Too Loud to Race at Portland National Open (1 Viewer)

[rocketman]

We went up to the National Open in Portland cautiously knowing that even though the track got a noise exception for the first time in 22 years there would still be a 115 DB limit. Well, we came in at 118 DB on our one and only trip down the Portland track which was late in the day. So, we were advised to quiet it down or put the car in the trailer. We put it in the trailer.

Another car from Canada exceeded the limit too so they went across the street and bought some headers, but last I heard they were still to loud and this race was for points! The track said they would work with them since they were making the effort. Hopefully next year they will get this worked out so everyone can race if there class is offered.

To read more go to Capitol Racing

 

[Nick Name]

Re: To Loud to Race at Portland National Open

I don't understand why anything but nitro and blown alky have to run loud exhaust.

Most of drag racings noise issues would go away if they ran mufflers like other forms of auto racing.

We have these classes that have electronic gear to slow the cars down, and they run open headers. Makes no sense.

Jay

 

[.]

Re: To Loud to Race at Portland National Open

I don't understand why anything but nitro and blown alky have to run loud exhaust.

Most of drag racings noise issues would go away if they ran mufflers like other forms of auto racing.

We have these classes that have electronic gear to slow the cars down, and they run open headers. Makes no sense.

Jay

Most "super" category cars that I know of DO run mufflers.

 

[none]

Good old Portland.The only thing they like are bicycles. I bet Sam Adams wet himself with excitement when CART did not race this year.

 

[Wes]

Very few .90 class cars still use mufflers. Unless their local track mandates them-or if the racer prefers them-you won't hardly find them at an NHRA divisional or national anymore. NHRA stopped actually dB testing about 4 years ago even though they still call out a maximum sound level in the rulebook.

 

[Mooseman]

I have 2 questions , Who are the complainers? and who was there first the track or the complainers ? If the track was there first then tough noogys get over it I say .

Oh and Rich Bailey I am not sure if its me or you but I clicked your link and got hit by a trogan virus , so you had better check that just in case .

 

[.]

Very few .90 class cars still use mufflers. Unless their local track mandates them-or if the racer prefers them-you won't hardly find them at an NHRA divisional or national anymore. NHRA stopped actually dB testing about 4 years ago even though they still call out a maximum sound level in the rulebook.

I guess I'm not very attentive when it comes to the .90 cars. I have 3 friends who run S/G and they all have mufflers on their cars. I remember when just about every S/C dragster had those big chrome or stainless Borla cans on the end of their headers. I guess it's been since 2004 since I really paid much attention to them.

Personally, If I had a .90 car and had to slow it down ANYWAY, you can bet I would have mufflers on it!

In my opinion, the loudest cars in the sportsman categories run in Stock and Super Stock. (besides Top Alcohol)

 

[clwill]

Very few .90 class cars still use mufflers. Unless their local track mandates them-or if the racer prefers them-you won't hardly find them at an NHRA divisional or national anymore.

Agreed. However, our super comp car has mufflers, but mostly because we live in a neighborhood that isn't that fond of our chosen hobby -- loading and unloading the car from the trailer is less stressful. Our local tracks all call out DB numbers but I've never seen anyone checking anything.

 

[sc7711]

The reason for not having mufflers on Super category cars is mainly to increase MPH. True they are trying to hit an index, but MPH is a big advantage (hence the large, powerful motors going only 8.90). Newer headers without mufflers and with smaller collectors and better flow can increase MPH conservatively by about 3-5 MPH. Super Comp is more affected by the headers than SG or SST because big headers with mufflers hanging off the car can be quite a drag.

Mufflers can, however, be advantageous in bracket racing, especially if you are chasing because the slower car will not be able to hear you coming as well as if you had loud pipes.

 

[Nitrohaulic]

I have 2 questions , Who are the complainers? and who was there first the track or the complainers ? If the track was there first then tough noogys get over it I say .

Oh and Rich Bailey I am not sure if its me or you but I clicked your link and got hit by a trogan virus , so you had better check that just in case .

In this country, people move in nextdoor to airports and race tracks, then proceed to complain about noise! A friend of mine gets a ticket if he sends a car down after 11PM (which he sometimes says to heck with and does anyway! I've sat in the tower at 11:02 when he's yelled "Send em!" LOL) and the track's been there since 1965. One old lady has the cops on speed dial and watches the clock every weekend. If he's close to getting it in, he'll pay the ticket instead of making racers burn the gas and diesel to come back the next day to finish it.

