Got pulled over in the rich part of town tonight for my "Loud Exhaust!"

[pawoSD]

Thats right, I was slithering through the overly rich and snooty part of the city (I pass through it on my way home from my college) tonight, and I went past a couple cops who were in their cars next to each other chatting (windows down, probably how they heard me)....I kept it slow, but one of them went after me. She tells me "sir, are you aware that your exhaust is VERY loud" I said "oh, sorry." She runs my info.....comes back....says "you need to take it to a shop and get that checked out" so I say "Actually, this is a professionally installed exhaust, and its pretty normal for these cars." To which....she had no immediate reply....and finally said "well....you're free to go, but get it looked at."



I know its just because they are super anal about that stuff in that part of the city. I think at night I will just go a bit out of the way and go around instead. Only adds about 1.8 miles to my drive and the roads are a lot smoother anyways....less suspension damage.

My car is not THAT loud....louder than a gas car with muffler...yes....airplane or big truck loud? no. Plus, its a 25mph zone, so the engine doesn't go above 1400rpm anyways when I am driving through there. They are just whiny.


Here is an excerpt of their "sound ordinance" so you can see how snooty they are:

*****************
Noise

* Construction noise is not allowed between 9:00 pm and 7:00 am, except for work on essential services.
* Prohibited General Noise - The making, causing, permitting or allowing noise of any kind, including, but not limited to yelling, by means of any musical instrument or device, or by radio, audio system, or motor vehicle sound system in such a manner as to destroy the peace and tranquility of the surrounding neighborhood or to annoy or disturb the quiet and comfort of persons in the vicinity or in any building or residence; provided that this prohibition does not apply to bands and orchestras utilized as part of a school activity, parade or similarly authorized musical production.
*******************

Technically Michigan law states that a vehicles exhaust may not exceed 95decibels 20" from the exhaust outlet while accelerating. No way mines that loud, especially gentle 0-25 acceleration....

Whats interesting is that there's no way a person in the homes in this area would ever hear my car. The houses are set back about 100 feet from the road....and they're all huge fortress mansions....no way they can hear noise on the street, especially at night.

Just a diesel rant. Thought I'd share.

Also, I've been running this exhaust setup for over 8 months with no prior complaint.....was pulled over for speeding (9 over) in that time period, and he never said a thing about it....that was a non-rich area cop. Just goes to show....

I've driven without any kind of muffler for 3 years without a single noise issue.

[pawoSD]

Yeah they're pretty ridiculous in that area.....I gently accelerated from 0-25mph and they still thought it was "way too loud". If I avoid that one area I should be fine....they'll pull you over for just about anything. Nothing better to do it would seem.....its a 4sq mile city with like 4-5 cops on duty most of the time....they must get pretty bored.

At idle if you stand maybe 5-6 feet from the rear of the car you can hardly hear it. Up close its a low rumble/whistle, but its not "loud".

[argus445]

Originally Posted by ForcedInduction

I've driven without any kind of muffler for 3 years without a single noise issue.

I had a 91 Jetta 1.6 n/a engine with 1.5" to a 3" flowmaster series muffler i also took out the resonator thing they had. Man it wasn't really loud but it'd vibrate your teeth since u could ram the rpm up to like 5500 or 6K one i forget but for that little car and such it was something interesting to hear.

[greasybenz]

Ive been stopped on my R6 for the exhaust being to loud, i had to talk my way out of the ticket. But never got pulled over for a noise problem with either 300SD's. It is loud but my bike is louder

[Cervan]

hillarious, you should have mashed the pedal as you left leaving them in a cloud of black smoke.

[estod]

Your car doesn't "fit" with the houses -- she might have been pulling you over to see if you acted suspicious. Or, if she has put enough pressure on you that you take another route, she has decreased the traffic in that elite area --- which may be part of her instructions.

[ZackaryMac]

Originally Posted by estod

Your car doesn't "fit" with the houses....

That's funny! If his Mercedes doesn't fit there, then BOY would they be impressed with my rusty diesel Sonoma with the tremclad paint job and the stack sticking out the box. It's not overly loud, but....

[Hatterasguy]

Originally Posted by ZackaryMac

That's funny! If his Mercedes doesn't fit there, then BOY would they be impressed with my rusty diesel Sonoma with the tremclad paint job and the stack sticking out the box. It's not overly loud, but....

During the day they would probably think you were a contractor.

[pawoSD]

Originally Posted by Hatterasguy

During the day they would probably think you were a contractor.

All the contractor's trucks I've seen parked along that street are brand new Ford F350 supercab's. Ok maybe not all of them, but I have yet to see a "poor condition" vehicle in that area. There is a person about 2 blocks up on that very road where I was pulled over that has a beautiful mint grey 300td wagon parked out front of their 4 stall garage. (along with two luxury SUV's and a minivan) Yeah...

0-52 in a quarter mile in a 240....wshew....it must really be in tune! You should have just said "ok, if you think this car is capable of "excessive acceleration", lets go try it out, YOU drive."

I never imagined this thread would have such popularity! Lets keep it strong!

[DrewGerhan]

Thats funny you got pulled over last night. Only because I got pulled over last night too. I got pulled because of a bum taillight. At least I got off and the cop just said fix it tomorrow.

[H-townbenzoboy]

Also, what's the condition of your MB? A nice MB with shiny paint regardless of age is less likely to be a LEO's target than one that looks like it needs paint and/or bodywork and like it doesn't "belong" in the area.

[Austin85]

There is a very cute Porteugese girl across the street form me who dates the HS Quarterback and this kid has some monster 15' tall Diesel pick up truck with a Railroad horn on it. They are nice kids but it is tempting to throw rocks at him when he sits in the truck idling for an hour and a half or blows the horn when he drives by...........so fix your muffler.

MY son has been pulled over for my liscense plate bulb being out on the SD.

I checked it yesterday and probably need to PB Blast it for 15 minutes........

[Knightrider966]

Originally Posted by H-townbenzoboy

Also, what's the condition of your MB? A nice MB with shiny paint regardless of age is less likely to be a LEO's target than one that looks like it needs paint and/or bodywork and like it doesn't "belong" in the area.

Good point! Also, you could put a resonator on your tailpipe without hurting mileage any. It's like a gun silencer. Let's the exhaust right through, but noise comes to a standstill.

[pawoSD]

Originally Posted by H-townbenzoboy

Also, what's the condition of your MB? A nice MB with shiny paint regardless of age is less likely to be a LEO's target than one that looks like it needs paint and/or bodywork and like it doesn't "belong" in the area.

My car is very nice, here's a pic from 1.5 years ago (still looks like this but with different tires/headlights:




I have considered adding in the MB resonators.....but thats real expensive....and I don't really have the $200 for the resonators/labor to install it right now. Plus, I like my straight pipe.

I check my lights and stuff all the time, so I will never get pulled over for that. They blink when I use my remote locking, so I get to see them work every time I walk up to the car.