Legal Question
 

Quick question:

I just got a berk technology track pipe, and a JT catless front pipe. Sounds super loud! Just wondering how much trouble I can get in if pulled over and caught without cats?

Worst possible scenario: you're stopped by CHP for whatever reason, and if officer is 99% sure you are running catless, and wants to ruin your day, he can have your car impounded and get you a state ref ticket. However they don't do this often because false negatives can get the officer/s in trouble.

Just remember that in CA any modification to intake or exhaust system is illegal unless the part in question comes with a CARB EO Exemption sticker.

There is a cat in the header, you are not catless

True, but he removed a functioning factory cat, which is a federal offense.

I have no idea, but I suspect you will run it that way ...... and find out ..... :eyebulge:


humfrz

to be honest, it depends on the area you live in. if you have a lot of police actively patrolling your local streets, play it safe and stick with just a catback. if you got balls and don't care, go all out. in my area, they have been cracking down on "street racers" and any modified car they pull over gets an on site inspection. granted though, most cops don't understand a lot of stuff about cars but they just look for shiny things lol

this is just me, but I would rather go with a catted front pipe or another cat back that keeps the volume down to attract less attention.

Really loud as fuck? What the fuck you think will happen? Your going to get pulled over sooner or later.
Drive it till you get pulled over for noise violation. Then if your and idiot and leave your car running the cop will have more than enough legal reason to ask you to pop your hood. Then wait till you get fined and sent to the smog ref.
By then I hope you put everything back to stock and pass. Unless your and idiot and go in with mods then you'll get fined again just by showing up on noise only.

By then you get asked a second time, hopefully by then you'll be back to stock and pass.
Then you'll have to pay the fines from the first and second ticket.

If you continue to use the wrong "your/you're" and say "your and idiot" instead of "you're an idiot", who do you think actually comes away looking like an idiot?

Thanks grammar nazi. Oops I forgot to capitalize the n
Please continue to double check every ones posts for grammar/spelling errors. We need more brave people like you to make this evil internet world perfect grammar/spellers

May the day you make a grammar/spelling mistake never come. I'm worried you'll commit suicide. Just know that life is worth living, and everyone will forgive you for a grammar/spelling error on a public forum. But keep fighting the good fight. I'll support you 110% even though I'm a low down drity evil bad grammar/speller.

You want worst case? ALL of the following can happen at the same time.

- You will get an emissions ticket. This is a federal offense
- You will get a second ticket, indicating that you were issued a verbal warning that you must immediately drive your car either home or to a garage
- You will get a noise ticket for your car being too loud.
- Your car will be impounded for suspected street racing (illegal performance modifications)

Lets say your car doesn't get impounded.

- You CANNOT drive your car until it is reffered.
- If you drive, and get caught (pulled over, plate is run, get a red light ticket, etc.), you will immediately have the car impounded, get a 2 point moving violation. I don't remember if this is a misdemeanor or not.
- You cannot even legally drive your car to the Ref. You must TOW it.
- You get scheduled in for a ref inspection, on the Ref's schedule. If CA's budget forces the refs to shut down, you can't drive your car at all.


I can go on and on; it's not pretty.

:laughabove:

ol @Tcoat just couldn't let that one pass ...... :lol:


humfrz

I do not know if it is the same in the U.S. as here but insurance companies here stipulate in their polices that a car must be in roadworthy condition to be covered. This means if there are any illegal modifications then the car does not meet legislation therefore not roadworthy.

Illegal mods are a low risk/high impact scenario. The chances of getting caught with unobtrusive mods are slim. The probability of having an accident is slim. The probability of having an accident and getting found out with illegal mods (regardless if it is your fault or not) is minuscule. But by f*ck best of luck should you be unlucky enough.

All it takes is passing the wrong cop on the wrong day. It happens a lot more often than you'd think, but the *cost* of getting caught can be fairly low if you spend the money to return the car to stock. The cost of the ref/inspection can be as low as $25 processing and $8.75 inspection, if the car shows up legal to the state ref.

Now emissions tampering? You have to REALLY piss off a cop for that...

You're in Kalifornia... Which means you're fucked if you're caught.


Also why I'd never live there.

Move to Oregon, in a non -urban area like Eugene. No emission testing. We still have noise tickets though. Got one for my JL subs back in the day.

Basically don't get pulled over with illegal stuff. Good luck!

I know. Captain obvious.

Don't drive a modded car in irvine. And just drive nicely, no need to use lots of reves for daily driving. Be aware of your surroundings. If you see a cop, just drive as quiet as you can, or make a quick turn to not be on the same street as them.

Hahaha, thats for sure. I got pulled over 3 times in Irvine, thats where I work. They got me everytime for loud exhaust (before I took cats off) and tinted tail lights. I was lucky enough to get no ticket each time!

Infamous officer Gales

This! Certain cops just love pulling over cars that look modified. Others will only do it if you stand out from the crowd.

Don't drive like an @$$hat. If you want attention, I'm sure they'll provide it in the form of tickets.

I drive through Irvine on a daily basis. Sometimes with a RED Supra that has a HKS Carbon Ti exhaust on it. I've driven in front of, behind and next to police cars. No incidents yet!

This.

I've driven through Irvine regularly in 125+ dB cars, without issue. You have to give them a reason to pull you over.

Wait. What?
You have already been pulled over 3 times for being loud and now you are going louder?
Dude you are fucked!

I figure that by running E85 I make up for not having a cat. So clean.

The rest of your statement is correct, but people need to stop waving the federal offense flag. It isn't true. Allow me to clarify. I don't know how state laws work in the People's Republic of California, I am only talking about federal laws in this post any responses about state laws are unnecessary. I'm not saying it's legal, and I'm not addressing applicable state laws, as EPA states specifically that state laws may exceed the requirements of the applicable federal law.

If you're a shop owner, and you uninstall cats, and they can prove you knew the vehicle was going to drive on the street, you're F*cked for violating the clean air act. Good luck enforcing that in most states.

If you're caught driving the car (as an owner) It isn't a federal ticket unless they can prove you are the person who tampered with the emissions control. It isn't illegal to own or drive a vehicle with tampered or disabled emissions controls. The offense applies SPECIFICALLY to removing it. You can even buy or resell the vehicle.

The resale of a vehicle which has already had the catalytic converter removed is not specifically addressed by federal law. Therefore, the person who removed the converter violated federal law, but not necessarily the person who sold the vehicle, or the person who bought it, or the person driving it.

To reiterate: the law only addresses the act of removing or tampering with the system, and no act thereafter.

42 U.S.C. 7522 is the applicable law here.

So in CA, the only ways to add power or remove the 'dip' is NA tune, FI with or without tune.
There are a few others like intake, cat back exhaust etc. But the gain is low. No headers, full exhaust in CA.

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