Henderjb

I am in my second year of HPDE using a 2005 Boxster S. Love it! Im considering swapping into a race ready Boxster for PCA, SCCA, Champ car, etc to prepare for possible entry into "wheel to wheel" racing. As one who suffers from considerable tinnitus already, I am curious how much louder a Boxster with the insulation removed is? I imagine I could sacrifice some performance by using stock exhaust or even adding a silencer or downpipes? (possibly only a motorcycle thing). Would love to hear others experience with sound levels as they converted a car to a "race car" or better yet how someone with hearing loss/ringing in the ears has managed to stay with this hobby despite bad ears. Thanks in advance for any info.

jerome951

My car is a normal SBP with a Fabspeed race exhaust, so a bit on the loud side. It registers 102 db at my local track. I have to wear very effective earplugs when driving or I start to get a headache after a bit. Once at a DE I forgot to put in my earplugs and had to come in after a couple laps.
I think you would want to experiment with leaving the stock sound deadening in place as that will reduce both the engine and exhaust sound. Even with the stock exhaust the engine will still be loud just over your shoulder..

dan212

You absolutely must wear ear plugs or the like on a race prepped SPB. Its not just your car you have to worry about.
The cars around you may be even louder. Painfully so.

You must use hearing protection of some kind.

I wear custom molded ear plugs wired for IMSA jack to my radio. Many race shops can do the mold (Stable Energies does mine).
Many audiologists can also do them.
You can just get custom molds W/O radio connection if you want.

At a minimum, you can use the disposable ear plugs like these from Howard Leight: https://www.uline.com/BL_1023/Max-Earplugs

DO not get the corded plugs. Too easy to snag the cord and pull one plug a bit loose.

Whatever you use, wet them for a good seal.

Some people like the ear cups that some helmets are now adding. I never found they were enough, but thats also an option.

BFT3.2

I recently bought a Stilo with the ear cup option and built in speakers and it's shocking how much noise it insulates from. My SPB has a lighter weight eBay muffler but no cats of course, between club races Lime Rock is my home track so I need a set up that passes sound there. In my experience racing SPB the cars next to and just in front are louder to your ears than your own car. Custom molded wired earplugs and a helmet with good ear cups should do the trick. If you want to leave some insulation in it's a lower weight penalty but the boat anchor stock exhaust has to go. Get the SPB and come racing in the biggest PCA class, talk to your region's instructors who also Club Race and tell them the path you're intending on taking.

Nickshu

SPBs are the loudest cars in PCA club racing. Like @BFT3.2 I wear earplugs w/ Stilo earcups overtop. It's fine, and I can still hear the crew on the radio. No tinnitus after a race. You can have custom molded earplugs made that work w/ a radio.

Henderjb

So glad i asked, lots of good info, thank you. Great point that other cars will be a big noise factor. And looks like stilo helmet with earcups are the go to for those looking for the most noise protection. And then earplugs under that. Im in NJ so Stable Energies will be a good resource. Im surprised that no helmets exist off the shelf with noise cancelling technology built in. NC earbuds are used by some but are not NRR rated. Best solution probably earcups with built in radio comms and highest rating earplugs. As far as actively muffling sound coming into cabin, leaving the lighter sound dampening material in place as well as striving to silence a lighter after market exhaust are good ideas.

tahoelife

I have tinnitus as well and used to have a loud spb, I added mufflers back in and the exhaust is quiet now however I still use a stilo with ear cups and custom earplugs. They are still a must for the engine noise etc in the cab. My car is still very competitive with the quiet exhaust.

Heath

Henderjb

Loudest in PCA Club racing, interesting. I would have imagined a higher output car would be the loudest. Is there a class that is noticeably quieter?

dan212

I was running open pipes in my 911/GTB1 with an X-Pipe for back pressure. e.g.. No muffler at all.. Pretty sure that is about as loud as you can get..
But yes, my old SPB was also loud. Just not AS loud.

/dan