Cars And Coffee Attendee's 'Cold Start' Shatters Two Windows And One Friendship

A modified sports car's cold-start exhaust note at a Saturday morning Cars and Coffee event shattered two shop windows and terminated a friendship of eleven years, according to witnesses who described the sound as "less an engine note and more a declaration of hostility." The vehicle, a 2019 Dodge Challenger Hellcat with a catless downpipe and straight-pipe exhaust, was started by owner Brett Decibel at 8:03 a.m. in the parking lot of a strip mall hosting the weekly gathering. The resulting exhaust note registered 127 decibels on a sound meter held by a nearby attendee, exceeding the pain threshold of 125 decibels and the event's posted limit of 90 decibels. The windows of a dry cleaner and a nail salon adjacent to the parking lot cracked simultaneously. The dry cleaner's owner, who had been supportive of the weekly car gatherings, is now exploring legal options. "I revved it once," Decibel said. "Maybe twice. The cold start is the whole point. That's when the exhaust is loudest because the catalytic — well, I don't have catalytic converters. But the principle stands. A cold engine sounds best." The friendship casualty involves Decibel's longtime friend Marcus, who had been standing approximately fifteen feet from the exhaust outlet with a cup of coffee. "The coffee left the cup," Marcus stated. "Vertically. The sound wave hit the surface of the coffee and it just departed. It was on my shirt, my face, and someone's Miata. That was my last Cars and Coffee with Brett." Event organizers have imposed a permanent ban on Decibel's vehicle and are considering a new policy requiring mufflers, a rule they had previously considered unnecessary among what they describe as "adults who share a hobby." Decibel has contested the ban, arguing that a car event that prohibits loud cars is "a parking lot with pretensions."