USA vehicle modification rules - (BRZ)

[HunterGreene]

Originally Posted by Trap63

@HunterGreene...don't worry...Me and all italians face off every day with a kind of unbelievable rules that first of all has come to destroy the History of Automobile.
20 yrs ago our tought about US way and cars was very negative about automotive....It's hard to say that today we should be pleased to live in US, in a free country with no obsessions.

Without commenting on politics or anything--lol. At least we have something going for us.

[reeves]

Originally Posted by krayzie

Don't your countries have sound / loudness restrictions as well?

I've never understood how cars can have sound restrictions, but motorcycles get away with murdering your ear drums. If there are laws against loud motorcycles, they're NEVER enforced.

[Tristor]

Without getting too deep in the weeds on politics, I'll just say that this is largely because for the most part the US has followed the principle laid out in the 10th Amendment of our Constitution which is to reserve most of these powers to the states. That means there are very few national regulations about vehicles other than those which are strictly required to promote safety. Combined with a prevailing attitude in most states (which is unfortunately changing) that it is not necessary to have a nanny state decide things for you, as only those things which could harm others should be regulated. After all, if you do some mod and hurt yourself, who but you is responsible?

Unfortunately, this is a very different social outlook from Europe, which is to a large extent why I think you see many more "supercars" made and sold in Europe vs the US, because in the US it is possible to take a good chassis and put in the necessary TLC in your own garage to rival many "supercars". I don't know that it's necessarily better or worse, but at least in the US loving cars is approachable to people at every budget level from the guys scrounging parts in the pick n pull and doing their own fab from the hardware store, to the guys who are able to afford to get high-quality work done at the very best of performance shops. I feel from my travels in Europe that it is a much more pay to play endeavor there, and that the love of cars and the expression of that love is limited to the rich.

Here in Texas, we are lucky in that we avoid nearly all the restrictions that our neighbors in other states have to put up with. There is very nearly nothing that is illegal, and what is illegal is rarely enforced unless it's egregious or you are clearly doing something dangerous. This is what allows people to do crazy rat rods, massive power drag builds that are streetable, and build aero cars with partial cages which are streetable. We also have 93 and E85 readily available in Texas Thanks to that, the car scene here in Texas is legendary.

[reeves]

Just watch an episode of Netflix's "Fastest Car". That gives you an idea of what car enthusiasts are allowed to do to their cars here in the U.S. And most, if not all of those cars can be driven on the streets.

California has the strictest car laws... They're almost a foreign country to me as far as car mods go = Too strict, plus subpar fuel lol

[why?]

Italy is the worst country on the planet when it comes to mods. Of course in the USA there is just less stuff to hit.

[yurikaze]

Originally Posted by reeves

California has the strictest car laws... They're almost a foreign country to me as far as car mods go = Too strict, plus subpar fuel lol

What I've noticed is that California may have the strictest laws on paper, but you're much less likely to be harassed here while driving a heavily modified car. I've had cars here that would have been pulled over all the time in the midwest due to ride height, exhaust noise, wheel fitment, lights, etc, that you could daily in LA and never have a problem.

[krayzie]

Originally Posted by why?

Italy is the worst country on the planet when it comes to mods. Of course in the USA there is just less stuff to hit.

And I've never understood who makes all the rules there, the country itself or the EU?

[Spuds]

One more interesting note. The act of removing a catalytic converter is a federal offense, but getting caught without one isn't. So depending on the state laws and inspections, your car can be perfectly legal driving around without a cat.


Also in PA there is such a thing as a "street rod" and/or "exempt" registration which, like historical vehicles, does not need emissions inspections. There's annual mileage and some other restrictions of course.

[JeremyR]

I always hear about how strict modification laws are in place like Europe and Australia/New Zealand, but are they actually enforced?

I feel like California has really strict laws, but they are not that enforced unless you are doing something stupid.

I have no problem modifying my car how I want, even if it's something illegal. I've had motor swapped cars, cars with loud exhausts, cars with no front plates, etc etc.

