California owners : smog question
 

Hello All,

So for the California owners , do we need both the Header cat and mid-pipe cat in order to pass smog (or just one cat) ? Not sure if anyone really knows, since its at year 5-6 that a cars first smog happens (so even if you have a '13 car, you're 1-2 years away from your first smog).

Please advise. I'm just doing research now configuring what route I'll eventually go with gaining some hp/torque (for sure air-intake) , just not sure on the header part (and'or what part of the exhaust system will be swapped out). An aftermarket cat-back exhaust seems go give +7-9 hp depending upon model of exhaust , if other components have/ haven't been changed, etc. Either way, exhaust is the more costly change to make $750- $1k

I smogged last year when I moved to LA. My header and mid pipe are stock, but I have a cat back exhaust. As I understand it, I could've failed visual but my station didn't ding me... and I passed a sniffer.

Without both cats, you'll need a way to suppress the CEL, and you'll be hard pressed to pass the sniffer.

IMO, intake and exhaust are meaningless every day upgrades. You won't feel a difference in performance. I bought an exhaust purely for looks

air intake needs to have an EO # and approved specifically for your model (using a TRD intake from the FRS on the BRZ most likely won't fly if the inspector is extremely diligent).

you also can't touch any of the exhaust components that have a cat attached to them. the inspector also does a visual check for the cats. regardless, there is no way you will pass the sniffer and you would still have the CEL.

My son is a smog tech and the first thing he told me was a catless header would not pass visual because it's easy to see. The rest might pass, but they use a mirror on a stick to check most cars. He's more thorough because he was at a referee station. He's honest. His opinion was that you'd get caught at his station. There are some local cops that actually know Subies, so he's seen several that came in due to cops catching them because of noise.

catback exhaust does not require anything and will pass visual inspection in California. However, changing header or front pipe will not pass visual inspection and will be an auto fail for you. You also have to be careful because California has become very sneaky and will place your car into the star category. If this happens you will have to take the car every time after that to a star station which is more strict for smog checks. I had this issue with my modified RX-7. Also, probably best to post this in the southern California section.

They don't do sniffer test anymore, just OBD II check and visual. If you change pretty much anything between the airfilter and the last cat, and don't have the EO number, they can fail you on the visual.

Star station isn't any more thorough. My other car has a catless uppipe and a larger turbo, yet passes at Star stations which has been every time for the last 6 years.