loud exhaust citations

[tirebird]

California and a few other states uses an SAE standard to determine what qualifies as an illegally loud exhaust. Police officers are allowed to cite what they think is an illegal exhaust and the car owner must go to a smog referee station and have his or her exhaust tested.

The state uses SAE standard:J1169, which reads in part according to this SEMA document:

"The SEMA model provides for the testing of vehicle exhaust noise to a standard adopted by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) with an established noise limit of 95-decibels (SAE J1169). Under the SAE standard, a sound meter is placed 20 inches from the exhaust outlet at a 45-degree angle and the engine is revved to three quarters of maximum rated horsepower. The highest decibel reading is then recorded."

My question to you Yenko site gearheads is the part of the standard that reads; "...revved to three quarters of maximum rated horsepower."

How do you do that? Is that the same as maximum rpm recommended for any particular engine, in other words, the redline?

No, to calm any curiosity, I haven't got any ticket but my LS-6 with dual 3" exhaust and two Super 40 Flowmasters is probably close to that standard.

John