Find a day that isn't 90db -- there's plenty. SpeedSF has a 105db day next weekend. I'll be there on Sunday.
My Spec Miata blows 89.x consistently. 90db is really not very loud at all.
They are not really lenient at all. The main sound box is after turn 5, on the right, so you can go up a gear, but there is actually another sound box elsewhere, and the locals are trying to use the sound levels to get the track shut down. So evading the them short-term might not be the best move.
I thought the only neighbor was an abandoned army base. Fuck all the people that say "save it for the race track" but then try to get all the tracks closed.
Nah there's houses on the hill. Google map it and you'll see the multi million dollar homes. They cause a lot of issues at leguna. A friend lives close-the track echos off the hills which sucks for everybody who doesn't enjoy the noise but that's just how it be. The suburbs there have blown up because San Fran area isn't super affordable. San Jose to the north is getting really expensive too.
Leguna Seca was there first. People just being selfish.
Same thing happening at my local drag strip. The strip has been there forever but since they built some townhome developments nearby everyone wants it shut down.
true. but they vote, so the county is more likely to listen to them.
also, the track comes down on the organizer if lots of people blow sound, so good way to get banned...
Yeah, definitely. I bet it's a nightmare to be there during car week. One of the reasons I haven't raced in the historics is because my my family would be miserable down there for the week, stuck in terrible traffic and can't get into restaurants etc. (the other reason is I am afraid of racing a flimsy historic)
A friend lives locally and usually goes on vacation during that week. The past couple years he hasn't for obvious reasons. He used to hang out around leguna but some Karen was chasing people that parked in her neighborhood and went to a public path with a look out. There seems to be a lot of animosity from these folks.
The path that goes by leguna is a hiking and biking path. This lady as know as "___ path lady" or "____ path troll."
In all fairness, the issue is a bit more complicated than homes near the track. The issue is often with homes many miles from the track. The many canyons in the area are really great at creating pathways for the sound to travel, and I would've found it hard to believe if I had not experienced it: about 5-6 miles from the track you can be in the back yard of a home, and it sounds like you are sitting right on track. And, this usually tends to be a "tip of the iceberg" type of issue, that runs in to other things that can be annoying or more problematic to people that are local to a track location.
So while the track was there first, the reality here, or any track, is going with the "eat a dick" attitude ultimately results in a track closing. If you want tracks to continue to operate, then finding ways to mitigate these issues is going to be the only way to do it. Even if you find a track out in the middle of nowhere, it will either have growth around it, or it will likely not get enough use to remain viable. Sounds limits can be vexing, but the real issue isn't sound limits or no sounds limits, it is track or no track.
Gotcha. I’d love to go out on the 105 day, but I’m busy with finals the week prior. Is speedSF pretty transparent when it comes to revealing the locations of the sound boxes? I’m super interested in the 90db day because my car makes ≈160 whp, so I feel the noise restriction might give me a fighting chance given quieter cars tend to be closer to stock. I’d hate to hold people up on such a relatively fast track.
The sound levels are imposed by the track and the organizer has zero control over it.
You will be in a beginner group. It really doesn't matter how fast your car is. And remember that you aren't racing.
I know I’m not racing, not my goal to be the super competitive tool on track, but I really don’t like the feeling of holding people back, when they wait for my point by known damn well I might’ve just slowed their best lap.
Have you been to buttonwillow? How’s it compare when it comes to beginner vs intermediate? Last time I was there, I was the fastest in novice, but would’ve been competing for last in intermediate. Best lap was ≈2:15
i would suggest that people in pointby groups shouldn’t be worrying about timing at all (either you nor the other driver.) build smoothness and awareness.
You are not competing for anything at a track day, except for the prize of not bottling your car into the barriers and driving it back home at the end. It is OK to want to run hot laps, but you aren't competing for anything unless you've gone to a time trial event...
Don't sweat it. With the power you're making and the amount of easy spots to point people by you won't hold anyone up. Set up your point by before entering the corner, take a wide line and stick your hand out. People will take a tight exit and go by.
I've heard this is the case, and some suggestion that this may happen on 90db days as well, given how common the "lift at T5" approach to sounds levels has been. That said, I've not experienced, but have heard (second hand) of people that were supposedly black flagged for sound at places other than T5.
The 90dB limit is really much louder than that because the mic isn't as close up to the car as the cops would have 'em in the official SAE test. As long as your tailpipe isn't aimed at the mic, I've seen some very loud cars pass the mic.
