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So a stock GT350/GT350R is too loud for Florida? Wtf?

Jbraun2828

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I wasn't in track mode. I only drive in the default mode, and I flip the exhaust to sport mode. There is no track exhaust setting in my GT350, there is only normal and sport mode for the exhaust

There is no warning about the sport exhaust mode in my owners manual. I see warnings about the track drive mode though, but nothing about switching the exhaust to sport.
Exactly, people are a little confused between sport mode and track mode. Exhaust noise is the same in both modes. Track mode pulls off the traction control.
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Zooks527

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More so, the law that I was pulled up explicitly states highway use. I wasn't on the highway and was not pulled over by a state trooper. I couldn't find anything in the laws of the jurisdiction that I was in (Apopka, FL) that said I was in the wrong.

(a) No person shall modify the exhaust system of a motor vehicle or any other noise-abatement device of a motor vehicle operated or to be operated upon the highways of this state in such a manner that the noise emitted by the motor vehicle is above that emitted by the vehicle as originally manufactured.

(b) No person shall operate a motor vehicle upon the highways of the state with an exhaust system or noise-abatement device so modified.
In traffic law, "Highway" refers to any street or road that any member of the public has a right to use. Legally, the 30mph one-lane-in-each-direction single-yellow-stripe-down-the-middle road that my driveway touches is a "highway".

The big multi-lane roads you're thinking of are more properly called "Limited Access Highways".
 

StangersInTheNight

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I wasn't in track mode. I only drive in the default mode, and I flip the exhaust to sport mode. There is no track exhaust setting in my GT350, there is only normal and sport mode for the exhaust

There is no warning about the sport exhaust mode in my owners manual. I see warnings about the track drive mode though, but nothing about switching the exhaust to sport.
AFAIK, there are only 2 settings - normal and loud, regardless of how you get there.
 

Mr. Met

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I have never had an issue here in New York. My last Mustang had a catback and my Expedition for years didn't even have a muffler. No matter how "technical" though, I always knew I was breaking the law and knew I could be pulled over and ticketed for it. If you dont understand that, its on you not the cop.

I replaced the resonators so that my GT350 sounds extremely similar to the GT350R. The cop that stopped me wouldn't have known the difference if I was in a stock GT350R or a stock GT350 for that matter which is why I made the post. Its not like he saw me and was like "wow yeah thats a GT350 and not a GT350R, it shouldn't sound like that" The only thing he knew was that I was in a Mustang.

My car wasn't even fully warmed up and I didn't even go hard on the throttle to go from a start. I was stuck in traffic. Also car is louder than normal when the engine is cold.

More so, the law that I was pulled up explicitly states highway use. I wasn't on the highway and was not pulled over by a state trooper. I couldn't find anything in the laws of the jurisdiction that I was in (Apopka, FL) that said I was in the wrong.

(a) No person shall modify the exhaust system of a motor vehicle or any other noise-abatement device of a motor vehicle operated or to be operated upon the highways of this state in such a manner that the noise emitted by the motor vehicle is above that emitted by the vehicle as originally manufactured.

(b) No person shall operate a motor vehicle upon the highways of the state with an exhaust system or noise-abatement device so modified.
First, thats not what highway means. Every state will have a list of definitions for different areas of the law (many individual statutes will also have their own). For motor vehicles Florida's is 316.003. Subsection 87 states (among other things) a "STREET OR HIGHWAY" is " (a) The entire width between the boundary lines of every way or place of whatever nature when any part thereof is open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular traffic". Its very similar to the definition you will find in every other state.

Secondly, you keep harping on subsection 5 which deals with modifications. I am not going to copy and past the whole thing here, but if you read subsection 2 there is no reference to modifications, just a limit to how loud your car can be. Also note it doesn't say anything about selling a car that breaks this law, just operating it. So unless there is another law that deals with how loud a car you are selling can be, it is possible for Ford to sell you a car that is illegal for you to drive.
 

Dave2013M3

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Yes. I moved out last year but haven't bothered to change my location. I remember the exhaust law happening in 2018/2019 time frame. I read that it actually had to be modified or something because it heavily affected motorcycles and they had no option to protest the ticket.

Pretty sure the only reason why I didn't get a ticket was because he saw my veteran plates. He stopped someone before me and within minutes after I drove off I saw him stop someone else. That was 3 consecutive stops in a span of an hour so I assumed he was just finding "reasons" to stop people. He was in a cruiser.

