I drove my mini for 3hrs today and i came home with sore ears. However, I am pretty sure it would pass a noise test because only half of the noise is coming from the exhaust. The other half is road/tyre noise, engine noise and carby noise.

For your own sake, forget doing a noise test with the VicRoads or RTA method... do it with a decimeter inside the car where your own delicate ears will be located.

My mini is not my daily car, so i keep forgetting how loud it is. I will be buying earplugs and using them until i reduce the cabin noise.

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- Simon -

My question for all the oldies is, were minis always this loud? As in were minis (or other makes of car) this loud when they left the factory and we have become weak over the years?

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Yep

Thats what I thought. Cheers

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"Party Pooper" observation:

You can be stopped by the PoPo for wearing earplugs/mobile phone handsfree earpieces whilst driving.

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1974 1150cc Leyland Mini S racer,
1975 No motor Leyland Mini "ute"
1991 IPRA Honda Integra (in the build)
1995 Land Rover Discovery 300Tdi

CAMS Scrutineer

You can't be booked for wearing hearing protection when driving. There is no law against it. Some vehicles you need to use it.
They might stop you, they may even write out a ticket but you will win any case in court.

But if you have an exhaust that noisy that you need to wear hearing protection you deserve a defect if you use it on the road.

Stock Minis were not that noisy. It is only when you modify them that they become too noisy.

mines as loud as they come and i havnt been pulled over yet (although ive now just set myself up to be pulled over tomorrow ) majority of police ive been past have been looking at it with a hey how cool is that mini look..

to put my car into perspective, i have a bmw with a typical p plater exhaust system on it, and getting in it after the mini is like driving a cloud.. lol but the mini is all about fun

just use your head when your driving it, ie, if you see a police car dont be at 5000 rpm flat out if im cruising around the town at 50 kmh, 4th gear is around 2000 rpm so it no louder then any other modified car..

Thats the problem the mokes 1410 with its 45mm weber and straight through exhaust is ****** Loud! and mine is quiet in comparison but he still reckons i need to it to be less noisy

As Mike_Byron says, If your car doesn't have the go, then all your doing with a noisy pipe is looking silly as everyone passes you. It becomes a fart car, not an awesome car. Driving a road car that you consider wearing earphones for is just silly.

You don't need to be loud to be awesome!

And as for the noise level readings, (depending on the state) there should be a procedure listed by the transport authority on how it should be done. For example, something along the lines of, measure at a distance of 5 metres from the end of the exhaust within a 30degree angle of the exit line of the exhaust at x revs (where x may be a percentage of the usable rev range) in an open area of at least y size.

Ive got a 998 20thou over size, 1 1/2inch su, extractors and 1 3/4 inch straight through rc40. But when im driving i only just hear the exhaust over the induction of the carby.
Yes its loud but passed rwc.
But if you think your mini is loud, my dad in his torana (308 twin exhausts), when he puts his foot to the floor you almost need ear muffs.

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2000 Holden Rodeo TD - The Daily
1998 JDM Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution V -The Weekender
1977 Leyland Mini 998cc, 1293cc in the works - The project
1977 Leyland Mini Van - Sold
1966 Morris Mini Deluxe - Sold
2004 MINI Cooper S Chilli - Sold

A single box RC40 will not pass ACT inspection - but the twin box version does BTDT.

Interestingly, a down draft Weber with K&N also exceeds the limits...

Except, the regs require the reading to be taken at a certain height directly behind the car. This means the Weber is obscured by the turret - and so passes. But, boy, does it ever P*&S them off.

Cheers, Ian

Believe me, if I could I'd tick the quiet option. I think this is as quiet as a 120bhp NA mini can be...

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Lillee - 1969 Morris Mini K

aye, noise does not equal power

and if it does not make you go faster, why are you doing it?????

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the world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page
66 Mini Minor sponsored by http://www.lifeonthehedge.com.au/ The Dog Harness Specialists
It was a pleasure ausmini. I'll miss all you misfits and reprobates

I've got Decibels on my iPhone. My Mini (before changing the exhaust and adding soundproofing) registered 97dB with the app at 80km/h, but it didn't get much louder at 100km/h - it hit 100, but it wasn't as consistent there as at 80km/h. Then we went and saw U2 and JayZ. And 'Decibels' stayed at 100dB. JayZ was seriously loud (lots of NOISE - poor mix), but we were in the second highest row at Suncorp. For U2, we were, amazingly, upgraded to $300 seats at ground level. And in spite of being closer, the SP levels didn't change - still indicated at 100dB. This made me think that 100dB is the limit of its accuracy - anything over that, the iPhone's speaker turns down the gain before processing it. My sister took some footage at another concert, and it was extraordinarily clear - arguably, clearer than I remember hearing it. Yes, my hearing is a little bit damaged. But phones are smart enough to avoid poor input through overvolume these days.

I then changed the exhaust. It was much quieter outside, still very, very noisy inside... Clearly, all my sound issues were from engine noise coming through the firewall. A week ago, I installed a heap of Fatmat Rattle Trap. Similar to Dynamat. The difference in volume in the cabin was staggering. I'm sure that, at least since the muffler change, my car's been legal. But I'm sure it's not been good for my kids' hearing inside the car, not until I added the Fatmat. Now, we can hold a quiet conversation at up to 80km/h, and still hear each other under acceleration up to 100km/h. My point is that a car that's quiet outside isn't necessarily going to be quiet inside, and a car that's quiet inside isn't necessarily going to be quite outside. Which one are you after, and do you know what you've currently got..?


And remember, not every car's still got all the factory noise deadening.

Just for bragging wrights I got 106db @ 8500 last year at MINI'S AT THE MILL too loud but fine for a race car..

Funny the older I get the less I like a really loud exhaust on a road car I now quite enjoy a quieter car

Beanie

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I am the son of the STIG

HOTBRICKS
http://hotbricks.org.au/

'65 NCF MINI.....
'69 MINIMATIC.... 9 year resto still on the go