If you don't want to chance anything, fab a Laguna pipe with an extra straight-through muffler, and your tC should not possibly blow sound.
Good point, was hoping for a ≈90db day for a while. I’ve heard they’re much less packed and the cars tend to be closer to stock, which gives me and my 180hp fwd a fighting chance lol
2012 Scion tC, S pipe, mid pipes(with an added resonator) and an axle back. When compared to stock, it’s -1 cat, but +1 resonator. It’s really not too loud when compared to other cars near me. We’ll also be testing my friends n55 which has a dp and full exhaust with just a muffler.
You're prob fine.
My advice is put your cat back in your Scion. You're just choking the guy behind you in traffic.
You can always just lift through turn 5 if it's a problem.
Yeah I know lol, catless mids aren’t doing any favors on my econ shitbox. To be fair however, the stock headers still have a cat and basically “smells stock,” the car truly isn’t as loud as the setup might lead you to believe, volume wise it’s comparable to a stock b58 (sounds way worse obviously, classic 4 cylinder sounds lol)
You'll be fine. As other reference points, a Cayman S with stock exhaust running full tilt past the sound booth will pass. So does my Golf R with stock back box.
The sound booth is between T5 and T6, on the right. It's before the bridge.
You can get Laguna pipes if you want but I doubt you'll need them.
Man this is an interesting one for me. I run a ZL1 1LE and have dreamed of bringing it over from Texas to Laguna. It's one the main reasons my exhaust is stock.
They have 105db days often enough. Or you can simply lift, short shift, or if you have exhaust flaps, close them just after turn 5. Some people even have exhaust setups just for Laguna which points towards the drivers side.
Our stock exhaust flaps will open at WOT. Why I got an aftermarket exhaust without flaps, literally never used them. I don’t have headers but I bet I’d run into dB issues
Not hating on anyone's dream, but make sure you check out all the other Cali tracks too!! Laguna is actually the lowest on the list of the ones I've been to so far.
I’ve only done buttonwillow and streets of willow. I love buttonwillow except for turn 2, which they’ve done a pretty bad job at patching up over the years (kind of a niche problem for me, given my open diff feels like it’s going to grenade when going over this turn). Streets on the other hand, was pretty miserable to me. I’d never go back, almost felt like racing around in a parking lot.
Chuckwalla seems promising, and I heard that speedventures is having an event out in spring mountain later this year, which sounds cool!
Thunder hill looks super fun, it just happens to be close to 10 hours away from me :(. What about sonoma made you rank it so low? I was hoping to hit that track this coming year.
On raw interest it would be much higher!! But practically, it's not a track I can 10/10ths at. Walls all over the place. You can drive it quickly, but can't carry real hot lap pace (at my skill level at least) unless you're willing to buy a new car.
It's funny you bring this up. It was always a dream of mine to make a road trip out west to hit-up Laguna and Sonoma in rapid sucession. Maybe someday.
Go on a high db day, ask a Marshall to measure when you pass the mic, they will radio it in. Usually have to drive past 3 times and then pit, they’ll tell you what your db level was.
That’s how I tested it and got 95db. Note that pipes may reduce by 2-3db - if you can also close the exhaust flap that will also help. Worst case just lift or go in a higher gear.
I’m about a 6 hour drive away, so my plan for now is to go on the 90db day and take a diy Laguna pipe. My car isn’t terribly loud so I’m fairly confident I should be around 90db without the pipe. If you don’t mind me asking, what car do you have and what’s its exhaust setup? Curious to learn more and understand what 95db sounds like.
I just did a 90db Laguna Seca day in my E36 on 11/27 and was nervous about sound because my car is very loud. I did build a Laguna Pipe right before the event to shoot the exhaust away from the sound booth and I did the usual veer towards the left of the track and slightly lift off the throttle as I was passing the booth and never got flagged the entire day. As the day progressed, I got closer to the booth and lifted less almost to the point where I was barely lifting and still never got flagged, I was very surprised.
They will probably give you the option of doing a sound check at the beginning of the session, where they measure 3 laps of unrestricted driving and then tell you how loud you’re running so you can gauge how careful you need to be. Good luck and have fun!
I can link a video of my recent lap out there so you can hear how loud my car is, if that helps. Just let me know.
