USACI OUTLAW SPL CLASSES

DIVISIONS: Outlaw SPL divisions are based on the configuration of the system and vehicle. Specific guidelines for each division will be discussed in the
 
POWER CLASSES:
Stock and Pro Stock divisions: Pro Stock Open Power at 1x and 2x events
  • 0 – 600 watts (max 1 amplifiers)
  • 601 - 1800 watts (max 3 amplifiers)
  • 1801 - 3000 watts (max 4 amplifiers)
  • 3001 & up watts (unlimited)

Modified:

  • 0 – 1000 watts (max 2 amplifiers)
  • 1001-2000 watts (max 4 amplifiers)
  • 2001-4000 watts (max 8 amplifiers)
  • 4001-up watts (unlimited)
Super Modified: Regular, double and triple point events - Open power class
  • 0 - 2,000 watts
  • 2001 - 4,000 watts
  • 4001 - 8000 watts
  • 8001 – up watts
Port Wars and Super port will be open power class at all USACI Events.
 
AMPLIFIERS DEFINED:

One amplifier is considered one power supply, one system board, driving 1 or 2 channels. A 3-4-channel amp would be considered two amplifiers. A 5-6-channel amp would be considered three amps and so on. A single heat sink with more than one power supply or system board may be considered more than one amplifier at the discretion of USACI.

A car audio system’s total wattage shall be determined by the highest manufacturer rated output divided by the proper number to ascertain the 4 ohm power output, or the manufacturer’s 4 ohm rating, whichever is higher. If any amplifiers rating cannot be determined, that amplifier will be moved to the highest power class in that division until such time as a rating can be determined. USACI reserves the right to independently test any amplifier to determine the true RMS power rating and reclassify that amplifier as needed.

BATTERY LIMITATIONS DESCRIBED:

The physical size of each battery is limited to 800 cubic inches (13110 cubic cm) or less. (Height x Length x Width. Excluding the battery terminals.) The physical shape of the battery is irrelevant. These size limitations apply only to classes with defined battery limits. Any class and/or division that allows unlimited batteries will not be bound by this definition.

PROPER POWER CLASS:

A competitor may not compete in a power class other than the one that his/her total system power dictates. The exception to this would be the unlimited or “OPEN” power class

Any and all amplifiers within the vehicle under test will be included in the system’s total power. This sum will not include the power, if any, of the systems source unit (radio, cassette tape or CD player) unless it is actively driving a speaker or a group of speakers. All amplifiers in the vehicle must be operational and actively used in operating the sound system during testing or be physically removed. At local events amplifiers may be left in the vehicle provided the event director has the ability to definitively determine the amplifier is not in use.  
 
Competitors whose systems include amplifiers that are not manufacturer rated, are modified internally, or not commercially available will be required to compete in the unlimited power class of their respective division.
 
Power Source:
 
All audio equipment must derive its power from the vehicle power source. No external power sources (battery chargers, etc.) will be allowed. In the case of a podium, power must be drawn from the vehicle power source. The test vehicle’s engine may be running during testing, but will be limited to 1200rpm. The vehicle’s emergency brake must be set during testing.

USACI OUTLAW SPL JUDGES:

Outlaw SPL judges shall be appointed by the head judge or the event sponsors and are subject to approval by USACI. A USACI Outlaw SPL judge shall not be allowed to judge any vehicle being entered by an immediate family member, employee, employer or substantial customer. The head judge may appoint an alternate to judge that vehicle. It is within the head judge’s or other USACI Outlaw SPL official’s authority to decide the application of this rule to any disputes.

JUDGING ORDER:

The head judge will determine if there is a specific judging order. Judging will end when all vehicles have been judged. No score or refund will be given to a competitor who fails to have their vehicle in the judging line before the judging has ended.

“5 Minute Rule”

Any competitor who allows or causes more than a 5-minute “gap” between cars at the judging station may have 1 point deducted from their highest score at the discretion of the event director.

USACI reserves the right to run an event using either an in-place or specific order judging routine. At any event it is the responsibility of the event coordinator or head judge to inform the competitors involved of the details of that day’s judging format.

MULTIPLE JUDGING LINES:

Some events may form two or more judging lines in order to expedite the judging process. In such cases all competitors in a particular power class and division will be judged in the same line and on the same test equipment. It is the responsibility of the competitor to confirm which lane his or her power class and division is to be judged in.

DRIVING THE VEHICLE THROUGH:

Judging shall be conducted with each competitor’s vehicle being driven through a judging line in an orderly fashion and under its own power. The vehicle must be capable of entering and exiting the judging area under its own power. Vehicle malfunctions may be an exception to this rule and will be evaluated by the head judge on an individual basis.

SYSTEM OR VEHICLE MALFUNCTIONS:

An equipment or vehicle malfunction is the competitor’s responsibility. Once the vehicle is in position to be judged, the competitor shall be allowed a maximum of five minutes to correct or repair any malfunction. After the allotted time has expired, the vehicle must be judged if possible or given a score of zero. No repairs will be allowed after SPL testing has started. No refunds will be given.

