Gt4 981 at Bedford and noise

[cseven]

Thinking of doing a cheeky trackday at Bedford autodrome this month, anyone know if a standard GT4 981 will be ok with the strict noise limits?

[CantDecide]

I hitched a ride in a supposedly standard 981 GT4 for a few laps and he had additional silencing cans on and still got black flagged and warned - he had to watch himself near the microphones and once passed merrily continue.

[LiamH66]

I've only done a few track days where noise limits have been flagged as an issue in my standard (aside from suspension setup) 981 GT4. Have done all of them with exhaust set in the noisy position, on the basis that I can say sorry and reduce the volume at a button press. Have never reduced throttle opening or revs going past measurement positions. So far, so good. Definitely sounds nice, but evidently not too loud. Does not include Bedford, so if you have any issues, would be good to hear about it here.

Liam

[philj]

cseven said:

Thinking of doing a cheeky trackday at Bedford autodrome this month, anyone know if a standard GT4 981 will be ok with the strict noise limits?

Based on this thread, you will need to lift off / short shift near the 4 microphones dotted around the track.

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[cseven]

Thanks all, my Caterham would just squeak under the limits however sounds like its not worth it in the Gt4

[Actus Reus]

Yeah I saw a guy there in a 981 and he was very interested in my 718 as he was bouncing the noise limit all the time, even with bolt on silencers.

I only did a few laps in my 718 and didn't have any noise issues, but it was literally 4 laps taken fairly gentle so perhaps not representative.

[SapperD]

Did a trackday there in my 981 GTS.

In Sports+ I tripped every noise meter. Black flagged and given a warning. Advised not to use Sport / Sport+.

Later in the afternoon, with no buttons pressed, I got black flagged again.

Advised to lift / short shift and run wide of the meters. There are 4 btw. Was told if I tripped them again I was finished for the day.

Did another session then sacked it anyway.

[krispe]

SapperD said:

Did a trackday there in my 981 GTS.

In Sports+ I tripped every noise meter. Black flagged and given a warning. Advised not to use Sport / Sport+.

Later in the afternoon, with no buttons pressed, I got black flagged again.

Advised to lift / short shift and run wide of the meters. There are 4 btw. Was told if I tripped them again I was finished for the day.

Did another session then sacked it anyway.

Exact same for me in my 981 GTS. Black flagged with sport on and black flagged again with everything off. Best advise to possibly get by is to not go full throttle/revs on exit from the left turn after the end of the straight by the pits with the gravel trap and before the chicane. That's the meter I kept setting off. Its on the left hand side.

[rawenghey]

I've done a few days at Bedford in my bone stock 981 CGTS.

It passed the static test with exhaust and sport mode off - i.e. as quiet as I could make it - scoring 98db out of a max of 101db I think? But I got pinged on my very first hot lap. The marshal advised me it was the sensor between T1 and T2, so I just short shifted between those two turns for the rest of the day. It was no big issue really.

Edit: Rest of the day was fine, even in Sport+ and aggressive up and down shifting in all other areas of the track.

Edited by rawenghey on Thursday 5th October 14:37

[Trikster]

My GT4 got with 1dB of the limit there with the sports exhaust on and I was only sighting at that time, so did drive a bit like miss daisy the rest of the day near the mics - so there's definitely a risk of it breaking the limit

[rawenghey]

Think we can all agree that the 981 is a bloody loud car

[TheOctaneAddict]

rawenghey said:

Think we can all agree that the 981 is a bloody loud car

They are with PSE, even my 2.7 blew a 103.5db

[Coriander]

Get some bolt on silencers, you can fit them in 20 mins on arrival and enjoy 'quiet' tracks like Bedford and Brands. Then remove at the end of the track day and enjoy the glorious 981 sound on the way home

[rawenghey]

The noise sensors at Bedford are only at two locations, so there are only two small sections you need to lift on to avoid getting pinged. It's a minor inconvenience, but it doesn't really impact the day too much. It seems to be standard procedure for 981 owners, especially in the cold where they are exceptionally loud at full chat.

[Coriander]

From memory I think there are 5 microphones at Bedford on the larger GT circuit layout, if your car is near the noise limit and you are pushing on you'll likely need to lift at 3 of them which can spoil the fun a bit.

[Actus Reus]

There are 4 at Bedford - first one is to the left after turn one then one on the back straight and another not too long before the sharpest left-hand hairpin. Dunno about the 4th. If you follow a GT car round you can see where usually as it's the part where the other driver abruptly goes off line to put some extra metres between him and the mic.