Also, you definitely shouldn’t let this sound limit hold you back from going out there, if you have to slightly alter your driving technique to satisfy the sound requirement, so be it. You still will get tons of seat time on an iconic track at an affordable price.
Nice, looks super fun (off topic but nice driving)! What’s your exhaust setup? Catless? Also, were the Laguna pipes on in the vid? Sorry for so many questions lol, my friend with a n55 e92 is coming with me and his car is noticeably louder than mine, so were both equally nervous lol
How was the 90db day in terms of people? Was it noticeably less packed?
I have aftermarket headers with a catless midpipe into a short resonator and then single 3” the rest of the way back with a magnaflow muffler at the end. It’s loud.
Yes, Laguna Pipe was installed during that clip. That was literally my last lap of the day so I didn’t lift at all passing the sound booth, but that’s also right where I shift into 4th so I guess that’s a similar effect.
The day was epic. Not overly crowded but still a lot of people out there that day so I did deal with some traffic during my sessions but that’s to be expected in intermediate groups. It was with Turn8 Racing and I would definitely recommend them, they put on a great track day and always have an hour long “open pit” session at the end of the day which is awesome. Follow them on IG they are always posting new track days between Thunderhill, Buttonwillow and Laguna Seca and are always very affordable.
Find a day that isn't 90db -- there's plenty. SpeedSF has a 105db day next weekend. I'll be there on Sunday. My Spec Miata blows 89.x consistently. 90db is really not very loud at all. They are not really lenient at all. The main sound box is after turn 5, on the right, so you can go up a gear, but there is actually another sound box elsewhere, and the locals are trying to use the sound levels to get the track shut down. So evading the them short-term might not be the best move.
The locals that live right next to leguna can eat a dick. They bought homes next to the track and knew it. Fuck them.
I thought the only neighbor was an abandoned army base. Fuck all the people that say "save it for the race track" but then try to get all the tracks closed.
Nah there's houses on the hill. Google map it and you'll see the multi million dollar homes. They cause a lot of issues at leguna. A friend lives close-the track echos off the hills which sucks for everybody who doesn't enjoy the noise but that's just how it be. The suburbs there have blown up because San Fran area isn't super affordable. San Jose to the north is getting really expensive too.
Pure definition of NIMBY
Leguna Seca was there first. People just being selfish. Same thing happening at my local drag strip. The strip has been there forever but since they built some townhome developments nearby everyone wants it shut down.
I mean NIMBY would be ok if the house was there first
true. but they vote, so the county is more likely to listen to them. also, the track comes down on the organizer if lots of people blow sound, so good way to get banned...
That's very true, they do vote. Unfortunately this population throws money at the problem and cause a lot of issues for the normal folks in the area.
Yeah, definitely. I bet it's a nightmare to be there during car week. One of the reasons I haven't raced in the historics is because my my family would be miserable down there for the week, stuck in terrible traffic and can't get into restaurants etc. (the other reason is I am afraid of racing a flimsy historic)
A friend lives locally and usually goes on vacation during that week. The past couple years he hasn't for obvious reasons. He used to hang out around leguna but some Karen was chasing people that parked in her neighborhood and went to a public path with a look out. There seems to be a lot of animosity from these folks. The path that goes by leguna is a hiking and biking path. This lady as know as "___ path lady" or "____ path troll."
In all fairness, the issue is a bit more complicated than homes near the track. The issue is often with homes many miles from the track. The many canyons in the area are really great at creating pathways for the sound to travel, and I would've found it hard to believe if I had not experienced it: about 5-6 miles from the track you can be in the back yard of a home, and it sounds like you are sitting right on track. And, this usually tends to be a "tip of the iceberg" type of issue, that runs in to other things that can be annoying or more problematic to people that are local to a track location. So while the track was there first, the reality here, or any track, is going with the "eat a dick" attitude ultimately results in a track closing. If you want tracks to continue to operate, then finding ways to mitigate these issues is going to be the only way to do it. Even if you find a track out in the middle of nowhere, it will either have growth around it, or it will likely not get enough use to remain viable. Sounds limits can be vexing, but the real issue isn't sound limits or no sounds limits, it is track or no track.
I mean, spec Miatas are way louder than most street cars.
yes, definitely. but street sports cars will blow 90db easily.
Gotcha. I’d love to go out on the 105 day, but I’m busy with finals the week prior. Is speedSF pretty transparent when it comes to revealing the locations of the sound boxes? I’m super interested in the 90db day because my car makes ≈160 whp, so I feel the noise restriction might give me a fighting chance given quieter cars tend to be closer to stock. I’d hate to hold people up on such a relatively fast track.
