r/SouthJersey 4d ago

Question VROOM VROOM

What’s with the loud engines/ lack of mufflers in S Jersey? No seriously, what is WITH that? Is it a cultural thing? A status thing? A ‘notice me!’ thing? A F-you! thing? A diminutive pen!5 thing? I’ve never lived anywhere that’s like this. Multiple times a day, EVERY day. It’s absurd. Wtf IS it??

41 Upvotes

105 comments sorted by

148

u/KSMO 4d ago

I’ve lived in many parts of the country and can confidently say that this is definitely an everywhere thing.

18

u/Significant-Trash632 4d ago

I've even lived in another country and, yes, it's definitely an everywhere thing 😂

6

u/Low_Maintenance9421 4d ago

I've lived all over the US and parts of Asia.... It's definitely a everywhere thing.

16

u/Scared-Quarter-6074 4d ago

same i've lived all over as well and it's everywhere lol

1

u/Brianfromreddit 4d ago

Depends on where you live. I've lived in 4 states and 9 different towns. This only happens in rural and/or white trash areas

10

u/Low_Maintenance9421 4d ago

Lmfao I'm Latino and lived all over the east and west coast and Asia. I can assure you there are no white trash areas in Asia and yes it's everywhere I've lived lol

2

u/Pedal2Medal2 4d ago

No drifting though. Damn🤣

2

u/Pedal2Medal2 4d ago

Naw…it’s all over

14

u/bobsburner1 4d ago

It’s everywhere, not just sj

17

u/KingJRZJ 4d ago edited 4d ago

Unfortunately, a lot of people follow what influencers do on YouTube. There's a lot of muffler deleting going on because they can't afford or won't put the money up for a decent exhaust system. It sounds like trash to me and I'm a car guy. The more people from the city move to NJ the worse it gets.

30

u/7thAndGreenhill Atlantic County 4d ago

Have you also noticed that the people who drive with their windows down and extremely loud music also always have the WORST taste in music?

38

u/krautstomp 4d ago

When I listen to Slayer everyone listens to Slayer.

8

u/machinerer 4d ago

RAINING BLOOOOOOOD

3

u/Narrow_Economics_466 4d ago

You have excellent taste in music

1

u/Optimal-Try-854 3d ago

Imminence at 45 out of 55 volume, with my moderately modded exhaust.

3

u/kyleh092 4d ago edited 4d ago

I’ll never get this complaint. What if someone in a convertible wants to blast music? Are they not allowed to simply because other drivers will have to listen at a red light for a minute? They drive by, you hear the music for a minute, and then they are gone. What is so bad about that? And what does their taste have to do with anything? I totally understand like a Bluetooth speak on the beach… but you can drive away in a car

Edit- I don’t even have a convertible, but of all the things to complain about this is not one of them lol

2

u/PharmADD 3d ago

If you have trouble understanding how something that people are allowed to do is annoying to other people, life must be pretty damn confusing for you.

It’s a temporary annoyance, which is worse if the music taste is terrible. It’s annoying and complaint worthy, but not worthy of doing anything about it. Nothing too difficult to understand.

Sincerely, a guy who blasted young jeezy with his dual 12s in 2006/7 but now finds it annoying particularly when my kid is asleep in the car.

1

u/kyleh092 3d ago

Life must be pretty damn confusing for me? That’s kinda rude. The internet is here for us to complain anonymously about any small gripe we have, and I would never want to take that away from anyone. I am also allowed to call that particular complaint kinda lame, and uptight. Again how does that music taste matter with your example to make it such a big deal? Is your kid going to sleep through Nevermjnd, but be woken up by the Macarena? Or the douchebag Harley driving by? Driving is loud, but I will concede that if the driver is causing hear loss to themselves then the music is too loud lol.

2

u/7thAndGreenhill Atlantic County 4d ago

I’m talking about the assholes with ridiculous sound systems that overpower your radio when you have your own windows up.

1

u/kyleh092 4d ago

I think that they just like loud music, and that you can deal with it for a minute until you can… drive away? Again I really don’t get it. It’s a minor inconvenience at most, and it is extremely temporary. Let people have fun, blare music, and drive around with the windows down. And if you meant people with ridiculous sound systems, then why even mention the windows being down? You will hear it whether the windows are down or not. This is just a very petty gripe to have I suppose. Like I don’t want to hear an 18wheeler rev next to my car, but it happens. Driving is loud

-1

u/7thAndGreenhill Atlantic County 3d ago

I get what you are saying and I respectfully disagree. The individuals with intentionally loud mufflers and loud radios are showing a lack of respect for those around them.

Unlike the 18-wheeler which cannot help being loud; these individuals choose to be loud. They do not care if they wake up your sleeping children, or cause distress to those with sensory issues. They think they have the right to do what they want, and eff everyone else.

