2016 Sound Policy

[MikeKelly]

From the Solo Committee meeting last weekend:

2016 Sound Policy


At Bristol + Smokies will will be enforcing the national sound policy from the Solo rulebook - warnings at 97db, DNF at 100db.


Sound is a bigger issue than ever for Pellissippi - Competitors are reminded that our sound limit at Pellissippi is 96.0db.

There is very little support on the Solo Committee for continuing the 1.5db meter tolerance allowance (resulting in a DNF at 97.5db).

Best advice is not to be depending on meter tolerance to save yourself from a DNF.



Here is a list of vehicle owners(?) that exceeded 93db at Pellissippi in 2015. Notice if you're ever over 93, you're almost certain to end up further up the list by the end of the year (we literally don't have anyone listed at 93.0, because everyone over 93.0 ended up further up the list)...


Over 97.0

Eric Anderson (worked on it)
Casey Bryson
Tom Clanton
John Coatney (worked on it)
Jeff Cox (working on it)
Marcus Luttrell (working on it)
Sean McDonald (worked on it)
Brian Robbins (worked on it)
Jim Simmons (work continues)
Clinton Woolson (worked on it)


Over 96.0

Christian Boone
Benjiman Endo
Mike Kelly (work continues)
Lyonel Kent
Rob MacGregor (65 Mustang)
Dax Rosenbalm
Kyle Moroney
Patrick Whaley (Red Porsche 924)


Over 95.0

John Brown (working on it)
Andrew Hodge (car is gone)
Josh Missinne
Taylor Steger


Over 94.0

Tim Ray (car is gone to Chattanooga region)

[MikeKelly]

For clarity, also note:

Anyone who over drives a corner is (generally) throwing the same amount of sound as our loudest cars.... (tire noise)

[integra55]

From the Solo Committee meeting last weekend:

2016 Sound Policy


At Bristol + Smokies will will be enforcing the national sound policy from the Solo rulebook - warnings at 97db, DNF at 100db.


Sound is a bigger issue than ever for Pellissippi - Competitors are reminded that our sound limit at Pellissippi is 96.0db.

There is very little support on the Solo Committee for continuing the 1.5db meter tolerance allowance (resulting in a DNF at 97.5db).

Best advice is not to be depending on meter tolerance to save yourself from a DNF.



Here is a list of vehicle owners(?) that exceeded 93db at Pellissippi in 2015. Notice if you're ever over 93, you're almost certain to end up further up the list by the end of the year (we literally don't have anyone listed at 93.0, because everyone over 93.0 ended up further up the list)...


Over 97.0

Eric Anderson (worked on it)
Casey Bryson
Tom Clanton
John Coatney (worked on it)
Jeff Cox (working on it)
Marcus Luttrell (working on it)
Sean McDonald (worked on it)
Brian Robbins (worked on it)
Jim Simmons (work continues)
Clinton Woolson (worked on it)


Over 96.0

Christian Boone
Benjiman Endo
Mike Kelly (work continues)
Lyonel Kent
Dax Rosenbalm
Kyle Moroney


Over 95.0

John Brown (working on it)
Andrew Hodge (car is gone)
Josh Missinne
Taylor Steger


Over 94.0

Tim Ray (car is gone to Chattanooga region)

some how my car got skipped ... the last time I was there with just the Thrush glass pack ... I was hitting in the 94 - 95 dB range ... I'm working on getting something better ... the only way I'll know is to show up and run ... if the first lap is pushing the limit I'll pull out ... (sorta DNF myself) and take it back, and we'll try something else

[MikeKelly]

Heh, happened to have that information handy and dated...

Your last appearance at Pelli was 08-09-15, your runs were recorded at 87.8, 85.9,86.9, 86.4

It must have been a "low db condition" overall as my recorded runs were 89.0, 87.8, 89.3, 88.7 (new improved auger design).


The high car was Rob MacGregor (oops, missed him on the list above) at 86.9, 94.9, 95.5, 96.9 (65 Mustang)

John Brown was right there too at 95.3, 94.7, 94.5, 94.3

Another one from that day that needs to be added to the list above - Patrick Whaley (Red Porsche 924) 94.9, 94.7, 92.7 94.9

I'll go back and edit them in to the original post.



That said, I think Walter's car would probably fail the 5000rpm / full throttle / 50' behind the chassis dyno test - and he wouldn't be the only one...

The more we can reduce these sorts of issues, the better off we are.

The loudest I can find for Walter for the year was 92.7 at the second event - he simply does not show up on the meter for some reason. (witchcraft???)

[integra55]

Heh, happened to have that information handy and dated...

