Advice on running catless
 

Is anyone able to provide input on running a catless (i.e., Borla UEL) header? The sound is absolutely beastly. The only thing stopping me is the whole 'cars must have a cat converter' law, which carries pretty monstrous penalties in NY if you're not track-exclusive. I've read and seen plenty of setups from the area that run that header.. is there away around the legal troubles?

Thanks guys.

Had a Berk test pipe on my S2000 and when it came time for inspection I just swapped the cat back on the week I was going to go in. Also cleaned the spot that developed from soot on the bumper ;)

This was in NJ

Thanks dude. Isn't a header a little harder to swap out, though? What about these rumored 'spot inspections' for getting pulled over? Have never seen one, only heard..

No way around it - to remain legal, you have to have your stock emissions in place for inspection.

If you don't care about legality, then perhaps if you have a tune that won't throw any O2 errors and a smog inspection that only checks for OBD2 readiness and no visual, you'd be ok in theory.

Header removal/installation can be a bit of a job, but fortunately you'd only need to worry about it once a year. I'm not aware of any spot inspections in New York. Where'd you hear that?

The legality of it isn't such an issue as long as I won't be facing thousands of dollars in fines if caught. I see a ton of people running catless headers, and I was wondering if they know something I don't about how passing inspection works in NY. I don't have a lift, but I have a full shop of tools. Is that enough to replace the header once a year for inspection?

I haven't "heard" of spot inspections in NY, only in general. I guess that answers that question. The only fear I'd have, I guess, is being pulled over for the sheer noise level and being questioned on it.

The header and exhaust were legal, it was only the test pipe that made the car illegal, inspection wise. Pop the cat back on between the header and the exhaust and you're good to go.