green sticker removal process - noisy exhaust on 3s-gte

[gt4dude]

Hey guys, this may be of help for someone in a situation like me, just to know what you're in for when you get green stickered for a noisy exhaust and what your options are when you don't want to go back to 2 1/4 inch oem.

First of all the fine is $50 for getting caught with a loud exhaust.

I had a whole new system made up for me as the old one was way too rusted to work with. I wanted a 3" system and still be silent, there was no point getting the cert on the stock 2 1/4 pipes when I planned to have 3" anyways.

The new system consisted of 3" flex and piping from the OEM downpipe doing away with the mini resonator.

It comes into a new 3" in / 3" out oval muffler in the middle. The muffler design is offset in, packed baffle chamber, centre empty flow path, another packed baffle chamber, offset out.

It then goes to a new 3" in / 3" out rear barrel muffler which is offset in, packed baffle chamber, centre flow path, another packed baffle chamber, centre out and a 5" tip.

So in total thats OEM cat convertor and 2 mufflers.

I didn't notice any loss in performance at all compared to the old 3" straight system. But a hell of alot quieter.

The new system cost $600 in total for all the materials, mufflers and custom fabrication.


Heres what they look like (excuse my mspainting lol)




So the next step was to go to VTNZ to get the warrant, They charged me $90 to start the green sticker removal process and sent me away to an LVV certifier. The cost is $200 for the LVV certifier, he was nice enough to give me a quick test to see if I would pass (as to not waste my time or money if i was going to fail anyways.)

The result of the quick test was 92db, the legal limit being 95db for most cars.

I went back for the 1 hour objective noise test and certification, car passed with 88db. A diagram of my exhaust system from the back of the turbo to the tail pipe was drawn and an LVV cert sticker was placed on my tail pipe.

Went back to VTNZ and passed the warrant, next step is to visit a police station and show them the VTNZ warrant and the LVV cert paper to have the green sticker removed from the system.


Total price to pay for being loud is

Fine - $50

Exhaust system - $600

VTNZ - $90

LVV Cert - $200

Total: $940

[Malcolm]

that's almost identical to the system I made for my 3sgte to get the noise down, same muffler designs except I used 2.5" tubing, a twin-outlet tip and have no cat. I would say I did notice a drop in performance, but my old exhaust was less than 1m of 3" straight pipe with a single 3" centre in/out muffler

[mr30%jr]

shit it must have been loud before if it is 91 now....

my st165 had just 2 straight thru cobys and 2 3/4" you could throw a golf ball down the dump pipe and it would roll out the end

quite as hell... nice sound too for a 3sgte

[Heylin]

Here my 3sgte system here, pretty darn quiet actually, I previously had Fujitsubo legalis R which was rated about 4Db higher than stock, and this new custom system is not much louder.

Full Stainless, 3" from turbo to tips, built from dual AdrenalineR 7" mufflers, striaght through with no resonators.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VcyuZnEK7k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNRkHt4IgcQ

pic

[gt4dude]

The car was never loud, (in my opinion.)

With the 3s-gte engine it's not the noise that makes for the high db figures, but the low bass rumble and the pops and bangs and burbles which don't sound loud, but are enough to make walls shake and alarms go off.

Even when I had a 3" straight system it wasn't loud, but the rumble sure echoed for miles.

[B_giB]

Anything louder than stock can be a reason for a pretty coloured sticker or a fine, not a decibel limit anymore.

[gt4dude]

Haylin - Mine sounded similar to that, which is not loud at all, it's just that point around 3000rpm under either full load or no load which vibrates everything around u like crazy. This is the thing the police got me on, is 80kph, 4th gear doing 3000 revs and rumbling along.

My car now makes no sound at all, the rumbling has come down a little bit though, enough to get me just under the limit.

You'll find with your exhaust like that, it will average around 94db normally, but spike at 110 - 120 db when passing that 3000 rev range.

Anyways, I'm expecting a nice cert tag to get welded to my tip if I pass the full cert test so I won't have any more trouble and I'll be able to rumble along all day long just under the limit.


On another note I removed the K&N pod filter and HKS SSQV from the car and returned to factory intake to help see me through the testing.

[B_giB]

oh and one more point, ambient noise is roughly 92db depending on environment.

[1I1]

On another note I removed the K&N pod filter and HKS SSQV from the car and returned to factory intake to help see me through the testing.

I thought they noted intake setup when getting noise cert? Or am i thinking of something else

[Malcolm]

oh and one more point, ambient noise is roughly 92db depending on environment.

I hope not, isn't 85dB the industrial noise limit above which hearing protection must be worn? I'm pretty sure prolonged exposure at 85dB can cause permanent hearing loss.

edit: according to wikipedia, "Populations of people living near airports or freeways are exposed to levels of noise typically in the 65 to 75 dB(A) range" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hearing_impairment

[Heylin]

From How Stuff Works

•Near total silence - 0 dB
•A whisper - 15 dB
•Normal conversation - 60 dB
•A lawnmower - 90 dB
•A car horn - 110 dB
•A rock concert or a jet engine - 120 dB
•A gunshot or firecracker - 140 dB

[gt4dude]

Just passed the cert test and the vtnz warrant.

2nd time round the certifier recorded 88db peak.

However on at vtnz their small handheld tester got 95.3, this didn't matter though since it wasn't official equipment and i had already passed the cert.

I now have a sticker on my tail pipe stating the car and exhaust system meets regulations.

Intake system was not noted. Only from the back of the turbo to the tail pipe.

[xsspeed]

7dB difference is a bit shocking, as its a log scale thats around twice the perceived noise level!

(Can't remember if 6dB or 10dB is doeble perceived noise level)

[sergei]

3db increase is ~ double increase in amplitude.

[strx7]

throw the 5 inch tip in the rubbish bin and put a tip the same size as the rest of the pipe, large w@nky tips act as megaphones!!!

[Akane]

for a gt4 I assume it's a lot easier to fit resonators than a MR2?

The reason why I didn't fit one on mine is there's absolutely no space to fit one unless I include some crazy 180 degree bends, and I'm trying to save weight on the back to bring it closer to the near ideal 35/65 weight dist.

[MR2SIK]

I was just a cheap c**t and got a flange fitted, had the usual 1 metre of sw20 exhaust into rps muffler, so now its just an easy swap to factory muffler for official reasons.

[Bling]

So the question is, is the cost of having a loud exhaust worth it to you?

[MR2SIK]

car spends more time off the road than on it, so that hasnt been a problem

[gt4dude]

Tips don't do anything at all. They don't make it louder and they don't do anything for flow, it's purely for looks.

The tip was just left over from my old exhaust system which was put on in Japan, was the only shiney piece of stainless we had so we reused it -- it now has the LVV cert sticker stuck to it aswell so can't bin that!!


Was it worth it? I guess the $50 + $90 + $200 part was a waste of money, but I'm happy with having a new 3" system though.