Your last appearance at Pelli was 08-09-15, your runs were recorded at 87.8, 85.9,86.9, 86.4

It must have been a "low db condition" overall as my recorded runs were 89.0, 87.8, 89.3, 88.7 (new improved auger design).


The high car was Rob MacGregor (oops, missed him on the list above) at 86.9, 94.9, 95.5, 96.9 (65 Mustang)

John Brown was right there too at 95.3, 94.7, 94.5, 94.3

Another one from that day that needs to be added to the list above - Patrick Whaley (Red Porsche 924) 94.9, 94.7, 92.7 94.9

I'll go back and edit them in to the original post.



That said, I think Walter's car would probably fail the 5000rpm / full throttle / 50' behind the chassis dyno test - and he wouldn't be the only one...

The more we can reduce these sorts of issues, the better off we are.

The loudest I can find for Walter for the year was 92.7 at the second event - he simply does not show up on the meter for some reason. (witchcraft???)

I would ask the sound worker after I crossed the finish line what I reg. and the answers were 95 ... or there abouts .. so we must be talking about a different event ... those in the high 80's low 90's were what I was getting when I had the cat and a resonator ... when the resonator rusted out and I replaced with a glass pack ... the ear splitting noise at the top of the rev limiter had everyone worried ... the event I'm remembering was the one or second after Chilhouee last yr ('15) ... I kept hitting on you about how I was "quieter" than a Cobra ...LOL ... but I knew that I needed to do something ... it might have been the event where you set the sound meter up behind my car and we tried to get a reading in a static situation ... me with the parking brake on and running it up to the red line ... didn't give us the evidence we were looking for

[integra55]

and my old guy memory could be the problem here ... because even with those low readings I was still gouging you about being quieter than a cobra

as many can testify ... at Chilhouee, lots of folk (JY, Rife, among others) were concerned that I was breaking sound ...DeWit was running sound and we made a point of making sure EVERYTHING was just right on my next run ... and even the ear test said I was killing it, the meter said I was well within the limits

[MikeKelly]

DeWit was running sound and we made a point of making sure EVERYTHING was just right on my next run ... and even the ear test said I was killing it, the meter said I was well within the limits

Your car has certainly been a long time sound topic.

I didn't believe it when I took over sound, but there are some things you just can't get with the meter...

[dewittpayne]

I don't think Bridgestone RE-71R or BFGoodrich g-Force Rival S tires are as loud when overdriven on my car as the Yokohama AD08s were.

[dewittpayne]

Mike,

A-weighting and the slow response setting on the meter can help some and hurt others. If you set it at peak hold, though, a lot more people would fail.

5,000 RPM in neutral and 5,000 RPM at WOT under load are not the same. Also, if the energy mostly at higher energies, it doesn't disperse over as broad an angle as lower frequencies. Ribbon tweeters on stereo speakers are highly directional. So it's possible that by the time the meter 'sees' the maximum sound pressure level from Walter's car, he's a lot further away than 50 feet.

[MikeKelly]

I spent (at least) a year chasing that sort of sound (fart can) around the course, trying to find an enforcement angle on it - found "nothing".

I will look about weighting and response time this year.

[Teufelshund]

As far as tire noise goes, I think that the 600 ish treadwear is much more a problem than good 200's.

Let's not go completely off the deep end this year. I understand the issue, but we all know that tire squeal is just as bad as engine noise if not worse, and there's nothing we can do about that. We need to be careful not to DNF people when we're playing with meter settings before we know what effect those changes make.

That being said, I'm certainly going to do everything I can to make my car quieter and I encourage everyone to do the same.

[integra55]

you're right ...there's nothing we can do about tire noise ... but we CAN do something about engine noise ... lets make sure we control the things we CAN control, then see where we stand

[dewittpayne]

I would think a turndown on the exhaust would help a car like Walter's. Turndowns are legal, directing to the side opposite to the sound control microphone is not. A turndown with the exhaust ending behind the driver but still under the car might help even more. I see a lot of race cars with that kind of exhaust. I just checked the 2015 rules. That's not legal in Street Class, but is in Street Touring and Street Prepared.

[MikeKelly]

Let's not go completely off the deep end this year. I understand the issue, but we all know that tire squeal is just as bad as engine noise if not worse, and there's nothing we can do about that. We need to be careful not to DNF people when we're playing with meter settings before we know what effect those changes make.

No DNFs will be issued while playing with meter settings.


I've always insisted that DNFs require overwhelming evidence, with each and every car measured exactly the same way, and from the same location.

[Teufelshund]

Sounds good. Jim and I will probably test some different settings to see how it reacts. We'll post up