tford

Hey guys, was at Laguna Seca today in my '11 GT3 RS. I was essentially kicked off the track for having the "Laguna Pipes" because according to Joe, who is a lackey at Laguna Seca, I was "cheating". I've had the car at Laguna five other times with the same configuration and never had a problem. They nicked another GT3 RS, a few BMW's and two GTR's as well. They claim they have new portable sound devices around the track in addition to the booth at Turn 5, per a new Monterey County ordinance. I have my doubts as to whether it's true, as this guy "Joe" at Laguna Seca likes to play loose with the facts. In any event, be prepared.

Tacet-Conundrum

What is the point of even farting around s Laguna? You can't even take out an 89 Civic Si with the Fart Can exhaust. Rich bastartds who live around the track don't wanna hear the noise.

savyboy

Laguna Seca is about this <-> close to shutting down for track days. Mark my words. No sense in fighting the ******** who moved next to the race track and now want to close it. We won't win.

Don't we have enough resources here to get together and build a damn decent facility in Nor Cal somewhere that would welcome our money?

TAI2

sure we do..... until the next d*ck moves next door. We may have the bucks to build a track but as soon as we do, there will be a condo and then you know the rest.................

mikymu

Is there a sound or speed limit at Nürburgring? Do we prohibit alcohol at NASCAR events or ban politician from lying their teeth off? Sound police, roving sound meter at a race track is like having a kiss/groping police at a prom. Might as well holding a high school dance at Folsom prison so the guard can shoot your brain off if you touch your date.

Laguna Seca ... no longer the fame race track it once was and will go down the tube like many iconic USA symbols thanks to the paranoid demented social security recipients got nothing to contribute to society other than whine. Another signs of this stupid country's down fall from great. I will unhitch my Tundera and drive it on the track if they flag me for sound.

"Bring your minivan and pick up truck for a fantastic day at Laguna Seca" ... that's sex!

aussie jimmy

'johnny cash, live at laguna seca'


everybody move to the RENNLIST RETIREMENT VILLAGE 4.0 GOLD CLASS in sunny florida, situated right next door to world-reknown, SEBRING RACEWAY.

mooty

what can i say, americans have weak ear drums.
200 lbs lawn mower bothers me when i mow my back yard. occasionally blood pours out from my ears. what is the big deal?

jrgordonsenior

I assume you were busted for exceeding their 92db sound limit? They normally give you several attempts to fix the sound and will also allow you a "free" test run to check. Did they not follow those procedures and what organization were you running with today? It makes a difference unfortunately....

tford

"I assume you were busted for exceeding their 92db sound limit? They normally give you several attempts to fix the sound and will also allow you a "free" test run to check. Did they not follow those procedures and what organization were you running with today? It makes a difference unfortunately.... "

Yes, that is kind of true. Here is what happened. Ran the first two sessions without incident. In the third session (probably when Sloppy Joe arrives to work), I get meatballed for a 96 and my buddy in a GTR gets nailed for a 95 who also didn't have any issues in the first two sessions. At lunch, Sloppy Joe (who works at Laguna Seca)drives by our cars and stops. He looks at my Laguna Pipes and unprovoked says "you're cheating, unless you can show me a physical mod you are making to your car you're done for the day." I tell him I'm going to close the bypass--he says not good enough. I was running with Hooked on Driving, and really like them and Dave, who is the owner is a great guy. Rather than stir it up, we work out a solution with HOD and I park the RS for the day; Hooked on Driving and my buddy are gracious enough to let me run his GTR in another run group.

No harm no foul, right? Wrong, when Sloppy Joe is asking me about my "cheating" Laguna Pipes, he asks my buddy about his GTR. My buddy tries the straight shooter route with him and tells him he has the ability to change the bypass on his exhaust on the fly with a button. Up and to this point, not a contentious conversation at all. Unlike the Porsche sport button, the baffles don't open up at higher revs for the GTR, it's manually controlled with his setup. Next session out, my buddy asks for a sound check running the stock GTR exhaust configuration and isn't playing any games. I'm in the car with him. He's supposed to get three laps for the sound check. And, as we're leaving for the sound check, we can hear Sloppy Joe speaking on the walkie, "he has a button, he's cheating." On the out lap, as we're approaching turn 6, the meatball flag is already out. We go to the pits and Sloppy Joe tells us that we're now louder than before, I think he said it was 98. So, now the reading is even higher with the bypass closed, no frickin' way, the car was purring and we weren't even up to speed yet. I'm pretty sure the Hooked on Driving guys knew Sloppy Joe was a clown, but their hands were tied. For the record, I totally respect how HOD handled themselves.

This is where the conversation gets heated. I ask to see the read out, gun, what ever and he tells me it doesn't exist; and this comes a few minutes after he told me that we could be fined $1,000 for every lap we exceed the db limit. The bottomline is that Laguna Seca is clamping down even harder on the db limit and Sloppy Joe has no qualms making up the rules and db readings as he goes. Although I question Sloppy Joe's integrity, the root of the problem is in fact, the homeowners--most notably at Pasadera, who bought high end homes knowlingly next to a race track. Now they're rewriting history, and in the process, a great track is being ruined. It's really a shame.

crispenigl

LS is a total joke when it comes to sound.

The skip barber cars, which run dodge neon engines have to carry a 5 lb extra exhaust to reduce sound and its a joke.. sucks what little power these cars have down...

then - when MB came with their SLS cars prior to launch - some local offical got 4 hot laps in the SLS which is the loudest vacuum cleaning sound ull ever hear - and easily 100 dbs - they had no problem

its all about who u know and sloppy joe wasnt getting his grease from u folks so u got grilled

its all about $$

and that track has been there for forever - its bullcrap that locals get to push the track around

good luck building a track like seca - it would cost at least 250 million
prolly more

rodjac

Thanks for the heads up on Laguna sound. Just ordered a set of supertraps to go on the end of my Laguna pipes. Don't know how hard it is to get the number of disks adjusted correctly but I will try to get it worked out before PCA in September

ChrisF

Hoping sloppy joe gets too hung over to show up for work this weekend. Also hoping that stock exhaust and a $1 1/4" cap keeps me under the radar.

TRAKCAR

Sloppy Joe need to get run over by a dually..

ADias

I am not so sure the surrounding residents have that much legal power. The track was there and in use well before they moved in. They are lawyering the situation, but are we? We need a legal team capable of coming up with a bunch of good arguments - including the social values of the track, including open space and other 'eco' arguments.

ADias

The other option is to transform La Honda and Pescadero in the Western Nurburgring.