emission standards?
 

Hello from the east coast (Boston)!

I'm curious to know what you guys do over in CA given the stricter emission laws. I was going to get the Perrin Headerback but I noticed that the Over Pipe and Front Pipe have a little thing that say they're only for off-road/non-street use in CA. So I just got the catback - figured it's much safer.

Ah, forgot to mention, I've got ties in the East Bay so I might be moving back in a year or two - I don't really want to invest in a full system over here then bring my car to CA and find out it's not street legal...

So what kind of mods do you guys do to comply with standards? Or perhaps get around them?

Thanks!

Most systems that are 'south' of the last catalytic converter are good to go. Technically any intake/exhaust system should have a CARB number that shows it passed CA Air Resources Board's seal of approval. Removal of precats, shiny up/down pipes usually signal a visual fail on smog. Cars won't need to be smogged for 4-6(??) years when purchased new in CA, but those purchased new outside of CA need to pass smog every two years. The question you ask only deals with the visual inspection for smog, rarely will an exhaust that maintains all cats not pass the 'sniff/CO2/NOX' test. So as long as no cats are removed, or you are buddies with a flexible smog certifier, you should be good. YMMV.

Eric G

I posted this in earlier thread but here goes:

I've heard the smog check will be simplified starting sometime in 2013. No more emissions tests, just a visual and OBDII check - if you don't have any engine codes, pass. So I don't think any exhaust that retains the cat will have a problem. Cat back = after the cat, so should be fine.

http://www.i-club.com/forums/bay-are...adings-241314/

Saw that, but it will still need to pass the visual check, basically visual check is going to be looking for the cat's and making sure they are there, if they are not then fail. Otherwise its as you said, as long as the computer reads no issues then the car will pass smog.

or do like tons of people and just keep the stocker for smog time. But I have heard the the simplified smog checks will be cool as you as you have a cat (high flow). So just depends on the risk you want to run of being sent to the state ref (BAR) by a cop versus slightly less flow of a cat

I mean can't you get exhaust components that HAVE catalytic converters? I haven't researched much, but I'm pretty sure there're aftermarket headers that have cats.

What do you guys get in terms of exhaust parts? Those of you who don't switch back to stock every time you gotta be checked..

I'm not sure about the headers but the front pipes (Berk, Motiv Concepts) out there are available with a high-flow cat option. The issue with the headers as far as I know, is that the O2 sensors are there and so if you remove the cat from the headers you will need some kind of tune/compensation or else the O2 won't be happy and you will get a check engine light/code = fail.

You'll more than likely be ok with the Perrin overpipe. Changing the front pipe is a little more risky.


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True, there are plenty of after market systems there with high-flow cats, but like everything, some work better than others. With current regulations, you can have an aftermarket cat pass visual but fail the "sniffer" test. I guess that's one plus with the new, simpler regulations recently put in place :iono:.

I myself, like someone mentioned earlier, kept the stock cats and simply went with a cat-back exhaust. The head ache of worrying about it and the hassle of having to swap-in cats every time I need to smog is not worth it.

Just looked at Perrin's site and both the front pipe and over pipe have that little note at the bottom saying:

OFF ROAD USE ONLY

This product is legal in California only for racing vehicles which may never be used upon a highway. Check your local and federal laws prior to installation.


daaamn, I wanted more than a catback!

90% of all the complete(turbo/header) back exhuast systems out there use Magnaflow's high flow spun metallic cat's for the on-road versions,and they should pass smog here. 1 of my previous cars was a highly modded Turbo S Beetle(245whp) with one of these cats & it passed smog here fine. As long as they can see the shape of a cat, theyre gonna be :w00t: