USA vehicle modification rules - (BRZ)

[hinge]

Originally Posted by Trap63

Hi guys, I ask you all to help me to clarify what’s legal or not (road legal I mean) in US about car modifications.
When we discuss in Italy, mostly in Europe too, we believe here that US rules help owners to modify car setup with no long and complex procedures.
I think that we are a bit influenced by “Gas Monkey Garage” where we see any kind of modifications that let us to think that US are the Paradise on earth.

Each one of us desire to be Richard Rawlings.

Some Euro examples:

- Wheel, on our car paper issued by National Motor Bureau of Transportation the constructor specifies the measures of ET, Size of rims. BMW and Mercedes-Benz usually specify several measures from 17” up to 20” on same model. Subaru not. In Europe the only road legal measure of rims are 17x7 ET.
- Tyre, the measure of the tyres are on paper, i.g 215/45 R17 for BRZ

Only in Germany if a rims is TUV certified might be installed with no need of test, in Italy you cannot. You need a certified set of rims for that vehicle, i.g. OZ Wheels for BRZ on 18” (18x8 ET45, 5x100) to install 225/40 R18 and later you drive to Motor Bureau to pass test. Since July of last year the new paper of National Bureau reports the ET measurements too.

Here in the US, we can use nearly any wheel and tire as long as it can physically fit on the vehicle. We have no government rules outlining what wheel specs or what size, load rating, and speed rating we can use on our tires.

Trucks are the worst offenders, many heavy duty trucks may call for a 245/75 16 120R. In order to look more "badass" truck owners will put 18, 20, or 22 inch wheels and, let's say tires with specs 305/40 22 114V on their trucks with no regards to the recommended load or speed rating. And there really aren't any laws in the US stating that they can't do that.

The company I work for is owned by a parent company in France and my colleagues there have told me that it is much more strict and the wheels / tire specs that are on the door card are the only wheels / tires that are allowed on the vehicle, and using anything different needs government inspection and approval as well as in Italy.

Another example is my FR-S, the door card says that the OE tire is a 215/45 17 87W, so in Europe that is pretty much the only tire you can use. In the US, you can buy nearly any size tire for the car as long as it can fit and places like Tirerack will happily sell you a 225/45 17 91V to put on the OE wheels. I run 225s for autocross / track day events and there's nothing stopping me from running those tires on the street.

Also, the door cards for many European brands such as Mercedes or BMW may only show the tire on the car and not the other possible tire options like it does in Europe. I know some BMW door cards may have 4 or 5 different wheel and tire specs with several recommended tire pressure specs for highway travel or carrying loads. In the US, there's none of that extra information, for example my E90 330i only had specs for the original wheels and tires and did not include the load or speed rating. Our laws regarding vehicle modifications and especially wheel and tires are much less strict, or just don't exist.

Hope that gives you some more information

[zimo]

Originally Posted by hinge

Hope that gives you some more information

Thanks to you and the others guys now i m sure : italy sucks for cars hahahahaah

Other nice fact is that you do have places like autozone or other "supermarket" for cars!

[HunterGreene]

Originally Posted by zimo

Thanks to you and the others guys now i m sure : italy sucks for cars hahahahaah

Other nice fact is that you do have places like autozone or other "supermarket" for cars!

I've heard that Switzerland is even worse.

[NCtoBRZ]

Here on the Southern Gulf Coast the only thing that law enforcement cares about is that you have functional headlights and turn signals... and even then you would have to do something stupid for them to pull you over for that. There is no emissions testing, so tuners are free to run whatever mods they please. Gas is also amongst the cheapest in the U.S. (with proper 93 octane too... not the watered down 91 octane that some other states have) and sales tax on cars is low (usually only about 2-3%).
It’s a shame that Italy makes some of the most beautiful cars in the world but is so restrictive in how their citizens can modify and enjoy them.

[why?]

Originally Posted by NCtoBRZ

Here on the Southern Gulf Coast the only thing that law enforcement cares about is that you have functional headlights and turn signals... and even then you would have to do something stupid for them to pull you over for that. There is no emissions testing, so tuners are free to run whatever mods they please. Gas is also amongst the cheapest in the U.S. (with proper 93 octane too... not the watered down 91 octane that some other states have) and sales tax on cars is low (usually only about 2-3%).
It’s a shame that Italy makes some of the most beautiful cars in the world but is so restrictive in how their citizens can modify and enjoy them.

they will flip out on you if they are in a bad mood over body kits that scrape the ground and bass that is too loud. I knew someone when I was living in FL that had one of those absurd over the top body kits and the cop had his car towed claiming it was too low and would damage the pavement.

