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yeah...i've even heard of some cops who pull people over with exhaust systems that look after-market...not even involving sound...but just by how it looks, such as huge tail-pipes or shinny chrome mufflers!!! too many useless laws here in California, don't yah think??? don't they have anything better to do...??? :rant:
 
The decible rating is a relative rating with some other sound. That's what amuses the hell out of me with these laws.

The above are completely unenforcable. 80dB over what? If it was 80dBa, then it's assumed to be a-weighted threshold of hearing for the "average" human.

They mean to assume that it's the threshold of hearing, but it's still kinda amusing that a good physics/acoustics "expert" could screw with these laws in court... :):

Anyways,

60dB is heavy traffic, at about that distance, 80dB is getting pretty loud... about 7 times as loud as the traffic. (+3db is a doubling of the loudness).

Of course, this is what I remember from my aborted accoustics minor in college (4-5 years ago...) and could be a bit off.
 
they use a db meter on most circle tracks in most states.it measures a sound rating at a specified distance,ie 80 db @ 50 feet. even radio shack has(or had) db meters for sale.
your best bet is to keep it to a minimum anyway. odds are,the louder the exhaust,the less torque your getting...lol not good for 4x4s.
 
my 2 cents on this.

from what i know CA has 2 sound-related laws.

one being the music that has no db rating, but is illegal if heard 50+ feet away, and another being this law limiting the db to 80.

I could see how they could convict you on the loud music charge (got one.... pricy fine there), but the 80db is going to be hard.

There is no Distance stated there (distance from where your car / truck can be heard), so unless they have a db meter right there at the scene i don't see how they could prove that your vehicle is louder than 80db.


Also, I am not quiet sure but here's another thing..

db is a measure of SPL - sound pressure level. in <car audio> there are two things - sounding loud, and BEING loud.

Example: you can have loud Speakers and be heard from lets say 100 feet away, but will only be 120-125db, whereas a subwoofer can hit 140 and be heard only 50 or less feet away.. anyone understand that?

sounding loud is different than being loud.

also, 80db where? At the tailpipe? 20 feet away? Its a rediculous statement to make. The closer to the object the more SPL, so where is the measurement coming from?
 
well i dont know if your gunna use dynomax race bullets. i have them on my 79 ford 3 1/2" duals and believe me they are real loud. if ya have fussy cops i wouldnt do it, i do the police towing for my town so i get away with it. flowmaster 40 series are nice and not overkill on sound just my .02 :bigthumb:
 
I had a run in with a cop a while back when i had a 40series flowmaster on. The lady officer asked me if my exhaust was modified. I told her it was. She tells me "it is illegal to modify your exhaust in any way other then stock." I then said then why is it i can legally buy this muffler at pretty much any muffler shop in california. This is where it gets funny. She tells me "well you can also buy a gun all over the place to!!!" I said very sarcastically "GUNS ARNT ILLEGAL EITHER!!!!" then she got mad and wrote me a speeding ticket. and did nothing about my exhaust.
 
she was havin a bad hair day i guess rawkon what a b_tch :D:
 
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