Help on GReddy CAI being illegal?
 

So ive been looking around the FRS/BRZ section on Greddy's site and i noticed on the instruction sheet for their air intake system, found Here, that it's street illegal in California. I live in SoCal, so thats not a good thing at all for me, but theres plenty more options anyways. I just wanted to quickly ask exactly why would it be illegal. Would it really make a difference when getting an emissions test to make you fail? Is it just not certified legal by CARB and you can still pass a smog test or something? Probably a dumb question, but just curious for future knowledge. Thanks in advance!

Okay I will give you the run down. Almost any modification is illegal in CA due to CARB standards. The TRD Intake is legal and AEM intake is as well. Stick to stuff that not flashy and don''t drive like a moron on the street and you should have no problems with mods. For Smogs, you should not fail, but with headers and Front pipe you might. Just depends if you can find a mod friendly test station wink wink :) BTW had my AFE intake for 8 months and no issues. Word of advice, keep the stock intake. Save you money for the following in this order if your looking for bolt on power
1)Tune
2)Header(illegal in CA)
3)Exhaust
4)FP/OP

Thanks for mentioning the TRD and AEM intakes and that bit of advice too. As far as exhaust goes, if i were to add an exhaust, it would probably be an Evo 3 (got my eye on it) and i would keep the cats on so that should be all legal. I heard from this [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbLw84xbgXw"]video[/ame] video that the GReddy intake is just a relabel of the AFE, so i assume the AFE is illegal :thumbdown:
Just so i can get it crystal clear, the only way cops could bust someone with a CARB illegal intake would be if they inspected whats under the hood or looked for a CARB sticker? assuming the car passes smog tests of course.
Last thing, can you please explain what you mean by a tune? Ive never really understood what it is exactly. Sorry for my noobiness :(

I am not sure how it works for cops when and where they can make you pop your hood. Might need someone to chime in, bur yes that Intake is illegal in the great state of CA. A Tune is an adjustment to the cars ECU. The manufacture always leave hidden power behind due to emissions or wanting to hit a certain MPG rating. In the hands of a right tuner, you can get a bit more power and torque, smooth out the car, and some even gain better MPG. It also helps as you add more bolt ons to extract the most power from these mods as they affect AFR, and other things on the car. BTW no worries about the questions. We all have to start somewhere.(I was in your spot over a year ago)

Thanks for all the help. Do you know of where I could get my hands on a good tune? I believe you buy like a little box or something an is preloaded with the software and you connect it to the car. I doubt that's how you do it, but I remember seeing something like that and it said it was an ecu tune. Anyways, do I buy something for that and what would it/they be exactly? Or do I have a car place take care of all that? Thanks for understanding btw.

Find a local reputable tuning shop and bring your car to them. Tell them what you would like out of them, and they'll see what they can do.

It involves computers, and lots of really confusing stuff that if you don't know what your doing, you could really mess up.

Leave it to the pros. :) They'll be glad to do it for you - for a price. :P

I would look for a etune. Search on the forms and read up on the topic. If you still have any questions, shoot me a PM.

Kinda off topic lol but so even though the 86 has two cats.... what does the smog tech guy look for? Isnt one cat good enough lol or will it fail smog is only one cat is on. Jw because if it does im just gna buy all illegal race mods then put them back on for smog lol

In CA even high flow cats are illegal. Replacing an OEM cat can only be done if its broken and warranted.

It'll only be illegal if you get caught with it on or if you fail a smog test. Cops can't see if your cat(s) is replaced on the road. The smog check technicians might be able to see if they lift it, but they won't care depending on where you go. As long as it passes smog, you should be good.

P.S. if all else fails, replace the aftermarket cats with the original OEM cat, same goes with any doubtable aftermarket parts. Always smart to keep all original parts

I'm sure the smog technician won't see unless he lifts it up. Where my dad goes, they just stick some tube thing into the exhaust tip, rev the engine a bunch, and it passes (atleast for my parents' cars lol). The two cats must be there because each one cleans the exhaust when it passes through on out to the tips (visible last part sticking out the back of car). If there are two independent exhaust pipes, then each has to have the exhaust cleaned by its own cat. An exception is that there is one pipe going from the engine, to a large cat, and two pipes coming out of it to the tip ends. Sorry for long reply, hope I helped.