Just my thoughts on this...

My '74 Z car is running straight dual pipes from the header to a pair of tiny glasspack tips. I set off every car alarm in every parked car I pass in a parking garage. I carry earplugs in my console so I can drive long distances without causing hearing damage or rattling my brains out of my skull. I think that fits the description of "Retarded Loud."

In the past two years and 50-odd thousand miles of driving in the Tampa Bay area I've yet to be pulled over. I've had cops ride up right next to me, I look over and nod to them, and all I get back is the occasional thumbs up as they pull past.

Either it's the gray hair at the temples that is saving my ass or the fact that I don't pull 7K shifts around them or do much of anything to draw unwanted attention. Whatever it is, I believe noise enforcement is HIGHLY SELECTIVE, and in my experience it selects against (recent vintage) imports and against younger drivers.

It is certainly not fair, it just is what it is.