Noise limits on race circuits exist because running the circuit at all depends on a permit, and that permit almost always comes with noise-control conditions. Two systems have become common as a result: a limit per individual vehicle, usually measured as it passes a fixed point, or a daily allowance or average sound level measured across every car together. Many circuits, Bilster Berg among them, combine both. In practice, for you as a driver that means a standard road car is almost never the problem, with a sports exhaust, an open valve system or a straight race system it is worth checking the figures for your circuit beforehand.
Race circuits are rarely out in the middle of nowhere. Most have neighbours, whether that is a village at the edge of the track or a few farms nearby, and having neighbours comes with an operating permit that is almost always tied to noise-control conditions. Without those conditions, many locations simply would not have a permit to run at all, so the rules are the reason the circuit and the dates held there exist in the first place.
That is why we do not see these rules as an annoying hurdle, but as what keeps track day sport alive at these locations in the long run. The noise limits protect exactly the thing you turn up for as a driver: that the circuit is still there tomorrow.
Track days and other driving events on race circuits have settled on two measurement systems at their core. Both aim at the same thing, keeping noise for the neighbourhood within a reasonable range, just from a different angle:
Each car is measured on its own, usually as it passes a fixed point on the circuit. If one vehicle exceeds the set figure, that initially concerns only that one car.
Here the individual car does not count, the total across every vehicle over the day or a session does. Every car adds to that overall figure with its own noise, loud cars more than quiet ones.
Many circuits combine both systems, as you can see in the Bilster Berg example in the next section. At our Red Bull Ring dates, the second approach applies, the average daily level.
At Bilster Berg, according to the operator, both systems from the last section apply together: a limit per individual vehicle and a daily allowance for the whole circuit.
The operator itself compares the allowance to an account: quiet cars draw down small amounts, loud ones larger amounts. Once the daily allowance is used up, driving has to stop, regardless of how loud your own car happens to be. If a single car gets too loud, the operator says it works in two steps: first a yellow card as a warning, then a red card on a repeat, which forfeits driving rights for the rest of the day. If the allowance eases up again, the red card can also be lifted.
Important context: 138 and 128 dB(A) are sound power figures under the LWA method, a completely different measurement to the stationary noise figure in your vehicle documents. These numbers are systematically much higher and cannot be compared one to one with the figure in your paperwork. So if you read 128 dB(A) and find a much smaller number in your documents, that is not a contradiction, it is simply a different yardstick.
At our dates, the Red Bull Ring measures things differently to Bilster Berg: not each car on its own, but the average daily level across every vehicle in our class together. According to our current pre-event information, the limit for that is 84 dB average per day.
In our own pre-event information, we describe the principle as a battery: a loud car drains it quickly, a quiet one slowly, and the level is watched over the whole day. Loud cars use up more of the allowance than quiet ones, regardless of how many laps they drive.
The honest part: If the battery is at risk of running empty, we may need to pause loud cars temporarily so the track day can keep running for everyone. That affects the loudest cars in the field on the day, regardless of who is driving them.
That is why we ask you: make your car as quiet as you reasonably can, and if a silencer is available for your model, fit it for the track day. On Porsche GT cars, for example, a silencer is a common route. Our partner Flat6Factory can advise you on this and provide suitable parts if needed.
For most drivers this is not an issue in practice. A standard car with a standard exhaust tends, based on experience, to sit well under the critical figures, whether at Bilster Berg or the Red Bull Ring. Things get tighter, based on experience, only with a sports exhaust, an open valve system or a straight race system with no damping, and those are typically the cars where it is worth checking the noise beforehand.
Not sure whether your car will be fine, whether that is about the exhaust, slicks or other modifications: Message us before booking and we will sort it out directly.
This only concerns the vehicle itself, by the way: if you are riding along as a passenger or taking a race taxi ride, there is nothing for you to worry about, that is entirely a matter of the car and who is driving it. More on how a ride works is in the guide The race taxi ride.
The full checklist before the start, from your car through your gear to insurance, is in the guide Track day preparation. And if you are still right at the start: the basics of the format are covered in the guide Your first track day.
Next date is Sat 12 Sep 2026 at the Bilster Berg. With us that means: if you are unsure how loud your car is, we sort it out beforehand, not at the gate.
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