RERUNS:

At most events competitors will be allowed to rerun their vehicle to improve their score or standing. If a competitor chooses to rerun his or her vehicle, the sound system must be made up of the same size speakers, the same number of speakers, and the same number of amplifiers as was in the vehicle on its first SPL attempt. A change in brand or power rating is acceptable provided the new equipment does not change the power class or division of the vehicle. There will be an additional fee for all reruns. All competitors must have an operational system in their vehicle at the time of registration. This system must be the system the competitor competes with at the event. Competitors may change equipment in case of malfunction, but entire systems and enclosures may not be swapped.

Intent: The intent of this rule is to prevent competitors from sharing the same audio system in more than one vehicle. The head judge at the event shall interpret this rule and such decision may only be appealed to the USACI rules and ethics committee.

IN CASE OF A TIE:

In the rare event that two or more competitors in the same power class and division receive the same final score, the winner will be determined by a run off. If after one runoff there is still a tie, there may be additional run offs or the head official may conduct a coin toss. This will be left to the discretion of the head event official.
 
Disrupting An Event:

The head judge or event director reserves the right to deduct points or ask any competitor to leave an event if the competitor’s behavior becomes disruptive during the course of the event. If a disruptive competitor is asked to leave, the competitor will not receive a refund. Any points or awards the competitor might have earned at that event will be forfeited. Competitors will be responsible for the actions of their guests at the event.

If the cause of the inappropriate behavior is believed to be alcohol or any other controlled substance, USACI has the right to ban the competitor from competing in any sanctioned USACI events for a minimum of one year.

To help assure that every USACI event is conducted in a safe environment, no weapons in the possession of a competitor or anyone accompanying a competitor will be tolerated. If the competitor does not comply with this demand, he or she will be disqualified, asked to leave the event site or be escorted from the site by the local authorities. Any threats towards anyone involving a weapon, however casual, shall be deemed just cause for banning the competitor from ever again competing in any USACI sanctioned event. No refunds will be given for being disqualified.

Protests:

If a competitor has made a plausible complaint, involving any unfair or illegal item which may be hidden in another competitor’s vehicle in the same power class and division, and would require disassembly of that vehicle or audio system to verify its existence, then the complaint must be accompanied by a cash security deposit. (No checks) Such complaints may only be made after the vehicle in question has been judged at that event and before any prizes are awarded. The security deposit required to file a protest at a Regular or Double Points event would be $500. Regional, Triple, and finals events will be $1000.

The Head Judge must have the security deposit in hand before any action may be taken. The Head Judge would then appoint two qualified persons to disassemble the vehicle for inspection. The competitor whose vehicle is in question may elect not to have their vehicle inspected by disqualifying themselves from the event with no refund.  If, in the Head Judge’s opinion, the vehicle in question is found to be inconsistent with this rule book, the cash security deposit will be returned to the competitor making the complaint and the competitor in question may be disqualified from that event and all future USACI events for a period of up to two years. If an inconsistency is ruled to be unintentional, then the competitor in question may only be disqualified from that event. If in the Head Judge’s opinion, no inconsistency is found in the vehicle in question, then the cash security deposit, less 20% USACI protest fee, will be awarded to the competitor whose vehicle was inspected and it will be the responsibility of the competitor who was protested to reassemble the vehicle or audio system.

A USACI member may protest the output of any brand and model of amplifier. The protest procedure will entail the member sending a letter of protest to the USACI office containing the make and model of the amplifier to be protested. A $300 nonrefundable protest fee must accompany this request.  USACI will acquire the amplifier and test the amplifiers at the USACI offices in order ascertain if the amplifier’s actual output falls within the published output specified by the manufacturer. If this amplifier is found to produce 120% or more of its rated power, that amplifier will be disqualified until the manufacturer correctly rates that amplifier. The USACI rating standard is 14.4 volts with a 4 ohm non-inductive load measured at 62hz at 1% THD.

Appealing a Decision:

If a competitor questions his or her score or the possible error in the judging process by which that score was achieved, the competitor may seek explanation by the judge or head judge of the event. The decision of the head judge will be considered final at that event. After the event a competitor may petition the USACI Rules & Ethics committee to reconsider either a rule or a head judge’s decision. Neither USACI nor an event sponsor assumes responsibility for any awards previously given another competitor, even if in error.

SOUND PRESSURE LEVEL TESTING:

All occupants of the vehicle under test shall have proper hearing protection placed over their ears if remaining in the vehicle for testing. Refusal to wear properly placed hearing protection or removal of it during the test shall be cause for immediate disqualification from the event and no score or refund will be given.  Neither the competitor nor the judge will be allowed to be in any vehicle in the Super Modified class. Competitors in Super Modified will be required to control the audio system from outside of the vehicle and the microphone/sensor will be placed on a microphone/sensor stand to be provided by the competitor.

An audio system’s Sound Pressure Level will be measured using an approved sound pressure level meter. Software for this test must be the current version of the USACI Outlaw SPL competition compact disc. The director of the USACI event will provide a disk in case the competitor does not have his own disk.

The SPL judge will be responsible for making sure the SPL meter is set up and functioning correctly.