To be frank if he was a Motorcycle cop you probably would have gotten the ticket. BTW, from a former Electric Strawberry trooper to a Screaming Chicken Army dude...thanks for your service bro!!!

I did Air Assault School at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii with the 25th.
 

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Genxer

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Just looked up in manual, page 251 " The Track exhaust mode is for track use only, and not on public roadways. Use will result in louder exterior noise, which may not meet local and state laws and regs.
However, i would agree that you probably shouldn't get pulled over for it unless being a dick.
Hope this helps!
Good point. Looks like the OP has their answer.

Who knows what would happen if he challenged a ticket? The judge may have no idea that it has a "track mode" and might dismiss the ticket. I seriously doubt it would be pursued further, simply from a practicality and time constraint aspect. Obviously, the car's owner should not offer that detail into the conversation unless specifically questioned about it.
 

BULLITT480

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Bottom line is the officer would have to prove in court, if cited, that you modified the exhaust. So just don't say anything, don't comment about changing it to similar to another style vehicle, etc. If you say you did not modify the vehicle when you did you are lying and potential perjury or obstruction charges. But if you don't answer they would have to prove that you modified the vehicle. There is an old saying, even a fish wouldn't get caught if it kept its mouth shut.

Just be polite and not make any statements, yes sir, yes maam, etc but not any statements about the exhaust or modifications. Just say you would prefer not to make any statements
 

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My son drives his 2010 GT in Daytona Beach. No cats, Corsa Extreme mufflers. One of the loudest cars I've heard. Way louder than my GT350. He's never had any trouble. Except the neighbors are not impressed with his cold start at 5:30am going to the hockey rink.
 

Angrey

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I replaced the resonators so that my GT350 sounds extremely similar to the GT350R. The cop that stopped me wouldn't have known the difference if I was in a stock GT350R or a stock GT350 for that matter which is why I made the post. Its not like he saw me and was like "wow yeah thats a GT350 and not a GT350R, it shouldn't sound like that" The only thing he knew was that I was in a Mustang.

My car wasn't even fully warmed up and I didn't even go hard on the throttle to go from a start. I was stuck in traffic. Also car is louder than normal when the engine is cold.

More so, the law that I was pulled up explicitly states highway use. I wasn't on the highway and was not pulled over by a state trooper. I couldn't find anything in the laws of the jurisdiction that I was in (Apopka, FL) that said I was in the wrong.

(a) No person shall modify the exhaust system of a motor vehicle or any other noise-abatement device of a motor vehicle operated or to be operated upon the highways of this state in such a manner that the noise emitted by the motor vehicle is above that emitted by the vehicle as originally manufactured.

(b) No person shall operate a motor vehicle upon the highways of the state with an exhaust system or noise-abatement device so modified.
I already posted the Florida statute for you, you're just reading PART of the statute. It has noise thresholds as measured 50 feet from the vehicle, for passenger vehicles on roads less than 30mph it's one level, for greater than 30 mph it's another. They also have levels for motorcycles (different) and for commercial vehicles.

Just because you're equivocating your modification with another OEM vehicle, doesn't mean you're in compliance.

Bottom line is that there are a SHIT ton of vehicles on the road that CAN break the statute if they're screaming at high rpm, ESPECIALLY on residential streets.

Now, unless they have a sound meter, he wouldn't be able to prove that you were above the noise statute, which is PROBABLY why he didn't cite you.

Bear in mind, cities and counties and municipalities can have their own ordinances as well.

You could be driving a completely stock vehicle and still be in violation of the law, they write them intentionally that way.

In the end, you got unlucky by running into that particular cop on that particular stretch of road on that particular day/time. You also got lucky he didn't write you a bullshit citation (cause even if you beat it, it would have wasted your time).

As long as the shit bricks who are doing "takeovers" and circle masturbation contests on city streets don't migrate to FL, it'll continue to be very exceptional for noise stops and tickets.

What will ruin everything is when the ricer douchebag crowd starts pulling that shit here and then the people complain and the way that we've seen them combat it is through bullshit like chasing noise violations.

About the only thing we have to contend with here in FL is the douchebags that do nonsense on MLK day (coming up here soon) with their 4 wheelers and motorbikes.

FL is the same way with tint. Lots of people running around with improper tint, but unless the cop is bored or just a prick or you've pissed him off, it's not a big focus for them.
 

