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Need them here in the UK. There are so many cars modified to have explosive sounding exhausts it's unreal. I get woken up regularly in the night when they drive

• tailspin2019 3y ago
  Same here where I am in the UK. It seems to be getting worse over time too.
  • noodlesUK 3y ago
    It’s actually ridiculous the level of noise some people drive around making. People buy “pop and bang” ECU tunes that when combined with a aftermarket exhaust make their car sound like a howitzer. I live on a main road, and there are some cars driving around at night that I can hear half a mile away or more. The cops or council should seize the cars and the owners should have to pay to have the mods undone before they can get them returned. The other thing I don’t understand is how in the UK these people are passing MOTs. Either they are colluding with a garage to get fake passes, or they are on fake plates, or they’re undoing the mod every year when they need to go get an MOT.
    • baz00 3y ago
      Don't force them to fix them. Just crush them with zero warning. Word gets around quickly. I'm in favour of banning all modifications to vehicles as well. Seen several cars with turned in wheels and appendages which are clearly affecting traction and aerodynamics.
      • gumballindie 3y ago
        > turned in wheels and appendages Some of these mods also affect odometer readings.
      • mistercheph 3y ago
        [flagged]
        • foooorsyth 3y ago
          Don’t need to be a mechanic to cut some pipes in your garage. Going after mechanics probably wouldn’t do much.
        • lelanthran 3y ago
          No point in going after mechanics. The supply of people who can do these mods probably outnumber the number of drivers who want these mods 10 to 1, or more. I can do most mods at home, and I know at least 5 other diyers who can, but I don't personally know anyone who wants these mods.
        • whartung 3y ago
          Not quite that severe, but that is certainly the case in California at least in regards to illegal exhaust systems on motorcycles. If you have a bike with an illegal exhaust, professional shops won’t touch the bike because of potential fines and sanction.
    • masfuerte 3y ago
      Years ago a friend dropped his car off for three hours to get an MOT. When he received the certificate it had apparently been issued by a garage hundreds of miles away so it was plainly bogus. He reported it to the police. They did not give two fucks. I would be surprised if these modders have any trouble getting an MOT.
      • _Wintermute 3y ago
        They have more an issue if they ever try and claim something on their insurance. Insurance companies are definitely motivated to find reasons not to pay out, and undeclared modifications are a pretty easy way to void your insurance.
    • globular-toast 3y ago
      Forget tunes, manufacturers are sending the things out of the factory with "pop and bang" settings. It needs to be outlawed. It's getting worse and worse. Presumably MOT doesn't cover it if they are getting set this way by default. Noise pollution in general is getting really bad and I think manufacturers need to be held accountable for this. My neighbour has recently installed some kind of "smart door bell". When the postie, or whoever, rings this, it makes a chime on the outside of the house. So the whole street knows when that doorbell is pressed. Why in the ever-loving fuck does it even have a speaker on the outside of the house?!
      • baz00 3y ago
        I'd be at that with a hammer in 30 nanoseconds.
        • read_if_gay_ 3y ago
          sure you would, tough guy
• masklinn 3y ago
  Motorcycles too. Around here idiots revving and redlining their engine is a relatively regular occurrence. Much more so than cars, although that also happens from time to time.
  • 0xEF 3y ago
    I live in a motorcycle-heavy US town (blue collar, lots of guys who wish they were 1%ers - the biker outlaw variety, not the rich people variety). It sounds like a warzone during shift change around the industrial districts. Having been neighbors with a lot of these guys, it has been repeatedly explained to me that theh make their bikes louder to be heard for safety. The assumption here is car drivers are so engaged with their music/podcasts/whatever turned up that they don't pay attention to the traffic around them. They also tend to not look when switching lanes or, gods forbid, use their turn signal to show intent. While this sounds like a reasonable argument, I think it's a load of bullpucky. Motorcycles are loud by default, and using aftermarket parts to make them louder is just part of the self-affirming statement of ego. These guys need you to know how big and bad they believe themselves to be that they'll make other sacrifices in their lives to afford projecting that image. It's really all very silly, to be honest.
