Sound is a beautiful thing. It comprises some of people’s favorite music, can be a medium for great memories, and most importantly, is the vessel that harbors loud, thundering V8 power to the eardrums of humanity.
To keep it simple, those engine noises pass from the engine into something called a header, which takes the exhaust from each cylinder and heads each off into one bigger pipe and then travels through more piping out the sides of the cars flying by fans each weekend.
There has been some debate this week, though, on whether or not the usage of mufflers should or should not be implemented in the three main NASCAR series, particularly at the NASCAR Cup Series level.
Earlier this week, in a column on Speedcafe.com, Roland Dane compared the Cup exhaust to that of the V8 Supercar series, stating that the NASCAR exhaust is simply too noisy in comparison. While there was some lighthearted joking online, there were also some serious qualms with the thought of deafening the NASCAR machines.
Fuel was added to the proverbial fire when NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Brad Perez dropped some news that the series had already been using mufflers earlier this season, namely at Portland Raceway just a short while ago.
Perez went on in the replies to say that the mufflers don’t “kill the product or make the sound worse.” A driver is about as good of a source on this topic as it can get, and yet some still aren’t sure what to make of the situation.
Therefore, some facts need to be checked.
First, just how loud is a Cup car? Most reports show anywhere from 100-130 decibels depending on how close someone is to the action. Pit road is the loudest, coming in with the 130. How loud is that for comparison? Deep Purple’s famous 1972 London Rainbow Theater concert clocked in at 117 decibels. Led Zeppelin, another group famous for the noise levels of their shows, clocked in at 130 decibels, which is reportedly enough to cause immediate damage.
NASCAR races aren’t just over in a flash, though. The sustained noise level can be just as harmful, according to experts. There is merit, then, in deadening the cars a tad, especially if it can bring a less harsh atmosphere to the ears of young fans on race day.
With facts out of the way, hypotheticals must take over. If…
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