and again, I think the enclosed cockpit causes that. Don
I traded my Model A to Bad Bob for his bitch'en shoebox. I've always liked that car. The first ride was a 35 mile trip down the freeway. For short trips, it was kinda cool. But after that 35 mile cruise, I'd had enough. After that, I put a full exhaust under her. My wife liked it much better. Here's Bad Bob's video of one of his last drives before I got it. http://s66.photobucket.com/user/BadBob_2006/media/Bad Bob 2009/ShoeboxVideo.flv.html
I ran turbos on my '40 coupe, from 95-09. After walking around the Springfield NSRA event, in '09, I decided it needed to change. I cut the turbos out and put in 22" glasspacks. To me, it sounds MUCH better and doesn't sound like every other car at an event.
i have had and currently have a loud car. Chambered mufflers are currently on the Falcon and as i age i have less tolerance for the noise. I dont like driving the Falcon on long drives as much because i get tired of the noise and the droning. But the car gets alot of attention because of the exhaust note and i do like that so no plans on changing the exhaust.
I run blockman mellow tones on my 50 chevy with a sbc in it and on my 58 ford with a y-block just loud enough for me
Might be an age thing but it might not. All 4 of my cars have loud exhaust but only when the loud pedal is hammered. Fairly mellow until you step on it. All have glasspacs. But no drone in the car. All exhaust exits outside the car in the rear.
"Too loud is just right" thinking is a good part of why I've lost a good portion of my hearing. I started loosing my hearing due to working at a GM plant in the forging department with no hearing protection. Back then (around the late 50's early 60's there was little thought about hearing damage, safety glasses were the "big thing" then. After GM my hearing loss is the result of tuning high RPM SBC's at the shop and racer track without protection. Today I still like the sound of a well tuned high reving small block but turning down or removing the hearing aids and using protection is a must. Frank
I like some noise out the very back of the car so I can have a conversation when going down the highway, dont want it too loud in the car during normal driving. Gotta make some noise when you step on it but noisy all the time has gotten old for me. Plus I would rather be past the cop when he hears me rather than him looking up the road waiting.
I just moved my mufflers from the original location (front section of the car right after the headers) to the rear (after the rear axle). Outside and behind the car you still get a nice rumble, but inside it is now nice and quiet. I can now hear the radio and my wife... . Ahhhhh, I love it.
I am starting out here... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEM-x8mDR9U I wonder if the cops are gonna bother me?
HUH? I worked in a factory before the goverment came in and made rules. Drove tractor trailer rigs for years. motorcycles, old aireoplanes, and more than a few cars with slightly illegal exhausts. Played with old cars using welders, grinders, and air tools. I've never noticed it affecting me. I can hear everything my wife says while she sits behind my computer chair. At least that's what I think! I don't need to hear while I drive my dual exhausted cars and trucks. I can read hand signals from others. And everyone younger than me is busy on a I-Pod, I-pad, Tablet, cell phone or other toy. As the motorsicle bilboards show "Loud pipe save lives." Think I'll go take a ride and save a few innocent people while you old guys figure this out. What was that you said?
pipes too loud? that is the first sign of becoming a member of the Old Farts Club. it's OK, once you are in you get a cool jacket.
A lot of people equate a loud exhaust to great amounts of power. All it means is that the owner is masking his lack of power with loud noises. I'm running lake headers with a glass pack style baffle, I rigged up from a Speedway muffler. It's just right. In fact, I've had people surprised that it doesn't sound too loud. There's an idiot two houses down from me with a 2000 F 150. After I got my lake pipes, he decided his truck needed to be loud. It sounds like he has cheery bombs on it. Wakes up the whole street when he leaves. He's gained the title of village idiot and his truck is still slow. Here's a quick check for hearing loss. When you wake up in the morning, turn on your TV or radio and set the volume at a comfortable level. Now, go for a drive in your vehicle. When you come home, do you have to turn up your TV or radio to hear it like before? If so, you may want to check into a quieter exhaust system. Flowmasters sound like shit.
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