    • vladvasiliu 3y ago
      As a motorcyclist, if I had a penny for every time I've heard the "loud pipes save lives" mantra, I'd be a millionaire. It always felt like "a load of bullpucky", but the defining moment for me was one day riding down a quietish-street with a legal-but-still-obnoxious Akrapovic pipe. In front of me were two or three girls walking in the middle of the road, talking. They only realized I was there when I sounded the horn and seemed really surprised, judging by their jumpiness. If someone walking in front of the bike can't hear that noise, I really don't see how someone inside a sound-insulated box, in a generally noisy environment, probably blasting the radio, is going to notice the loud pipe.
      • time4tea 3y ago
        Have you considered maybe you're in the wrong? The hierarchy of responsibility puts a motorbike above (more responsible) than a pedestrian. Three people is more than one, so you are really saying you inconvenienced three more vulnerable people just so you, a single person, could go down a road, at speed, without a care for others.
• _Wintermute 3y ago
  I regularly lie awake as some idiot is racing round residential London streets in the distance, in densely populated areas it must be in the thousands of people that are being disrupted by a single person.
  • bradleyjg 3y ago
    thousands of people that are being disrupted by a single person We are in a very weird place as a culture where this isn’t necessarily considered a slam dunk to come down super hard on whatever it is. The pendulum has swung way too far, we need to move back in the direction of protecting the community.
    • mistercheph 3y ago
      [flagged]
      • ryandrake 3y ago
        Ha-ha, but seriously: Society seems to have lost the ability to curb "annoying, mildly belligerent, but not strictly illegal" antisocial behavior. Used to be, if someone did some taboo thing that irritated everyone around them, the community would shame him for it. Now, you say something to them, and everyone whips their phone out and you're suddenly the Village Karen, butting your nose in where it doesn't belong. From loud motorcycles to cutting in queue, to abusing retail workers, to holding up traffic to take a selfie, to TikTok "pranks", everyone can basically get away with being a narcissistic asshole, and everyone else just keeps their heads down, desperately minding their own business.
        • baz00 3y ago
          In the 90s, the small town I lived in had a local community triple action principle. This was demonstrated on a little shit that had a noisy Renault 5 that used to get revved up all the time for no reason (between begging for £5 worth of fuel at the petrol station to keep it alive). The first time he pissed someone off, it cost him a new tyre with a warning posted under the windscreen wiper, the second time it cost him a windscreen and a tyre. The third time the car had to be scraped off the road with a pick axe after being torched. The police saw nothing and did not do anything about it because they were happy with the outcome.
• bluetomcat 3y ago
  Blame Jeremy Clarkson and the car culture he fostered. For decades, new and old cars were judged by their ability to spin their wheels around a test track, and by the loudness of their exhaust heard inside a tunnel.
  • FirmwareBurner 3y ago
    Blaming Clarkson for loud cars is like blaming videogames for mass shootings. Car yobs, and the tuning culture, existed way before Top Gear became popular entertainment, but is nearly as old as the invention of the automobile. Also, here's some AI generated Top Gear to give you nightmares: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYWCIJgw610 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYWCIJgw610
  • lnxg33k1 3y ago
    I’d blame the people doing that, not the one who makes a show, it is not because I like cars and like to run them on tracks I am responsible for those who drive modified cars in urban areas
    • puchatek 3y ago
      Monkey see Monkey do though
      • baz00 3y ago
        The problem is monkeys
  • Aurornis 3y ago
    There’s a marked difference between a performance car with an aggressive exhaust under wide open throttle and a modified economy car with a stupid loud exhaust under normal driving. Even the super cars have to obey noise regulations. The modified cars can be 10-20dB louder, which is a lot.
  • bowsamic 3y ago
    I'm a Brit (living in Germany) and I think it's much more related to our hatred of rule-following, combined with austerity. I am still surprised at how rebellious people are in the UK. During COVID, I barely saw any police confront those who weren't wearing masks. When I moved to Hamburg, the transport security would stand at the stations and if they saw someone asleep on the S-Bahn with their mask falling off they would go on the train and berate them. One funny thing was getting the S-Bahn from the airport, all the Brits would not be wearing masks even though you were required to by law. They would keep it up for about 3 stops before getting scared at all the staring and putting their masks on. Frankly, it's just a very different world. In the UK, it genuinely seems like the police are often too scared to confront anti-social behaviour. This is not so in mainland Europe
• tomatocracy 3y ago
  We already have them in some areas (along with PSPOs which create the legal basis to fine for excessive noise). I think Knighsbridge was the first but believe they now also have them on Brompton Road and a few others - see here https://www.mylondon.news/news/west-london-news/london-council-wants-more-noise-24291781 https://www.mylondon.news/news/west-london-news/london-counc...