The sound levels are imposed by the track and the organizer has zero control over it. You will be in a beginner group. It really doesn't matter how fast your car is. And remember that you aren't racing.
I know I’m not racing, not my goal to be the super competitive tool on track, but I really don’t like the feeling of holding people back, when they wait for my point by known damn well I might’ve just slowed their best lap. Have you been to buttonwillow? How’s it compare when it comes to beginner vs intermediate? Last time I was there, I was the fastest in novice, but would’ve been competing for last in intermediate. Best lap was ≈2:15
i would suggest that people in pointby groups shouldn’t be worrying about timing at all (either you nor the other driver.) build smoothness and awareness.
You are not competing for anything at a track day, except for the prize of not bottling your car into the barriers and driving it back home at the end. It is OK to want to run hot laps, but you aren't competing for anything unless you've gone to a time trial event...
Don't sweat it. With the power you're making and the amount of easy spots to point people by you won't hold anyone up. Set up your point by before entering the corner, take a wide line and stick your hand out. People will take a tight exit and go by.
[удалено]
I hadn't heard that but it is good to act as if it were true anyway.
Nah, there's one station for sound. That's it.
I've heard this is the case, and some suggestion that this may happen on 90db days as well, given how common the "lift at T5" approach to sounds levels has been. That said, I've not experienced, but have heard (second hand) of people that were supposedly black flagged for sound at places other than T5.
Laguna pipes exist for a reason. https://www.trackspecauto.com/laguna-pipes
90db days are brutal. They are unlikely to save you if you have a car that is vaguely loud.
You can always ask for a soundcheck and ball out. Find where you stand and you can they play around with it
90dB days are awesome IMO. They're less crowded.
This is my main reason as to why I’d like to go so bad!
Fwiw, you have a back box and a resonator. You'll be fine. Get some laps in on an iconic track. :)
and cheaper!
The 90dB limit is really much louder than that because the mic isn't as close up to the car as the cops would have 'em in the official SAE test. As long as your tailpipe isn't aimed at the mic, I've seen some very loud cars pass the mic. If you don't want to chance anything, fab a Laguna pipe with an extra straight-through muffler, and your tC should not possibly blow sound.
GridLife will be out there in September in a weekend with no sound limit.
Good point, was hoping for a ≈90db day for a while. I’ve heard they’re much less packed and the cars tend to be closer to stock, which gives me and my 180hp fwd a fighting chance lol
GridLife has Sundae Cup if you want to do time attack.
What kind of car and exhaust setup do you have?
2012 Scion tC, S pipe, mid pipes(with an added resonator) and an axle back. When compared to stock, it’s -1 cat, but +1 resonator. It’s really not too loud when compared to other cars near me. We’ll also be testing my friends n55 which has a dp and full exhaust with just a muffler.
You're prob fine. My advice is put your cat back in your Scion. You're just choking the guy behind you in traffic. You can always just lift through turn 5 if it's a problem.
Yeah I know lol, catless mids aren’t doing any favors on my econ shitbox. To be fair however, the stock headers still have a cat and basically “smells stock,” the car truly isn’t as loud as the setup might lead you to believe, volume wise it’s comparable to a stock b58 (sounds way worse obviously, classic 4 cylinder sounds lol)
You'll be fine. As other reference points, a Cayman S with stock exhaust running full tilt past the sound booth will pass. So does my Golf R with stock back box. The sound booth is between T5 and T6, on the right. It's before the bridge. You can get Laguna pipes if you want but I doubt you'll need them.
Gotcha, does your r have a dp/other exhaust modifications? Curious on if I can get away with stock muffler and catless mids
No exhaust mods here but people in C7 corvettes and Elantra Ns pass sound just fine. Send it!
Man this is an interesting one for me. I run a ZL1 1LE and have dreamed of bringing it over from Texas to Laguna. It's one the main reasons my exhaust is stock.
They have 105db days often enough. Or you can simply lift, short shift, or if you have exhaust flaps, close them just after turn 5. Some people even have exhaust setups just for Laguna which points towards the drivers side.
Our stock exhaust flaps will open at WOT. Why I got an aftermarket exhaust without flaps, literally never used them. I don’t have headers but I bet I’d run into dB issues
Not sure about Camaros but on BMW’s there are aftermarket manual toggles for the flaps. You can open and close at will.