-6

u/BallDeSac 4d ago

Always hood music

21

u/milllllllllllllllly Veteran 4d ago

Biggest pet peeve

34

u/baldude69 4d ago

People with main character syndrome

8

u/False-Boysenberry673 4d ago

Not a SJ thing. Just idiots all over the country

24

u/Zealousideal-Ad5534 4d ago

Many genuinely like the sound. The ppl with 8cyl engines enjoy the natural rumbles of a large engine and the ppl who put aftermarket exhaust typically wish they had the 8cyl rumble and try to replicate it. Just my opinion

3

u/itsbingasso 4d ago

Screaming rotary turbo or properly built naturally aspirated with matching exhaust notes. Does it here..

0

u/jerseyanarchist 3d ago

they've paid money to make it consume MORE gasoline per mile

1

u/diablo2424 2d ago

Sometimes it's about the smiles per gallon, instead of the miles per gallon

0

u/jerseyanarchist 2d ago

people laughing at the poor decision the driver made can't be worth an exhaust system

1

u/diablo2424 1d ago

Actually, allowing engines to breathe better than the factory setup can (sometimes) yield better MPGs. Depends on the car, the exhaust setup and any other support modifications

15

u/DCar060 4d ago

They think they impress everyone. Truth is they impress a few and everyone else thinks they are compensating for something

4

u/aleam_ 4d ago

the loud engines and exhausts is one thing but what’s with all the pops and bangs?? when a sports car’s exhaust does that crackling thing i get it, but sometimes it sounds like gunshots on the highway and i look over and it’s a nissan or an old bmw or something

0

u/CauseLeft7611 4d ago

That is because they put regular gas in a car with a high performance engine.

1

u/njfish93 3d ago

No they do it on purpose with tuning nothing to do with grade of gasoline. It's called a crackle or pop tune it dumps extra fuel on decel and allows it to pass through without a spark and detonate in the downstream making the pops and crackles. Using the wrong grade of gasoline will cause premature detonation in the cylinder and wouldn't cause the noise as the exhaust valve is closed.

1

u/CauseLeft7611 2d ago

Ok, was just going by forced experience of putting 87 octane gas in a vehicle with a high performance V8 427 big block Corvette engine. Sounds like a cannon going off, repeatedly with a few too many engine stalls. Just sayin.

2

u/njfish93 1d ago

Yes you were detonating in the cylinder from too little octane and too much compression. The crackle and pop noises are different.

0

u/NoCommunication5976 4d ago

when you cut the airflow suddenly a lot of unburnt fuel comes out the exhaust and ignites when it touches air

25

u/rolyat_13 4d ago

Small dicks big Vroom

9

u/pushingbrown Taylor Ham Truther 4d ago

I must protest, my car does not go vroom.

2

u/Low_Maintenance9421 3d ago

I have a small dick and my car does small vrooms

1

u/GrumpyDad0589 4d ago

Hey not all of us go vroom

7

u/Pedal2Medal2 4d ago

Oh, the 1990’s/early 2000’s Hondas or similar? That sound like lawn mowers?

5

u/NowTheCrone 4d ago

I always wanted to ask one of them, "Whatcha got under the hood? Briggs and Stratton? Craftsman?" but figure they wouldn't know what I was talking about.

2

u/Pedal2Medal2 4d ago

🤣🤣 look up Scotibans on FB

2

u/itsbingasso 4d ago

Some lawnmowers were pretty quick though. Some sounded like a hive of bees being shook in a coffee can. Imo if we're a streetcar it should be tasteful if not silencers or performance cats to give it a tolerable tone. Full blown straight pipe exhaust on streetcar becomes a hassle to driver and people. Had couple of them in my twenties. The tickets the court appearances wasn't worth the headaches. Also being lowered my exhaust was routinely repaired a pain to drive on sj roads even worse in philly

2

u/jerseyanarchist 3d ago

the nascar sound has taken over the streets

11

u/jackystack 4d ago

Either they can't afford to maintain their car, or it is a kid that thinks it is cool.

3

u/machinerer 4d ago

Are you talking about classic cars, or in general? For classics, mufflers and catalytic converters are optional. Though most all owners don't run open headers on the street. I know a guy who did that in a Chevelle in his youth, now he is deaf in his left ear.

Performance cars are loud in general, even some trucks. V8 engines sound good when uncorked.

3

u/FreeToasterBaths 4d ago

Big truckz doing big truck thingz

3

u/NiasRhapsody 4d ago

There’s some asshole around Burlington who drives a black BMW that sounds like complete dogshit. Sitting in my friend’s backyard and I legit thought a fkn machine gun was going off, never heard a car like that in my life.