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Garfy

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Indeed. No lawyer, but when I set exhaust to track mode (but nothing else to track mode), a warning pups up on the digital dash saying it is for "track use only".
I think that warning is put there by Ford because they know in that mode it exceeds the maximum federal limits. Our state has an exhaust law that's really "iffy". It states that no vehicle can have it's exhaust being "louder than originally equipped" from the factory which is nonsense. In other words, if your V8 vehicle is 90 dbA and it's ok but someone has a Sentra with those big mufflers in the rear that measures say, 85 dbA (which is a LOT louder than stock) then the Sentra can get a ticket for excessive noise but the stock V8 is fine. Noise levels shouldn't be based on what the vehicle came with "stock"; it should be a certain noise level. When I did some research, I found that most places that have these regulations that specify actual readings, the Feds seem to have 95 dbA as the max level which matches what some other countries like Australia has at 95 dbA. When I used to do state inspections I failed a number of Mitsu Lancer EVOs and other 4 cylinder imports who modified their exhaust with those huge rear mufflers. One notably came in at over 105 dbA. The guy told me he has a "plate" that the exhaust shop gave him so he'd come back after he installed it. All it was is some kind of baffle plate that was secured at the outlet of the muffler with screws; interestingly, when I re-measured his noise level, it was exactly 95 dbA! Seems that the exhaust manufacturers KNOW what the federal spec is for these cars.

On another note, when I checked my GT's exhaust noise level, at startup during the warmup phase it actually exceeded the federal limit being around 100 dbA just at idle, but it settles down once it warms up (my car is a base model w/o exhaust option). Afterwards, I slowly increased rpm to 2000 and then let it settle back to idle and the peak measured sound level was 97 dbA. So I suspect that in "track mode" your exhaust is probably well in excess of 100 dbA.

Finally, if the cop didn't have an A-weighted sound meter and didn't know the procedure to measure the noise level (the proper procedure is the meter is held at a 45 degree angle from the exhaust tip normal line of flow and 20" away from the opening) then how'd he come to the conclusion that it's "too loud"? I suppose he thinks he has "calibrated ears"?
 

Garfy

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Just looked up in manual, page 251 " The Track exhaust mode is for track use only, and not on public roadways. Use will result in louder exterior noise, which may not meet local and state laws and regs.
However, i would agree that you probably shouldn't get pulled over for it unless being a dick.
Hope this helps!
Yeah, I agree. Out here virtually all the Harley guys have NO MUFFLERS, just drag pipes and you can hear them a half mile + away when they're just cruising, not cranking it. But the cops here do nothing about it, yet they bother guys with loud cars at times. The best excuse I heard from some bikers is "the bike didn't come with mufflers from the factory". Yeah, right. My dad had an old BSA back in the late 50's and even it had a muffler on it. Don't think Harley made street bikes w/o mufflers; besides most of the ones on the road today are 60's or later models.
 

Garfy

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I have never had an issue here in New York. My last Mustang had a catback and my Expedition for years didn't even have a muffler. No matter how "technical" though, I always knew I was breaking the law and knew I could be pulled over and ticketed for it. If you dont understand that, its on you not the cop.



First, thats not what highway means. Every state will have a list of definitions for different areas of the law (many individual statutes will also have their own). For motor vehicles Florida's is 316.003. Subsection 87 states (among other things) a "STREET OR HIGHWAY" is " (a) The entire width between the boundary lines of every way or place of whatever nature when any part thereof is open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular traffic". Its very similar to the definition you will find in every other state.

Secondly, you keep harping on subsection 5 which deals with modifications. I am not going to copy and past the whole thing here, but if you read subsection 2 there is no reference to modifications, just a limit to how loud your car can be. Also note it doesn't say anything about selling a car that breaks this law, just operating it. So unless there is another law that deals with how loud a car you are selling can be, it is possible for Ford to sell you a car that is illegal for you to drive.
True. Remember that VW sold a ton of cars that were ILLEGAL due to the fact they exceeded the emission limits for those vehicles. So exhaust noise levels could also exceed federal limits. I know my "pure stock" car does especially when the engine is cold.
 

K4fxd

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Yeah, I agree. Out here virtually all the Harley guys have NO MUFFLERS, just drag pipes and you can hear them a half mile + away when they're just cruising, not cranking it. But the cops here do nothing about it, yet they bother guys with loud cars at times.
Ky has no dB limit for bikes....
 

15BluStang

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No issues just north in Marion County (Ocala). A Marion County Sheriff said their SPL meters are locked away, collecting dust, and did not know how to use them.
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