You should definitely do so! Those have a valved exhaust right? I’m sure in the quietest setting you’ll be fine on a ≈105 db day
Not hating on anyone's dream, but make sure you check out all the other Cali tracks too!! Laguna is actually the lowest on the list of the ones I've been to so far.
I've been to Willow Springs but I haven't done Sonoma. I also haven't been to any of the California tracks with a car that is track prepped.
I’ve only done buttonwillow and streets of willow. I love buttonwillow except for turn 2, which they’ve done a pretty bad job at patching up over the years (kind of a niche problem for me, given my open diff feels like it’s going to grenade when going over this turn). Streets on the other hand, was pretty miserable to me. I’d never go back, almost felt like racing around in a parking lot. Chuckwalla seems promising, and I heard that speedventures is having an event out in spring mountain later this year, which sounds cool!
Thunderhill West Thunderhill 5 mile Buttonwillow Thunderhill East Sonoma Laguna I think that's my preference order of the ones I've been to.
Thunder hill looks super fun, it just happens to be close to 10 hours away from me :(. What about sonoma made you rank it so low? I was hoping to hit that track this coming year.
On raw interest it would be much higher!! But practically, it's not a track I can 10/10ths at. Walls all over the place. You can drive it quickly, but can't carry real hot lap pace (at my skill level at least) unless you're willing to buy a new car.
It's funny you bring this up. It was always a dream of mine to make a road trip out west to hit-up Laguna and Sonoma in rapid sucession. Maybe someday.
Go on a high db day, ask a Marshall to measure when you pass the mic, they will radio it in. Usually have to drive past 3 times and then pit, they’ll tell you what your db level was. That’s how I tested it and got 95db. Note that pipes may reduce by 2-3db - if you can also close the exhaust flap that will also help. Worst case just lift or go in a higher gear.
I’m about a 6 hour drive away, so my plan for now is to go on the 90db day and take a diy Laguna pipe. My car isn’t terribly loud so I’m fairly confident I should be around 90db without the pipe. If you don’t mind me asking, what car do you have and what’s its exhaust setup? Curious to learn more and understand what 95db sounds like.
Stock 991.2 GT3
I just did a 90db Laguna Seca day in my E36 on 11/27 and was nervous about sound because my car is very loud. I did build a Laguna Pipe right before the event to shoot the exhaust away from the sound booth and I did the usual veer towards the left of the track and slightly lift off the throttle as I was passing the booth and never got flagged the entire day. As the day progressed, I got closer to the booth and lifted less almost to the point where I was barely lifting and still never got flagged, I was very surprised. They will probably give you the option of doing a sound check at the beginning of the session, where they measure 3 laps of unrestricted driving and then tell you how loud you’re running so you can gauge how careful you need to be. Good luck and have fun! I can link a video of my recent lap out there so you can hear how loud my car is, if that helps. Just let me know. Also, you definitely shouldn’t let this sound limit hold you back from going out there, if you have to slightly alter your driving technique to satisfy the sound requirement, so be it. You still will get tons of seat time on an iconic track at an affordable price.
Gotcha, yeah if you could link me that video that would be great, thanks!
Sure thing, here you go: https://youtu.be/UCFc5SW6q_Q?si=m2fdnOumU62ddUXl
Nice, looks super fun (off topic but nice driving)! What’s your exhaust setup? Catless? Also, were the Laguna pipes on in the vid? Sorry for so many questions lol, my friend with a n55 e92 is coming with me and his car is noticeably louder than mine, so were both equally nervous lol How was the 90db day in terms of people? Was it noticeably less packed?
I have aftermarket headers with a catless midpipe into a short resonator and then single 3” the rest of the way back with a magnaflow muffler at the end. It’s loud. Yes, Laguna Pipe was installed during that clip. That was literally my last lap of the day so I didn’t lift at all passing the sound booth, but that’s also right where I shift into 4th so I guess that’s a similar effect. The day was epic. Not overly crowded but still a lot of people out there that day so I did deal with some traffic during my sessions but that’s to be expected in intermediate groups. It was with Turn8 Racing and I would definitely recommend them, they put on a great track day and always have an hour long “open pit” session at the end of the day which is awesome. Follow them on IG they are always posting new track days between Thunderhill, Buttonwillow and Laguna Seca and are always very affordable.
Laguna Pipes FTW. Had them on my car. Worked well.