• micromacrofoot 3y ago
  these people desperately want attention
  • local_issues 3y ago
    So give it to them, via enforcement.
• meindnoch 3y ago
  When I moved to London from Central Europe, I was surprised how many people drive with loud exhausts in residential areas. It was especially annoying during the night, when every fifteen minutes some idiot would drive down the nearby 2-lane road (Aerodrome Rd, Colindale) at full throttle.
• willcipriano 3y ago
  Get better windows? I live across from a major road and I can't hear anything since replacing the old single panes from the 70's.
  • jsiepkes 3y ago
    You can give your windows an airtight seal but what about ventilation in your bedroom?
    • willcipriano 3y ago
      Fart fan, point the outlet towards the back yard. Bathroom is quiet for me. Never open the window.
  • baz00 3y ago
    I want to open my window. We don't have air con over here.
    • willcipriano 3y ago
      As far as tasks go making the world quiet is probably more difficult than adapting your home to be a more sound proof and climate controlled. My advice here is the only one actually guaranteed to improve the problem. It also costs less than bribing politicians to passing a law for you or inventing bespoke technology and deploying it to the sides of every road.
      • bowsamic 3y ago
        > As far as tasks go making the world quiet is probably more difficult than adapting your home to be a more sound proof and climate controlled. I mean, probably not, since other countries have greatly reduced the problem without much issue. > My advice here is the only one actually guaranteed to improve the problem. It also costs less than bribing politicians to passing a law for you or inventing bespoke technology and deploying it to the sides of every road. No one is denying the existence of bandaids solutions, but that doesn't mean we should stop at bandaid solutions. Frankly this sounds like libertarian ideology. We don't just let people do bad things because we can choose to insulate ourselves in a fortress, instead we focus on fixing society first and plan to one day remove the bandaid.
• pcurve 3y ago
  Those pops are “features” in some stock unmodified cars too. So unnecessary.
• OGWhales 3y ago
  > There are so many cars modified to have explosive sounding exhausts it's unreal > There is no reason other than you want to look like a complete wanker In case anyone doesn’t know, the pop sound can serve a real purpose. The sound comes from extra fuel being ignited in the exhaust, which is done to keep the turbo spinning when you let off the gas. It helps minimize turbo lag. It also occurs in older race cars that had carburetors because they had less precise control over fuel injection compared to modern cars. That said, some people tune their car to imitate that sound with no purpose just cause they think it sounds cool. They waste extra fuel just to sound like that.
  • halifaxbeard 3y ago
    There’s also the pop on gear shifts, due to killing the spark on gear shifts for a faster shift. The alternative is that awful dreadful rev-hang in standard transmission cars.
• tistoon 3y ago
  Ladies and gentlemen, be prepare for more car exhausts noises in the streets with the upcoming Gran Turismo movie..
• anigbrowl 3y ago
  I still don't get why anyone would want to drive around sounding like that. Evidence from game behavior suggests ~30% of people are willing to experience some cost to themselves in order to inflict a greater one on other people. People like this don't feel they are winning unless someone else is losing. If true, this explains a great deal. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.1600451 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.1600451 - see figure 3 if you want to get right to it.
  • nerdponx 3y ago
    Outright malice probably only explains a small fraction of it. Partly it's just fun to make a lot of noise, and if you have little/no respect for other people then why not?
    • BoorishBears 3y ago
      A less malicious part of it also arises from the fact that the cheaper the modification, the worse it sounds. You can make a car sound excellent with no drone with a $5,000 factory quality upgrade... or you can pay some bozo $100 to cut out your muffler and weld in a straight line pipe. That may not entitle them, but it represents how people might make this choice without intentionally being a nuance in mind
      • navhc 3y ago
        So don't make the modifications at all if it's going to make it a nuisance?
        • BoorishBears 3y ago
          [flagged]
          • Teever 3y ago
            https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
• MrPatan 3y ago
  If they can't make anything else, they make noise.
