Making Golf Carts Quieter?
 

Having seen the new 2017 Yamaha golf carts I'm impressed on how quite they are, even more than the previous year.

There's not a lot of magic involved with making them quieter, just technology and a little work. Does anybody know of a company locally that does upgrades to carts to make them quieter and what it costs?

Golf cart
 

Actually I believe it is a different engine, since it is about 5 HP less. I bought one and am very happy. I also thought about trying to make my 2013 quieter.

My '15 from Carts and Clubs is fairly quiet; they add an insulation package to every cart they sell that does quieten the carts down.

Carts and clubs
 

My 2013 was from carts and clubs, and it was fairly quiet. But my new one from carts and clubs is remarkably quieter. We have a electric Club car and this one, we've decided to get rid of the electric now since this is so quiet. Carts and clubs still does extra insulation and several other things that are different from the Villages. I would recommend that one compares the two and make your own decision as I did. Drive them at both locations. One of the things i liked was Carts and Clubs does the seat belt with a shoulder harness which the Villages doesn't Do (option). I also did the Radial tires which the Villages didn't do until a few weeks ago. The tires make a big difference in ride.

Did you see difference in muffler design? I would think muffler big part in engine exhaust noise levels?

That does not sound right. The standard engine is 11.4 HP. 5HP less would be a reduction of 44%. Perhaps it is .5 HP less? If the muffler is a new design and quieter it might have more baffling. I have seen the new encasement of the muffler. If under all that suitcase type cover is new baffling to the muffler itself that probably means more exhaust back pressure thus a reduction in HP not necessarily a new engine.

Be patient.

There are 17 stores selling sound amplification that fits securely in your ears, here in The Villages. Things will get...umm... quieter if you just wait.;)

Yamaha HP
 

The specs from Yamaha are: 2017=8.9 HP. The earlier model is 11.4 HP. The acceleration is noticeably slower, but it has no problem maintaining speed at 20/22 mph. (Please, lets not start a debate on 22 mph)

Wait??
 

Gracie, at my age I don't wait. You never know what tomorrow will bring ;)

It is almost certainly the same basic engine. The bore and stroke are the same. The stuff hanging off of it, such as the exhaust system, may be a bit different.

That is significant. Any specs published like the car manufacturers 0 - 60 mph - in this case 0 - 20 mph. With that kind of HP lose one would think it's more than noticeable. It has to be an absolute dog unless something else has compensated for that kind of power reduction i.e. 22%. An aside 11.4 to 8.9 is a 2.5 HP difference not 5.

Traded my '13 Villages store EFI for the '17 C & C Quiet Tech. Maybe a little slower from a dead stop. I'm not sure because I'm so busy enjoying the quiet and lack of stink that I'm actually considering replacing the electric RXV we used to fight over to see who got to take to the course instead of the noisy stinker '13 gas.

Opinion
 

You need to go drive one and make your own opinion. How quick do you need to get to 20? Carts and clubs still limits the cart to 24 MPH. Yes it does take a little longer to get there. (BTW, I'm retired so the .05 sec longer to get to 20 MPH isn't going to affect me) ;)

The 2017 Yamaha does not have the fast jerky initial movement of earlier models.

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I went from electric to gas due to the size of The Villages. Batteries are great year 1 but each year you loose a little more range. That got old as The Villages grew. Two things I noticed most was the lack of acceleration with gas as compared to electric. Second is the jerky motion of a gas clutch. The noise I did not find objectionable but then again I'm not the guy behind me.