Is Your Car Too Loud for Laguna Seca Sound & Noise Limits?

August 1, 2020

Monterey County's sound limit ordinance for Laguna Seca requires most track day events held there to adhere to a strict 90 dB sound limit.

During the majority of track days held at Laguna Seca, cars whose noise levels are measured to be over the 90dB threshold get a mechanical flag for a sound violation. See the "donut" flag three times, and you're finished for the day. A popular workaround is lifting or coasting while approaching the sound booth, located between turns 5 and 6. However, it's not unusual for the staff to perform checks with a mobile mic unit from other turns.

Many sports cars sold in the US market are already too loud for Laguna's sound limit in stock form. For example, all of the following models in stock or showroom trim are known to get flagged at Laguna Seca for being too loud:

Audi R8
Chevrolet Corvette Z06 (C6, C7), ZR1 (C6)
Dodge Viper
Ferrari 360 / 430 / 458 / 488 / F12
Ford Mustang GT350 / GT500
Nissan GTR (R35)
Lamborghini Huracan / Huracan EVO / Aventador
Porsche 911 GT3 / GT3 RS (996, 997, 991.1, 991.2, 992)
Porsche Cayman S/Boxster S/GTS/GT4 (981, 987)
Porsche Cayman GTS 4.0 / Boxster 4.0 / GT4 (718)

Days with cloudy or foggy atmospheric conditions can make compliance with limits even harder, as sound bounces off the cloud layer.

Making your modified Toyota GR 86, Subaru BRZ or Scion FR-S pass Laguna Seca sound test

While the Toyota 86 / Subaru BRZ / Scion FR-S are rather quiet from factory, just adding an aftermarket cat-back exhaust will typically increase sound levels beyond what's permitted at Laguna Seca.

CSG has co-developed several exhaust solutions to keep output under a 90 dB threshold without considerable loss of power or response:

Both the ACE Laguna 90 and the CSG MXP Touring86 exhaust are proven to pass Laguna 90dB days with either Turbo or Supercharger kits, plus ACE header and ACE front pipe.

For applications where a higher limit of 100dB is present, you take advantage of additional weight savings by fitting the ACE Laguna 100 Exhaust: