This local New York news team investigating straight piped exhausts is the East Coast version of those pesky Bay Area “Whistle Tips.”

The latest car trends and local news clashing is a tale as old as time that really brings to light that, although we like to think our car shenanigans have no impact outside our circle of friends, the really abrasive trends can possibly affect everyday people. Note, I said possibly. That’s what NBC 4 news out of New York found out after they dropped their latest “investigative piece” on straight piped exhausts A.K.A. the latest menace on local New York streets.

In the three-minute video I’ve posted above, the “I-Team” labels this supposed new trend as “downright dangerous.” They even roped in a local college professor who teaches Criminal Justice to add some credence to their claim that straight-piped exhausts can somehow become the next great menace.

Their main beef with straight piped exhausts come from the loud sounds emanating from the rear of these cars that they say sounds “almost identical to gunshots.” NBC 4 hints that, in the wrong place at the wrong time, a car with this type of exhaust can cause mass panic.

And, if straight piped exhausts go off near NYPD’s shot caller system, this can waste man hours and resources investigating false positives.

Towards the end of the video the I-Team goes to a local used car reseller who specializes in high horsepower builds, somewhat catching the car sales rep off-guard. They’ve reposted their part of the news segment on Instagram shortly after.

In my opinion, I think this local news team is hyping up a trend that, frankly, isn’t even an issue. The investigative news team didn’t actually get statements from police that this is actually a problem to their shot caller system nor did they bring up any relevant statistics from emergency services that this is becoming a problem and burden to New York’s greater public services.

I really think the average New York resident is smart enough to know the difference between a hoonigan in a car and the *PopPopPop* sound of an actual gun. Even I, someone who doesn’t live in a large metro area, knows what an actual gun sounds like, usually, I won’t hear the revving of an engine and the spooling of a turbo before and after hearing the offending noises.

And, this new “trend” has been around much longer than they think. Only with the advent of social media has straight piped exhausts even become a “thing” to investigate.

I don’t see this story going any further than this one-off piece. If anything, this just gives people on the fence to get straight piped exhausts that little push now that there’s a bit of notoriety behind this exhaust mod.

I-Team, move on. It’s not that important.

Source: News 4

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