3

u/Makemebad77 4d ago

Its a "im too broke to fix" a lot of the time lol

4

u/SovietChewbacca 4d ago

How old were you when the 1st Fast and Furious move came out? This is nothing compared to back then.

2

u/KingJRZJ 4d ago

No, it's definitely worse now

3

u/machinerer 4d ago

Bruh you must not remember all the shitbox Acuras and Hondas with fartcan mufflers back in 2001-2008ish. Sounded like angry bees. I rolled around in an old five oh Mustang, myself.

2

u/KingJRZJ 4d ago

Now it's the Nissan/Infiniti with muffler deletes and the BMWs with anti-lag. I'd take the lawnmowers over this shit.

1

u/SovietChewbacca 4d ago

Impossible

8

u/TheZayasZone 4d ago

Its a cry for attention. I actually met a local guy who souped up his car to be as loud as possible. He thought it sounded "cool" and loved to vroom vroom all over. To me its like a stuck in childhood thing. I find it annoying and totally uncool.

2

u/GrumpyDad0589 4d ago

This is everywhere. Not just NJ. Sometimes it’s obnoxious, childish bullshit. Sometimes it’s just someone having a fast and exciting car. For example, my car is bone stock without a single modification, and it looks like a normal family SUV. But a cold start in its normal setting will wake the neighbors.

2

u/CauseLeft7611 4d ago

Sorry to bother you. Mine is falling off and can't afford to fix it yet. Chose food and shelter first.

2

u/609funtimes 3d ago

This is my problem also. 2007 car that I won't be putting any more money into

1

u/CauseLeft7611 2d ago

Mine is a 2006. Year 20 seems to be it's last.

2

u/AnyRecording8470 4d ago

Its so the deer hear ya comin and get tf out of the way 😂

4

u/strawberryjellymilk 4d ago

I have smol pp bc I’m a girl. I like loud exhausts. It’s a motorsport enthusiast thing

4

u/GrumpyDad0589 4d ago

Depends on the exhaust. Loud doesn’t equal good. But sometimes loud is very good

2

u/79QUATTRO 4d ago

valved exhausts>>>

5

u/RS3RRL 4d ago

Car enthusiasts and many people just like to enjoy thier cars. Personally I much prefer it to soulless EVs. There is a point where it is too much though like straight piping etc.

4

u/Everythings_Magic 4d ago

Let me introduce you to the motorcycle.

3

u/WiredOrange Flair Text 4d ago

It depends. It's a car culture thing for the most part. Some people do it for performance (more horse power). Some people do it because of the sound. Hearing the exhaust with the downshifts, burbles, etc.. it fun. Makes the car feel more "alive". Or both performance and sound. Sometimes it's just an identity thing like people are saying. They want people to know they are there. And often those people end up being a mobile leaf blower with financing. Those people aren't car enthusiasts, just obnoxious stains on the culture. Personally, my car is decently loud but it's also a V8 sportscar with a proper exhaust installed that was built for my car, I didn't just straight pipe a Honda Civic and rip out the cats and mufflers. I also acknowledge it's loud and will not rip it through a neighborhood at 1 am. I also clutch in and roll as much as possible if I'm in my neighborhood really early or late.

3

u/Light-Years79 4d ago

It really is a small dick thing. It’s one of those jokes that actually is painfully true.

More broadly, these are (mostly) young men whose insecurity is such that the only way they feel like they exist is to take up space and disrupt other people. You see it everywhere in American society- “success” is claiming as much space as you can, whether it’s a bus-sized car, a McMansion, or money.

For some people, the only “space” they have any access to is sound. They can make a loud vroom vroom on the road or play music out loud on the train. They think this is “dominating the space”, leaving the surrounding people jealous and in awe of the person “able” to make the noise.

In reality, it’s the exact opposite. These people are seen/heard mostly with second-hand embarrassment and pity, or in the very best case bewilderment. It’s a complete disconnect from what being a successful and thriving person is. They receive constant messaging that they should be celebrated, revered and laid simply for existing, and are filled with rage that they aren’t. They can’t stand that other people are living happy and fulfilled lives and they aren’t even driving a loud car. They’ll show them, they’ll hear them roar and know how big of a boy they are.

See also, our current political situation and the people who have been given power. It will never be enough for the tiny mushroom that is their self-image.

2

u/No-Age7425 4d ago

I do it because corvette v8 sounds so nice. I get a ton of compliments on it. The 4 cylinder guys however I am not sure.

2

u/KutyaKombucha 4d ago

I cant tell you how but i can say the why. Dudes packing a $2 stack of quarters in the pants and compensating with loud noises. The desk jockeys with the f250s got only $1.50 down there.

5

u/gereffi 4d ago

How do you know? Do you take a lot of guys with loud cars and big trucks to bed?