• onetimeusename 3y ago
  same here by me in a random part of the US. My house sits on a street that is not incorporated by the local city so the sheriff has jurisdiction over it and won't bother to send a squad car to watch for speeding. It's a residential street that is very straight for the area and easy to see on. The speed limit is 35 mph but I have clocked people going 80 mph past my house. I think people know it for being a good road to speed on. One car used both lanes to do a speed test and the marks are still on the street, smoke all over my yard from that one. I noticed it increased after 2020. My theory was here at least that people got accustomed to speeding from the empty roads and lower enforcement but I think the extremely low interest rates let people get into the car market and a lot of people bought obnoxious cars and modded them. Some people must like that noise. I think it's a signal of how their car is fast and they are willing to flaunt rules.
• bbarn 3y ago
  I never understood the desire to be loud. My EV is probably faster than most of the cars on the road screaming at the top of their lungs and showing off their engines and it's whisper quiet. I like it that way.
  • randomdata 3y ago
    I don't think it is about the speed. My combine tops out at 18MPH, but there is something about the sound its engine makes when it is revved up – and when you throw the hydro level forward, oh boy. I also enjoy concerts, though. Understandably music isn't for everyone.
    • bbarn 3y ago
      I am the guy who wears Bose noise cancelling headphones at work or on the plane with nothing playing :)
  • rm445 3y ago
    Prior to the current generation of very fast EVs, having a louder vehicle was a way to indicate more power. A more powerful (internal combustion) engine implies more noise. Of course the reverse doesn't apply, more noise doesn't strictly imply more power - it can just be an exhaust with lousy noise suppression. ALSO you might eke a little more power from an engine with less back pressure from the exhaust, so there is some real effect available. So if you've got some modified monster with an insane engine, it's going to be loud. And if you're a wannabe with a superficially-modified, underpowered car, you can add more noise easier than you can add more power, and hope to fool people. It's not very laudable, but you can see how it could motivate the ego of the inconsiderate.
    • bbarn 3y ago
      Sure, and I get that I suppose. Driving fast ICE cars is a fun but different experience. What kills me are Honda civics with "performance" mufflers that muffle.. less.
• rwmj 3y ago
  Also people who throw litter out of their car windows. The Venn diagram of the two groups is likely nearly a circle.
• knorker 3y ago
  Also motorcycles. How anyone can be comfortable annoying more people per hour than they'll meet in their entire life I'll never understand.
• oliwarner 3y ago
  The high rate of catalytic converter theft might explain why some people sound like they're driving an aircraft carrier down your street.
  • kylehotchkiss 3y ago
    Aircraft carriers are nuclear though. That’s a bit quieter than a modified civic
  • germinalphrase 3y ago
    Did something change with regard to the value of a catalytic converter in the last ten years? Has the recycling market become more open than it used to be?
    • oliwarner 3y ago
      Massive spikes in platinum, palladium, and rhodium prices and the availability reciprocating saws.
• kylehotchkiss 3y ago
  The reason is simple: the car owners adored the Fast N Furious series
• yangyang 3y ago
  Part of it is the prevalence of "pop and bang" maps, modified ECU configuration which changes timing and allows unburnt fuel to enter the hot exhaust and explode. There is a purpose to this in turbocharged cars in motor racing - anti-lag - as the extra gases keep the turbo spinning during gear changes. No reason for it on public roads though. There's also a lot of "cat deletes" (removal of catalytic converters to improve exhaust gas flow and increase engine power). Illegal, but very common to see on YouTube and just like pretty much anything else illegal on the roads in the UK these days, the police don't seem to care at all.
• T3OU-736 3y ago
  To some, a loud exhaust almost amounts to a mating call.
• petabytes 3y ago
  Same problem in the US. 16year olds think the only way to be cool is to attach a stupid rattler to your exhaust, or cut a hole to make it louder, or intentionally make it backfire.
• catothedev 3y ago
  My old high school friends put noisy exhaust systems on because the unrestricted systems promised to increase the hp of their 100hp honda civics by 5-10hp. BMW actually used to play fake engine noises through the speakers bc they were afraid the cars had become to quiet. Harley Davidsons whole reason for existence is to be noisy. Wankers everywhere.