My question is do any of the tracks here in California (particularly so-cal) have a restriction on noise (dB limit) for track day event? i'm planning to run straight pipe (header back) and it will be loud. Thanks in advance.

 

The only one that I know of is Laguna Seca (92 db limit, I think).

All the other SoCal tracks are fine, the following have no limits:

Chuckwalla
Streets of Willow Springs (SOW)
Willow Springs (aka Big Willow)
Buttonwillow
Spring Mountain (Nevada)
Auto Club Speedway (ACS)

 

Yup, Infineon and Laguna are the only two with dB restrictions, and they're both up north.

 

Appreciate the reply. Good to know. Thanks

 

As someone that’s a little older, with ears that ring all of the time. I would strongly recommend running mufflers, a good muffler will lose very little power, and your future ears will thank you. Also a few cars not running mufflers is a good way to get a hard limit at your track, and nobody wants that because hard limits are a real pain.

If you run open pipes, don’t complain when (not if) your track puts in a very restrictive sound policy.

I will get off my soapbox now.

 

Robert,
I agree the minor hp gained isn't worth the health risk.
Just like test pipes aren't worth the environmental damage.

 

There is a whole generation that doesn't remember burning rivers, dead lakes, layers of dirt on your car from air polution.

So many companies spend more money fighting being green than they do on being green. Yet, companies like Honda prove that you can be both green, made in the U.S. and green. (Honda is Ohio's largest manufacturing employer, and their plants are some of the greenest in the country)

 

Thunderhill also has a sound limit, but I'm not sure they enforce it very often. It's also pretty high. I forget the exact number, I want to say 103db. I could be wrong though.

 

Thanks for the inputs. I do agree that a muffler will probably have neglible lost in HP (or lost at all). However, I'm looking to spend as minimal as i can on the exhaust. Cheapest would be straight pipe header back. Muffler is cheap i understand but to each his own and this is my plan for my car.

As far as damage to ears, I suppose i can run with ear plugs. I have those fancy ones for shooting, they should work fine. I'll try them out this weekend at SOW.

btw a testpipe on a track car that sees one track day per month (my car) isn't comparable to one of those semi-trucks that discharge harmful gas everyday. I don't run testpipe or the racepipe on the street. It's just asking for trouble.

 

I use disposable ones from rite-aid. They're about 8 bucks for 100, and are rated at 27 or 30 dB reduction