 

[Wes]

I had them on my dragster for two reasons...I already paid for them (cheaper than a pair of welded merge collectors and they work just as well) and for the loading/unloading aspect. I ran Top Dragster and brackets with the car and was not subject to the muffler rules...but it was nice having them. The new altered will have a "built-in muffler" but the noise of the exhaust will be replaced by the scream of a turbo.

I agree that the most offensive noise at the race track is a Stock/Super Stock exhaust system. It's not the volume...it's the frequency. The higher the pitch the deeper and sharper it penetrates the ear canal. In comparison to a very nice set of collector headers or zoomies those tiny twisted piles of tubing extending from those "legal" engines are the real problem...IMHO.

Nevertheless...who IS complaining and/or setting the noise standard out there at Portland? 115 dB almost sounds arbitrary...it is very easy to create that amount of sound with common devices...stereos, lawn equipment, service equipment (like that damn carpet cleaning truck that was at our next-door-neighbor's the other day), airplanes, outdoor concerts, athletic events, and so on.

 

[Ma Green]

Remember that in Portland you're dealing with the land of the spotted owl and a truck load of bleeding-heart do-gooders. They're everywhere in the Pacific Northwest. The track has been there for a very long time. Bill Doner had control of it back in the '80s. As soon as the bleeding hearts got control of the city government, everything went down the tubes.

At our track in So Oregon, we also have one person who will religiously call the cops if over curfew at the drag strip or dirt oval tracks. However, we are lucky that our park is a dedicated "noise" facility, by the federal government, and cannot be shut down.

Look at Seattle. As soon as that housing development went in right next door (which was really stupid), restrictions and curfews came to be.

There's always one!

Ma Green

 

[rocketman]

To be fair cars with collectors on them did not have a problem it was just us and one other team on Friday. William, I clicked on the capracing.com link and didn't have a problem.

 

[Mooseman]

To be fair cars with collectors on them did not have a problem it was just us and one other team on Friday. William, I clicked on the capracing.com link and didn't have a problem.

cool must of been a random thing or something , just thought I would give you a heads up last thing you want is a virus

 

[Toejam]

Before they closed the local Roundy round track here, they had Noise ordinances of 110 DB. And that was for the Late Models and Sprint cars, the Hobby and Street stocks were limited to 100 db. And this was when they ran 18-20 cars at a time they couldn't be over 110db! They would sit just outside the Gates behind the stands about 100' from the track measuring the Noise. It's amazing how loud 20 cars running Mufflers still can be!

 

[Mooseman]

Here in Wanganui New Zealand they have a grand prix hydroplane event once a year on the river here , on one side of the river is a big hill with houses on it and its like thunder when they run the big GP hydros . Nobody seems to complain and on the odd time that they do the event is so populer that the local council tends to just ignore the complaints .

Not my video but it shows what I mean YouTube - Grand Prix Hydroplane

 

[None]

The city of Portland is now in a cash bind after losing the CART race and the ractrack is right in the middle of it. The CART race was the primary fundraiser for the Portland Rose Festival. Anybody who has ever been to the Rose Festival knows there's a lot of free stuff to do during that week and now there's a little bit of panic going on over how to continue and who's going to foot the bill. Who knows, maybe there is a future for the race track, including drag racing. Or since the track is in the land of the loons, it'll just fade away.

 

[stanman]

Re: To Loud to Race at Portland National Open

Most "super" category cars that I know of DO run mufflers.

You must not know very many!?!? I don't know more than a handful of Super category cars that still run mufflers... and I know more than most Maters.

Personally, If I had a .90 car and had to slow it down ANYWAY, you can bet I would have mufflers on it!

Mufflers kill horsepower which means less MPH. No self respecting Super category racer is going to give up any mph unless forced to do so.

 

[stanman]

Agreed. However, our super comp car has mufflers, but mostly because we live in a neighborhood that isn't that fond of our chosen hobby -- loading and unloading the car from the trailer is less stressful. Our local tracks all call out DB numbers but I've never seen anyone checking anything.

Chris,

Your car has mufflers because that's the way it came when you bought it... LOL

 

[clwill]

Your car has mufflers because that's the way it came when you bought it...

And I haven't changed it out, despite the possible MPH gains, because I live in a neighborhood that HATES the car. (check your PMs)