MOT Major Defect, Really?!?

My ZS just passed it's MOT with a 3.5 inch stainless system, but it isn't stupidly loud unless you floor it :D

Some of those Fiat 500 systems are stupidly loud even at low RPM, along with many others.
 
Dr Who said:
My ZS just passed it's MOT with a 3.5 inch stainless system, but it isn't stupidly loud unless you floor it :D

Some of those Fiat 500 systems are stupidly loud even at low RPM, along with many others.
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My neighbour has a rattly old Peugeot 307 HDI and it is louder than my GT-Four on startup with 3inch all the way from turbine to tip. Bag of spanners is an understatement. It is more like breeze blocks shaking in a skip! The exhaust is fine on that. The noise is all motor!
 
I am thinking about putting a UEL manifold on my gt86 to enhance the boxer sound (and get more mid range torque), but the rest will stay stock. Shouldn't be much louder :D
 
adolf hamster said:
my point is that just because your car has a loud exhaust doesn't mean you're being anti-social if you don't drive it out of hours all the time, same way a loud hi-fi isn't anti social if you aren't blasting music out at max volume at 3am every night.

there's a difference between a chav cruising round housing estates at 1am at 15mph revving the nuts off his straight pipe 1l and the guy with a harley that goes for a nice run in the countryside of a sunday afternoon.

yes there should be limits absolutely, and i agree that these should be tested, but the current system blanket stated no louder than the original system, even if a different car can be significantly louder from the factory.

lets say the maximum limit for a factory car is 80db, well any modified exhaust would need to be no louder than that, and if it's being used antisocially then deal with that rather than just blanket banning everything.
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You have got it all wrong though.

It does not blanket ban anything, and you are not comparing "the current system blanket stated no louder than the original system, even if a different car can be significantly louder from the factory."

The rule as stated in the OP is

  • Exhaust noise is clearly in excess of that emitted by a similar vehicle fitted with a standard silencer in average condition (8.1.1 (a))

Therefore for example the OP's Fiat 500 will be compared to a factory original Fiat Abarth 595 competitzione, (as an example) that is a similar vehicle with a standard exhaust, so if the OP's exhaust is nosier than that it is a fail.

If chav boy puts his 1.0L Corsa with a big cherry bomb on the back (yes I know showing my age there :P) in for MOT, you compare it to a standard from the factory Corsa VXR for instance, if it is louder it is a fail. You DO NOT compare it to a standard from the factory 1.0L standard basic Corsa.


The comparison has to be "Similar Vehicle" so you are never comparing a Ferrari to a factory standard 1.0 L Corsa for instance.
 
With this rule, the majority of performance cars will fall a MOT, the majority of scooby's on the road will fail, you very rarely see one with a standard exhaust system and to honest i do love the sound of that flat four with a decent system. I honestly think that the lad in this situation just had bad luck with the MOT centre.
 
Didn't realise how loud mine was until I got stopped on an airfield track day for being too loud. Can still hold a conversation in the car and radio usually only on 1/4 volume. Didn't fail MOT for noise but the sports cat apparently no longer working so needs replacing, might try and get it quieter. A local town launched a campaign to have some speed humps removed because of the increase in noise from accelerating cars (new estate, they didn't want them either), I'm doing my bit to help :)

Also from a safety aspect I sometimes have to use my car during the schoolrun and getting out of the drive is a nightmare with mums not paying attention, especially when I borrowed a hybrid. With an offensive exhaust at least the kids noticed and stopped running around.
 
SC0TTRS said:
I'm always looking at what's available on the market, it's what I do.

I came across one with following MOT failure. It's a Abarth 500 with a turbo back Scorpion exhaust.


Repair immediately (major defects):
  • Exhaust noise is clearly in excess of that emitted by a similar vehicle fitted with a standard silencer in average condition (8.1.1 (a))

Ok, sports exhaust without a doubt is louder than stock, we accept or expect that, but to fail the car classing it as 'Major Defect' is a bit excessive doing you think? Did the tester carryout a dB Level test to determine it exceed the legal limit?!!?..I doubt it.

It's not like the owner modified the existing, or made one up in the garden shed to make it louder, it's been replaced with a sports exhaust system!

Would think it's more Advisory noting it's just louder then stock than a OMG! Major Failings!!

What's the owner going to do, completely replace the exhaust system because it's louder than a standard?!?

To me sounds a bit bonkers!..
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Don't suppose you have a video of the sound at idle from a cold start. Would be very interested in comparing it to my competizione which only has aftermarket tips. Thanks.
 
my old Nissan 200SX, had a 3" stainless steel pipe all the way through to the engine, the back box was 5"
it was too loud, horrible down the motorways, only did it for the increase in power as it was modified (stage 1)
i ended up putting a bung in it to quieten it down as it gone on my nerves
 
None of my local garages will fail mine. They are too busy swooning over the sound :D

There are some over the top noisy cars out there though. I hear them every night racing outside and you can always tell that they are 1L chav mobiles by the horrendous sound they make.
 
I had a standard Abarth 595 competizione 180 hp with the monza exhaust . That is how they come out of the factory. It was as loud as an aftermarket sports exhaust any day. Starting from cold in my garage it would wake the dead. The garage doing the test has obviously never heard the Abarth 595 competizione. Should have been a pass unless there was no cat.
 
I don't mind a loud exhaust if its nice sounding or the car is modded well unlike my neighbour who has a focus that's got an St badge on it when it's not an st

Fake intakes on its bonnet and he revs it every morning in early hours and sits there for 5 minutes before he ***** off.

It's annoying, I did like it when it got towed away but it came back
 
Mercenary Keyboard Warrior said:
15-25db s massive!

DB is a logarithmic scale, 3db is a doubling in sound pressure level.
As the article points out, the difference between 82db and 74 db is that one car at 82db makes the same noise as 7 cars at 76db, so 15db is massive, 25db is quite insane increase
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Doesn't quite work like that because our ears have a log response as well, so it takes roughly a 10dB increase to appear as a doubling of volume to our ears.
 
Dogbreath said:
Doesn't quite work like that because our ears have a log response as well, so it takes roughly a 10dB increase to appear as a doubling of volume to our ears.
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Huh?
How we perceive volume to how its measured are different. In scenarios like I was responding to they will use a meter so how loud we perceive it to be is irrelevant.

But as said this topic is ooooold!
 
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