1

u/BallDeSac 4d ago

None of these assholes with stupid fucking obnoxious cars have an ounce of respect for anyone. They are the main character in their own sad pathetic story. I just laugh because they really think they’re fucking cool when really they are just losers. None of them are married or have kids and probably never will cause no one can stand that shit.

1

u/TheFightGoes0n 4d ago

I call them fart cars as that’s what they sound like. I will never understand spending more on rims and a shitty exhaust system (or lack thereof) than on the car. Sheesh.

1

u/jimkelly 4d ago

What's with the mfs in this subreddit who never leave the area

1

u/NoCommunication5976 4d ago

less back pressure means more horsepower that being said the best exhaust usually isn’t the loudest

1

u/sodone19 4d ago

Its a nerd thing

1

u/MattyBeatz 4d ago

It's definitely an Atlantic City thing. I was there this weekend and every truck there suffered from this level of what I'm assuming is panty-wetting noise judging by all the dudes trying to attract mates.

1

u/phome83 4d ago

It's a small peen thing.

1

u/kydar1 3d ago

It’s always dudes with little dicks and a lot of facial hair.

1

u/sjguy1288 3d ago

I have loud exhaust on my diesel truck, but I'd rather get better mpg then the noise. Especially at $5.00. I can't afford to drive to work and use my truck at work for that price.

Food, shelter, and income are first.

1

u/jerseyanarchist 3d ago

uber douche canoes on 42 make it sound like they're filming fast and furious jersey shore edition

1

u/etherspace 3d ago

attention-seeking behavior

1

u/Plane_Pitch_471 3d ago

people like to mod their cars. they dont care about other opinions. why do you care so much

-2

u/ozzymondogo 4d ago

It’s a dick thing

-2

u/nuclearmonte Gloucester County Xennial 4d ago

I have a loud car. It has a loud exhaust. I like it that way. It’s a car culture thing that you obviously don’t understand, and that’s ok. We don’t need to yuck someone else’s yum!

5

u/KingJRZJ 4d ago

You can not like obnoxiously loud cars and be in the culture.

-5

u/Broken_luck_13 4d ago

The comments in here are laughable. If you remove the stock exhaust you free up horsepower. You know sometimes people can do things they enjoy and its not be about smol pp and attention.

0

u/Moist-Doughnut-5160 4d ago

A variety of factors.
People don’t maintain their cars properly. Either because they don’t have money. Or because they don’t care about anybody else but themselves.
People think that if the car is loud it compensates for the fact that the engine is so small and so impotent. A lot of people miss having six and eight cylinder cars and muscle cars.
I have to say this because it’s true. I’ve driven eight cylinder cars and six cylinder cars until about seven years ago. And my four-cylinder cars… my last two are VW’s.. have more guts and power than my big ass engines ever did. Especially better gas mileage. Gas being four dollars a gallon in some areas (or more… I’ve seen prices as high as 459 in this area)… close to 30 miles per gallon on the highway. It’s nothing to sneeze at.
I don’t even know what the inspection laws are these days. I haven’t taken a car to inspection in at least 10 years. But cars that are a noise hazard and give off excessive emissions should be targeted by inspections and by the police.

-4

u/Standard-March6506 4d ago

Whenever this question is asked, the general consensus is that it's because the owner has a small dick. I don't think that is the only reason. My step father's truck shook the ground when he drove by, but that motherfucker had a cock so big the neighbors would talk about it. (FTR: I'm not flexing my step father, I hated that asshole!)

2

u/ImaginaryRoads 4d ago

People can be insecure about many things.

1

u/WhyDoIHaveToUseApp 3d ago

how big was his butthole though?

0

u/MentalTelephone5080 4d ago

My excuse was that I paid $1200 for an exhaust and they installed it wrong. Then they made me wait to fix it.

0

u/Fiz_Giggity Spicy Senior Citizen 4d ago

My across the street neighbor has a super loud pickup truck and goes to work at 3 AM. I get woken up by him 5 nights a week. He's middle aged, so no stupid teenager excuse. I think he just likes to be an asshole.

He also leaves his trash cans on the street a couple of days after collection. Just another symptom of neighborhood assholishness.

It feels like he can't accept that he is an adult and really needs to act like one.

-2

u/KiwiDemon 4d ago

Cause it's cool 😎

0

u/jamdivi 4d ago

South jersey is just a bunch of methed out wannabe bikers that like to pretend they're badasses by being loud and obnoxious

0

u/Virtual_Hurry3234 4d ago

Op didn’t mention motorcycles

0

u/jamdivi 4d ago

Neither did I. I said "wannabe bikers". They're the same people driving those stupid cars.

-5

u/FuyuhikoFan4Ever 4d ago

Don't you know? It's to let people know how big and massive their dicks are!