The study made some strong remarks about the kind of people who would modify their car’s exhaust. If psychopathy and sadism aren’t bad enough, apparently loud truck owners would do even worse.
- A professor in Ontario, Canada, has released results of a study of people’s attitudes toward loud vehicles.
- Having asked undergraduate business students whether they think such vehicles are “cool,” the result, not totally surprisingly, was that many of them do.
- Respondents also scored high on the “psychopathy and sadism” scale, but the study was only for cars. Truck and motorcycle owners, the study suggests, might score even worse.
A new study by Western University in Ontario says that if you’ve got a car with a modified exhaust system, odds are you’re a guy and probably also psychotic and sadistic. Slapping a Cherry Bomb glasspack on your Monte Carlo doesn’t (necessarily) mean you’re a Ted Bundy–level psycho, but the data someone points to a personality that enjoys inflicting unpleasantness on others. The study—catchily titled, “A desire for a loud car with a modified muffler is predicted by being a man and higher scores on psychopathy and sadism”—was commissioned by professor Julie Aitken Schermer, who heard many a loud car in London, Ontario, and wondered what kind of person would want their car exhaust to be louder than normal. She probably could have saved a lot of time by simply looking up Cadillac Escalade-V registrations. …
I’ve got an aftermarket resonator that I replaced my stock muffler with. It enhances some of the noises the car makes to give it a better, bass-y, rumbly sound (while also improving performance a small amount by reducing back pressure, but I’m not sure how much that makes a difference since I have catalytic converters well before the resonator).
But I was careful to find one that made the car sound good but not LOUD. Because I cannot stand people who run a straight pipe or muffler/cat delete on neighborhood streets.
Do whatever you want on a circuit, but that car should not be used where people live. Same with your modded Harley that’s louder than a jet, or your “off-road” truck that’s never seen a spec of dirt but sounds like a goddamn volcano.
I’ve got a similar after-market performance exhaust and I like it because it’s quiet except for when I want it to be loud, which I reserve for special occasions when I don’t think I’d bother anybody. And even then people say it’s not terribly loud from the outside.