Earplugs for 914 Driving?, Plus a fun AI cartoon Options

[Stev914]

Just returned from a very nice country drive in my 914-4. I'm putting it away for the Winter, so this was a great last drive of the year. I prefer to drive it with the top off, and it's about to get very chilly here in Michigan for late Fall and Winter. After owning it for a few months and putting about 800 miles on it, I feel like I am just starting to learn to drive it well. My motor memory has mastered the vague gearbox and the engine really purrs between 3,500 and 5,000 RPM. Tons of fun!

But... earplugs.

I prefer to wear foam earplugs when I drive it more than 10-15 minutes. I actually prefer the sound of the engine this way; I can really feel the low frequencies of the engine. Also, the 914 doesn't really create a lot of noticeable wind noise for me with the top down, even at 50mph+. But I said "noticeable." If I drive for longer than 10-15 minutes without earplugs, I can definitely feel that post-concert dullness in my ears. A simple pair of foam plugs that cut 32dB work perfectly: the same ones I use for operating power tools or going to rock concerts. I keep a little jar of them in the garage.

Anybody else use earplugs?

I've been wearing ear protection for noisy things since my college days of playing in rock bands, and then later in party and rock bands. While playing amplified music, I actually hear better with ear protection. Kind of funny: the sensation of feeling the engine behind me in the 914 is not unlike the feeling of my bass rig behind me on stage. The earplugs really make it more enjoyable... and that's to say nothing of the post-drive feeling of normal hearing when you put the car back in the garage.

Just thought I'd share. I hope you had a great drive in your 914 today!

Steve
1972 914-4

P.S. Here's a fun AI cartoon of my car.

[campbellcj]

My car is about as loud as any 914 could get, particularly with open pipes - something around 112dbA. With a muffler it somehow passed a 105dbA Laguna sound check.

Most of my life my ears have taken serious punishment in terms of loud cars, rock music, and shooting ranges, often without protection (except at the range, I have high-end earmuffs).

In more recent years I've paid much more attention and used at least foam earbuds for concerts and for driving/racing. I had some custom-fitted earbuds made by a vendor at the track one day. Those are a game-changer in terms of comfort and function.

Possibly due to all this fun or else from birth I have a 'broken' left ear, a condition called otosclerosis where the tiny bones that handle acoustic hearing (stapes, incus, malleus?) got stuck together (calcified) at some point or had never formed correctly in the first place. It causes low frequency loss vs the more common high frequency loss from aging and injury. Thankfully it doesn't impair me much as my right ear is pretty much normal, but I got a hearing aid finally this year for tougher situations like noisy restaurants.

There's research showing a correlation between hearing loss and cognitive decline, possibly due to lack of use and atrophy of the nerves involved which connect to the temporal lobe - without a signal coming in the nerves essentially die off. This was a big reason why I got the hearing aid too.

Definitely take care of your ears folks (eyes too for that matter)!