Is it possible for me to have/get ear damage due to driving my s2k with the top down constantly, having a sound system and a loud invidia exhaust? Anyone have any clue? I know its common sense that there would be a loss of hearing.. just wondering by how much and if its enough to cause permanent ear damage... and i was also wondering if anyone else has experienced these loud noises also and how their hearing is. Any info is greatly appreciated thanks

 

ehh...speak up, I can't hear you.

 

He asked DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY GLUE!!!! CHRIST, GET A MIRACLE EAR!!

 

There was a post about 6 months back from an audiologist who used some of his equipment to measure sound levels in and around his car.

Some of the basic conclusions:

Yes, hearing loss is possible and probable under some normal driving conditions with top down and radio on, especially if done for (I think) greater than an hour at a time.

And yes, the hearing damage is irreversible.

Someone willing to find the original thread?
It was convincing enough that now I wear earplugs for long road trips.

 

I ALWAYS wear earplugs when riding my motorcycles and then I am wearing a helmet. Driving a convertible with an exhaust is a VERY similar situation, minus the helmet unless you are racing. Draw your own conclusions.

FWIW: Wearing earplugs in a car is probably illegal.

 

any loud noises will probably do some type of damage

 

I have noticed my hearing getting worse, and so have my friends. They get pretty pissed when I keep saying "what" all the time. I was told that it lowers your baseline hearing level. Meaning that your ear adjusts to the loudness and then normal things are quieter. I think it is permanent. I figure, I don't want to hear what anyone has to say anyways, so oh well! I can still read lips.

 

During my 3 years with my Talon my hearing deffinately went down-hill. I miss a lot of the little noises and do ask people to repeat themselves more often than normal. For the majority of those 3 years I had a 3" turboback system with no cat and just a flow-through muffler. It was fairly loud and did drone on the highway. When I get the S I will deffinately be bringing earplugs with me (my buddy uses them in his Miata for all but just the shortest trips).

 

There's no "probably" about it. Sustained loud noises, even if you don't perceive them to be that loud, will lead to damage to your hearing.

This damage is, as others have said, irreversible, and it is also cumulative. The longer you expose yourself, the worse the condition will get. Freq mentioned wearing earplugs on the motorcycle. This is a common practice among motorcyclists but there are states that don't legally allow it so I'm sure you might have some problems with the law somewhere along the way if you try to wear them in you S2000.

FWIW,
Drive Safe,
Steve R.

 

Lemme dig that thread up. Just a minute

Here you go:

https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showt...rt+hearing+loss

In short, yes you are at risk. I did all the testing using an OEM exhaust as well.

I also had a Spugen single on my car for the last month. There is zero doubt that this exhaust is very well beyond any acceptable limits in terms of noise exposure. I still hope to get some measurements but I would expect that levels at highway speeds would limit your exposure times to approx 1 hour.

I wore my musicians ear plugs when driving on the highway with the spugen single. This past week I took the exhaust off my car due to how loud it was. I have done enough damage to my hearing in the past there is no need for me to do even more harm.

FWIW there are alot of misconceptions about hearing and hearing loss. Please don't hesitate to ask any questions that you may have.