Quiet at a racetrack? I have a Champion 2000w inverter. Got it on sale at Menards for $500. At times I have to walk over to it to make sure its still running. At the CCS Autobahn event a guy had a 4000w Champion contractor style genie and it was pretty damn quiet for one of them. Now I wish I would had got that one instead. Just would be heavier to lift into the truck (100lbs vs 50lb of my 2000w Champion). If noise is an issue, make a 3 walled enclosure and face the open side away from everyone. It helps.
I have the Ryobi 2K and it seems to do a pretty good job and it is pretty quiet. I am planning to buy a 2nd for the upcoming season.
I've tried the cheap gen route.. It was terrible, didn't power my stuff right so I got rid of it and bought a Honda, they are pricey for a reason, mainly because it's the last one you'll ever need unless you buy too small. I've got a Yamaha now for my hauler and it's perfect, even has remote start
Happy with my Ryobi 2k as well.....People pitted next to me didn't know it was running...Honda/Yamaha is a touch quieter. For the $500+ difference, not worth it for my needs.
I guess I did not realize how spoiled we are here in the south. I just assumed all tracks had power similar to Tally or Barber. I have the cheap 7K VERY LOUD generator. I have to park way away from everyone, point the thing towards the woods, and have a "home built" muffler on it. And I still park away from everyone. I really want one of the nice 4.5K quite units. I have seen a couple at track days. 4.5K would run my air, tire warmers and fan. I can cut off the air if I need to run the microwave or toaster oven. However my 7K at NCM was much appreciated. I had three pits using it for power. Never missed a beat.
My Yamaha generator has been very quiet and reliable. Hard to beat the quality. Seen them for under 1k so not cheap but not extremely expensive
Honda had a deal for the EU2000i for 799 over the holidays, not sure if that is still ongoing. Even used the EU2000i seem to be going for close to that, not much depreciation on those things...
I have the 4000w Champion generator to power my 5th wheel and everything. I put it behind my 5th wheel and it can barely be heard. I believe I paid less than $500 for it and it powers everything I need for the weekend and then some.
Has anyone tried this Harbor Freight Inverter/Generator? It's "suppose" to be quiet. Only $399 w/ coupon http://www.harborfreight.com/2500-p...0816c&utm_source=1034&cid=mEmail_s1034_c0816c
Avoid harbor Freight generators. Loud, unreliable and just don't last. And a post winter update on my 2000w Champion. Dumbass here forgot to winterize it back in Oct. Sat in the trailer throughout the winter. Last Monday took it out of the trailer, turned the fuel on, and it fired right up in 5 pulls in 45deg weather. Was expecting a nightmare to get it to fire. Filled it back up and let it run for 30 min, shut it down, topped off the fuel and put it back.
I went the cheap way one season. Not worth the initial savings and made too much noise for pit neighbors. Buck up and buy a Honda or Yamaha generator and you'll be happy. You only feel the pain once. They will be reliable, quiet and very low maintenance for many years. When you don't need it any longer it will bring good money. Once a year I bring mine to the Yamaha dealer, they clean the carb, change to oil and change any jets that may be getting clogged from garbage gas. I don't want to mess with it at the track. Runs in the heat or cold for days on end just keep adding gas. Best of Luck
As mentioned, get a good generator. It will be worthwhile in the long run. We sold several Yamaha EU2000's in the past couple weeks alone.