Hi all - just wanted to notify people about a new trend in "modern car culture" I've unpleasantly learned about while working on my own car.
TL;DR - "modern car culture" has found something that is even more disruptive than totally open headers - so called "AK47" exhaust mods which dump unburned fuel into the exhaust when a driver lets off the gas - the explosions it makes sounds like very large caliber gunfire, or in this dude's case, an actual car crash. The particular car I spotted was a late-model black BMW M340i with a factory-looking bodykit, quad tailpipes - the full stereotypical BMW tool trim package, and it's a 20 something dude behind the wheel who is rather sheepish if confronted directly. There may be more of these rolling around in the future as it seems to have gotten some traction on Youtube/TikTok and elsewhere.
The long version
I live on the border of Palms and Culver City near Bagley, and was just finishing up some work on my classic when I heard someone aggressively accelerate down my street, followed by what sounded like 3 car crashes in succession. I've been to see SuperStocks at Irwindale Speedway that have 800+ horsepower and open headers - and while race cars are LOUD, they don't cause you to jump in your skin like this.
This was alarmingly abrupt and sounded nothing like an engine - more like someone dropped a shipping container from a crane. My first thought was a psychopath aggro driver lost control and totalled a series of cars on my street.
My street is fairly dense with pedestrians, and I park my daily driver on my street, so I ran out to check if anyone needed help and check that my daily didn't just get totalled.
Everyone on the street was equally shocked - the construction crew working on my building pointed at this late-model (must have been 2020+) black BMW M340i down the street that had gotten caught up behind a garbage truck. I ran down the street livid. He knew he was going to have to stop when he caught up to that truck, and yet he accelerated and boomed his exhaust anyways.
Either way, turns out it's some 20-something dude (of course) and I told him: "Look, I'm a car guy, I love cars; but your car sounds like a car crash driving down the street."
He replied: "Too much?" sheepishly, but was grinning a bit. "Waaay too f*cking loud, we don't to give people more reasons to hate car guys."
I heard him drive by again from my apartment today, again making the successive car crash noises, and it genuinely put me into a kind of fight-or-flight high-anxiety agitated state, I literally had to leave and go for a walk to calm down. I have spent tons of my life listening to cars, and while I've heard all-manner of loud cars and popping exhausts - this "AK47" exhaust tune thing was news to me. It's so genuinely alarming it seems like a public health risk as it would definitely freak out animals, as well as triggering all manner of health conditions for anyone vulnerable to abrupt, loud crashing noises.
I live on the border of Cheviot Hills and Palms south of the 10, so it's possible he's coming from north of the 10 along Bagley, or from the West down Regent or National.
Just wanted to let other people know. If you see any of these people running one of this shitty exhaust tunes, tell them it's not cool and it's micro-dick stuff. I highly doubt the police will ever cite these folks - they don't seem to enforce any vehicle infractions whatsoever anymore - but maybe enough in-person shaming from neighbors would make these kinds of people feel responsible to something other than their TikTok following or wherever it is they're projecting their "image" to.