The competitor must have the vehicle ready to test prior to entering the judging lane. After the SPL microphone/sensor has been placed, the software loaded, hearing protection properly placed over the occupant’s ears and the system readied, the competitor should signal the judge that he or she is ready for the test.

Once the test begins, the competitor has thirty seconds to try and achieve the highest score possible. The music, tone or sweep may be restarted and/or the tracks can be changed as often as possible within the thirty-second time window. The competitor may choose to stop the SPL testing at any time before the end of the thirty-second time limit but the judge must be able to verify that the correct software is being used during testing. The use of tone generators, doublers or any other device that externally (outside of the closed signal chain) generates or alters the frequencies that the system is playing during SPL testing is expressly prohibited and will result in disqualification with no refund.  Any tampering with the microphone/sensor or attempt to create a measurement by any means other than SPL produced by the audio system will be considered grounds for immediate disqualification and possibly being banned from future competition in any sanctioned events. The senior USACI official present will investigate for any evidence of such tampering and the ruling of this official is final.

THE COMPETITOR

DEFINING THE TERM “COMPETITOR”:

The term “competitor” applies to the vehicle’s owner, an employee of its owner, an immediate family member, or a person bearing a power of attorney for the vehicle’s owner.  If a competitor is unable to attend an event, he or she may designate someone to drive the vehicle through the judging line. The designated person will be considered a competitor and will assume all responsibilities of such.

RESPONSIBILITY OF COMPETITOR:

The competitor is responsible for his or her vehicle and audio system and any physical or mechanical damage resulting from their use or misuse of the vehicle and/or the audio system therein. It is the competitor’s responsibility to know and abide by the rules contained in this book. If an amplifier rating cannot be determined by the head judge at any event it is the responsibility of the competitor to provide manufacturers literature or other paperwork to verify the power rating of the amplifiers in question.

QUALIFYING FOR COMPETITION IN THE USACI FINALS:

A competitor member accruing 200 or more points within the competition season will qualify for an invitation to the USACI World Finals.  USACI reserves the right to invite competitors to the USACI World Finals based on a “points curve” and in some cases due to “special circumstances”. The points curve will be based on the number of shows available to competitors within a certain region or geographical area and USACI will only typically extend “special invitations” to the top qualifying competitors in that region. 

A competitor may compete in any division at the world finals provided the competitor has accrued at least 75 of his/her 200 points in one specific division and he/she competes in that division prior to any other. A competitor may compete in multiple divisions if the competitor so chooses but must compete in the same power class within those divisions. 

 USACI competitor members will accrue event points based on the following schedule.

 Single point or “Regular” event

First place 

15 event points

Second place

12 event points

Third place 

10 event points

All other competitors’

 5 event points

At “DOUBLE POINTS” or TRIPLE POINTS” events the above values are doubled or tripled respectively.

“Regional” event   

  • First place 45 event point's
  • Second place 40 event point's
  • Third place 35 event point's
  • Fourth place 30 event point's
  • Fifth place 25 event point's
  • All other competitors 15 event point's

Judges may receive event points for judging an event. The accrual of events points for judging shall be equal to a first place finish at that particular event. Event points accumulated by judging may be used to qualify for finals but will not apply toward any point champion awards. Judges opting to receive financial consideration for judging not receive points for the same effort.

EVENT REGISTRATION:

Event registration will generally begin approximately one hour prior to the stated beginning time of the contest. After the contest has begun, the event director, at his or her discretion may accept late registrations and opt to add a surcharge to the stated event registration fee for late registrants if he or she so desires.

Each vehicle can be entered and judged in only one power class but in as many divisions as it may qualify to compete in. A separate registration is required for each division’s judging. A competitor may enter more than one vehicle in the same event but only in different power classes. Vehicles may reenter that same power class as many times as the event schedule will allow. (Retries)

All vehicles must be licensed and be “street legal” as per federal regulations to compete in the Stock, Pro Stock, or Modified divisions. Vehicles that do not comply will be entered and judged in the Super Modified or Port Wars division. USACI will require all of the following OEM equipment to be installed and fully functional at all times while being judged in the Stock and Modified divisions:

Headlights, Tail Lights, Speedometer, Emergency Brake, OEM or equivalent automotive seats, OEM Windshield.

VERIFICATION JUDGING CRITERIA:

The verification judge will verify the power ratings of each amplifier installed in the competitor’s vehicle to ensure that the vehicle has been entered in the appropriate power class. It is the competitor’s responsibility to prove the manufacturer’s rated power of the amplifier if requested. Documents that are altered or not publicly available will not be accepted. The verification judge may install a voltage meter in any vehicle in the Stock division to monitor voltage during the run. While this is optional at single points events it will be mandatory at all multi point events.

If a competitor’s audio system does not, in the judge’s opinion, meet all of the following basic requirements, the competitor may be disqualified from the event or be reclassified to the unlimited division. The vehicle and audio system must be fundamentally safe for the judging area. The audio system must consist of components that use some form of 12 VDC negative ground power supply. The vehicle and audio system must operate under its own power while being judged. Maximum voltage may not exceed 18 volts DC in any USACI class. Other voltage limits may apply depending on specific class requirements.