Do cops in California still hassle drivers of exhaust?
 

Do cops in California still hassle drivers of exhaust?

I haven't had had one in so long, but now that will change. I remember the last time I had an exhaust on a car, I was spending money at least once a year to have it removed, and then put back on.

Has anything changed?

probably depends on where you are and how loud the exhaust is.

in my personal experience, the walnut/diamond bar area sheriffs ignored my exhaust on my nissan sentra. even though it was illegal in terms of it was a straight race pipe setup. dc 4-2-1 header to greddy sp2, no cats. can easily smell my car but never got pulled over, even when they pulled up behind me or next to me at a light.

Nope, nothing changes, some cops are still acting like a bunch of d-bags....I pretty much take it off and on annually and 8 months ago got pulled over again but this time the fool tagged me for tinted windows too.....he stated is it illegal to have ANY tinted front windows, I get that but common, no tint windows in SoCal weather?

I wonder if its worth it then to go through the hassle. I'm not a kid anymore, I don't have the energy to go through all that sh*it again. Oh and sorry about the title, I meant over not of.

i used to live in Palmdale California
Problems with cops
1. during highschool and one day when i was riding to class on my ninja 250r(smallest sport bike youll see one the road) with a slip on / not full system exhaust only,,, I got pulled over for it being to loud in my school parking lot(made me look like a bad ass haha) no ticket
2. One day i was riding to the movies.. Got pulled over because it sounded like i was going fast but he couldnt tell.. no ticket
3. One day i was riding to LA on the high way on a windy day.. got pulled over because the cop said i look like i was swerving.. asked if i was drunk.. no ticket..
4. at night cop pulled me over for a tinted windscreen on my bike.. (..... nothing to say..) no ticket..
And it goes on but as long as your not hammering it you should be fine..
My friend had a 240 with a pipe and when we went out to party he never got attention from cops..


MY point.. ugh heh id still get a pipe but dont hammer it to hard.. it gives them a reason..

and let me add.. THE POLICE OFFICERS ALL TOLD ME ANY MODIFICATIONS TO A VEHICLE IS ILLEGAL IN California
But they dont pay for our bills so Screw that

This state that I have lived in all my life is so ass backwards at times. I haven't had a front plate in 20 years. I get a ticket, I go to the Sheriffs office, I pay ten bucks, he looks out the window, then writes it off. I then pull out of the parking lot, and before I get down the street I take it off again. So stupid.



Over and over and over again. I will never put a front plate on unless it becomes a $300 fine.

Run a cat (to avoid the sooty buildup, bad smell, and popping) and don't put on any stickers (my cop buddy tells me that many police are trained that street racers put stickers on their cars, so that's what they look for, haha) and you should be fine.

I had a full exhaust on my Eclipse for years and all my dad's trucks have had exhausts and we've never been hassled once.

***A lot of it has to do with the way you drive and look too (sideways baseball cap or a popped shirt collar = cop pulls you over, lol)

Cant you place it on the dash?

no.... in CA it has to be mounted to front bumper. can't be inside cabin.

zip-ties! lol

you can do that, i've seen people do it, and cops don't seem to care how it is mounted as long as it is up front and visible on the bumper.

I'd love to not have a front license plate, but I'm gonna because my buddy got two tickets for not having one. One of the tickets he wasn't even driving! We were at the beach and it was parked (legally) and a cop was just checking out all of the cars giving them tickets for not having a front plate. Talk about try-hard cop. I will run a front license plate. I have the Grimmspeed one being shipped now. As far as exhaust, just put a cat on it like Lonewolf said. Less attention means less hassle and less tickets ---> lower insurance rates. Best to just mod it clean, maybe a little dirty ;) , and have it look good driving instead of on the side of the road in front of red and blue lights.

In CA, I have been cited for speeding in my R, S4 and my Fit. All have loud exhausts which they didn't hassle me for. The R didn't even have a cat. I think it just comes down to the cop who pulls you over, and how cool they are.

I live in socal, don't drive like a **** and youll be fine.

Yep. Don't be an idiot and go WOT when around cops. I've the darkest tint ever and I just roll down my windows whenever I see a cop. No problem.

From the 323 here! Have had no issues with cops over my exhaust.

Doesn't matter how you drive or look. I got pulled over, specifically for my exhaust, inside the LAX airport loop about a month ago. Was asked to pop open my hood and he looked under my car. He didn't ticket me since everything was legal. I was driving normally and I look normal. My exhaust is on the quiet side as well. Felt like I went back in time to 1998.

Another member go ticketed for aftermarket headers in the same area. The cop told him "the reason why I pulled you over is because your car looks like a race car". He was driving slow and his car is not flashy at all. Visually, it's just lowered with aftermarket wheels and exhaust.

If you put on an aftermarket exhaust, there's always a chance you will get pulled over. But, in the 11 years of driving fixed up rice rockets in SoCal, I've never been ticketed for an aftermarket exhaust (knock on wood).

Are you sure you look normal?

JK.

Just have relatives that live in Arizona ;) lol jk. That works for me only because I don't really have a permanent address in California yet (that college student life) and my mom lives in Arizona, which is why I keep the Zona plates.

for most part of LA/OC as long as you dont drive like an idiot, most cops will look but pass. LAX Airport PD however will pull you over if they SEE modifications. And then just recently, local PD and Sheriffs around the valley area will pull you over due to all the dumbasses that are street racing.

Best Advice! Drive like an adult and you'll be fine.

Used have a HKS Carbon Ti on my WRX. Never was hassled.

hahhahahaha! You may be right. Maybe I just think I look normal. Friends parents and past girlfriends parents seemed to like me though :D

It's been in the news that the different police agencys are looking to discourage street racing by hassling and writing tickets for whatever, to anybody that even looks like they may be in a modified street racing car. So, yes, I think fix-it tickets are going to be on the upswing for awhile. It's BS, but what can we do. Drive slow, take your stickers off, take that wing off, etc. lol. My other car I've had since 2004, dark tint, no front license plate, no ticket so far... knock on wood. Same with the fr-s.

Some area's hassle for noise, have to be careful when I ride the Harley! lol. The Fr-s has the TRD exhaust and intake so I'm legal and smog compliant too! Very happy with those mods.

I recently got pulled over and ticketed for having muffler delete. I just sold it and put the OEM Axleback back on and got JDM tips for it

That sounds like me! :D

As some of the guys have said before, it will depend on your setup and how you drive. I used to get pulled over years ago for exhaust tickets because of my driving habits.

Now I've got a Supra with a large HKS muffler and a catback exhaust on the FR-S but havent been pulled over driving through cities like Anaheim hills, Brea and Irvine. We'll see what happens in the coming months with the recent changes.

Be careful in the valley area, northridge, chatsworth, sfv etc..

I'm moving back out to Long Beach from NC. My car isn't legal at all, according to Cali standards. Straight piped, camber, too low. I'm dreading bringing this car out there.

It depends on how loud it is. If you're driving safe and they have no reason to pull you over, they often don't. I have been pulled over several times for my exhaust, but they always let me go with a "warning" because they don't have a sound clip/db reading of it being over the limit.

Don't think you have to worry about camber or being too low, but yeah the straight pipe is going to draw attention, especially Long Beach, I know they ticket motorcycles a lot there for noise. And you'll have to pass smog check to register.