[pcguru2000]

Originally Posted by JeremyR

No one really checks or inspects the other items on our vehicles unless the police specifically pulled us over for modifications.

In Cali, you can get tinted window, no front license plate, etc tickets while parked. Parking enforcement doesn't necessarily have to be a police officer. It could be a contracted company that works for a city. A good example of this is Santa Ana. They will ticket you every single day. They make money for a city so they lie on the tickets.

You can also be immediately referred to a smog station by a mobile exhaust sensing unit that are placed on freeway on ramps. I saw one of those one time and I shut off the engine and cruised through the beams, then turned engine back on.
http://www.smogtips.com/Images/remote_sensing_main.jpg

[pcguru2000]

Originally Posted by Grady

This is getting deep into our legal system. Yes a police officer can ticket you for anything! Made up or not. After that it is up for the courts and a Judge to decide.

Santa Ana security officers (contracted by Santa Ana) that patrol the parking spaces for the city were giving vehicles with FBI placards and even police cruisers from other cities tickets. Of course the FBI cars have confidential plates so only the agency address is listed and the tickets don't get paid.

I remember I got 3 tickets 3 days in a row for no front license plate even thought I had one. They would also give expired meter tickets to handicap people.

[NCtoBRZ]

Originally Posted by why?

they will flip out on you if they are in a bad mood over body kits that scrape the ground and bass that is too loud. I knew someone when I was living in FL that had one of those absurd over the top body kits and the cop had his car towed claiming it was too low and would damage the pavement.

I’m on the AL Gulf Coast, but in either case the level of LEO harassment will vary depending on the local PD. FL has a lot of retirement communities that would call the police over loud bass, just use some common sense and turn it down in residential areas.

[NCtoBRZ]

Originally Posted by pcguru2000

Santa Ana security officers (contracted by Santa Ana) that patrol the parking spaces for the city were giving vehicles with FBI placards and even police cruisers from other cities tickets. Of course the FBI cars have confidential plates so only the agency address is listed and the tickets don't get paid.

I remember I got 3 tickets 3 days in a row for no front license plate even thought I had one. They would also give expired meter tickets to handicap people.

Yeah... Cali is literally the last state that I would live in for numerous reasons.

[Trap63]

Originally Posted by HunterGreene

I've heard that Switzerland is even worse.

Yeah, Italian Ticino in Switzerland has a special division of road police, Camorino Inspection Centre for Vehicles.
Between Italy and Switzerland there is an agreement about vehicles therefore if you modify you car, Italy plated, and drive to Switzerland you might be pulled and ticket for car mods not certified. Tickets are very high and you might go under judgement about some violations such as sound level of exhaust, emissions modification and so on. Each time you get pulled about these violations you need to pay over Euros 4/5.000 and you go under judgement (other expenses).
Camorino's police get a kind of "Manual" of engine bay and exhaust for several vehicles and sometimes they check if the your one is stock or not. In Switzerland it's illegal any Navy with POI for cams and tele-laser too.
Some of us use to drive to France (from Turin + 120 miles) to reach Nurburgring in Germany to avoid any issue with Switz. For us the Paradise in Europe is Germany. Some Autobahn have many kms of free drive with no speed limits, it's usually to see Zonda and Lambo, GT3RS drive over 300 KMs/h.

[Trap63]

Originally Posted by pcguru2000

You can also be immediately referred to a smog station by a mobile exhaust sensing unit that are placed on freeway on ramps. I saw one of those one time and I shut off the engine and cruised through the beams, then turned engine back on.
http://www.smogtips.com/Images/remote_sensing_main.jpg

Damn! Fuck!!!

[bababooey]

Originally Posted by Tristor

Toll speed is typically 95-100mph (160km/h) with an 85mph speed limit. These speeds would not be likely to get you pulled over (although anything is possible).

The good news is that the toll road is a State Highway (SH-130) and is outside the jurisdiction of Austin PD. Since it's the road to Circuit of Americas, that's the only one you ever have to go on and can otherwise avoid the City of Austin.

YMMV, ive seen both troopers in spots as well as those sneaky APD beamer moto cops shooting laser. I was near the limit as I believe that is plenty fast enough, but some cars seem to not feel comfortable even doing 75 on that road. I believe it is sketchy as hell allowing the limits they do because those steep embankments on either side of road in spots.

and there are a hell of lot more troopers around the area (than other areas) given the capital & all.

[bababooey]

but h-town takes the cake for sneakers!

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by bababooey

but h-town takes the cake for sneakers!