It can get rather noisy at a Track Day when there are plenty of cars driving around. These days, all racing circuits have noise restrictions in place to keep everyone safe - and of course - protect your hearing. To do this, it's important that your vehicle is as quiet as possible before heading out onto the circuit.
Ahead of starting your drive, most circuits will offer noise testing free of charge which usually only takes a few minutes. Many venues will also have a continuous automated 'drive by' meter to ensure vehicles are adhering to the restrictions in real time.
To give you a brief idea of what dB(A) means and the noise levels at Track Days - decibels (dB), which is a way to measure sound. The (A) part is a weighting to adjust for the relative loudness perceived by the human ear. That's all fine, but what is loud and what isn't? To give you an idea, here are some examples of different sound measurements.
Examples of noise levels:
- Breathing -> 10 dB(A)
- Ambient noise in a restaurant -> 60 dB(A)
- A standard road car driving past you -> 70 dB(A)
- Vacuum cleaner -> 75 dB(A)
- Food blender -> 80 dB(A)
- Typical track day noise limit -> 98 to 105 dB(A)
- Live concert -> 108 - 114 dB(A)
- Fighter Jet taking off -> 130 db(A)
- Serious hearing damage -> 150 db(A)+
The average human threshold is around 110 dB (A) but you can suffer damage at noise levels lower than that if exposed to them for a sustained period. You should be safe on a track day unless you spend all day spectating track side. You can always wear ear defenders anywhere you go where there is sustained loud noise.