I always wondered how strict it really is over there. You always see pictures of high end and super cars with front plates attached. It blows my mind. I won't attach a front plate to my 20k Subaru, I sure as hell wouldn't do it to a 200k car.

Is the punishment really that bad? Will they tow and crush your car?

I'm not trying to be rude, just trying to understand. A lot of people outside of the United States seem really hesitant on modifying their vehicles out of fear of the mods being illegal.

Are people just afraid of breaking the law? Or is the punishment and enforcement really that severe?

[extrashaky]

Originally Posted by Trap63

I think that we are a bit influenced by “Gas Monkey Garage” where we see any kind of modifications that let us to think that US are the Paradise on earth.

What you can legally do depends for the most part on what state you're in. For example, Gas Monkey Garage (or "Ass Monkeys" as their crazy Asian upholstery lady calls them) is located in Dallas, Texas. Texas has statewide safety inspections and emissions testing in 17 counties, but they're pretty lax compared to some other states. For the old cars the Ass Monkeys build, there are very few rules. They pretty much just have to meet the safety standards, which means they have to have all the correct lighting, be able to stop and not have tires that will explode unexpectedly. If the Ass Monkeys built a NEW car, I'm pretty sure it would still have to be able to pass the OBDII test for emissions to be registered in Dallas.

Other states have their own quirks. In Pennsylvania, you can't remove your doors. There have been lawsuits over Jeeps that came from the factory equipped with removable doors being ticketed because they didn't have the doors on them. In Oregon, if you lift a vehicle higher than a certain height, it has to have mud flaps on it. In Hawaii, your tires can't stick out more than 3/4" past your fenders. In Florida, where I live, there are no inspections and very few rules about what you do to your vehicle beyond federal lighting requirements.

Every state has its own set of tint laws also, and they vary dramatically from state to state. Here's a site that lists the basic requirements in a handy table:

http://tintlaws.com/

Originally Posted by yurikaze

What I've noticed is that California may have the strictest laws on paper, but you're much less likely to be harassed here while driving a heavily modified car.

Originally Posted by JeremyR

I feel like California has really strict laws, but they are not that enforced unless you are doing something stupid.

My understanding of California is that enforcement is handled primarily through inspections. Is this not so? If you have an illegally modified car, you're not going to pass. In states with more lax inspections or no inspections at all, enforcement of safety and nuisance regs would fall to law enforcement officers. I would guess cops in CA don't bother because there's another enforcement structure already in place.

Originally Posted by HunterGreene

So most "drop in" or "bold on" engine mods are designed to meat CARB standards, since obviously they are the strictest nationwide.

That's not necessarily true. A few are designed with CARB exemption in mind from the outset, but I'm under the impression most are not. It's an expensive regulatory headache that a manufacturer can just step around by marking it as not for use in California or New York and leaving it up to the user to take the car back to stock for inspections. I have a number of parts on my modified Jeep that are not at all legal for registration in California. I'm pretty sure neither my exhaust nor my intake for my BRZ are CARB exempt, and neither would pass inspection in California.

Many manufacturers have two versions of the parts, a non-CARB version and a more expensive CARB version. The CARB version of the high flow cat on my Jeep is exactly twice the cost of the non-CARB version, despite the fact that they appear to be the exact same part other than the CARB EO imprint. It makes sense. Why pass along the cost of CARB certification to people in other states who didn't vote for it and don't deserve it?

California actually sends lobbyists to other state legislatures to try to get CARB rules adopted in as many states as possible. The reason is that huge difference in price between non-CARB versions and parts with CARB EOs on file. California requires manufacturers to go through the certification process but thinks it's "unfair" to CA citizens to be charged more for it, so they're trying to get other states to adopt their rules to force the manufacturers to just provide one (more expensive) version after all. Fourteen states have already adopted some or all of the CARB bullshit.

[Trap63]

Originally Posted by reeves

I've never understood how cars can have sound restrictions, but motorcycles get away with murdering your ear drums. If there are laws against loud motorcycles, they're NEVER enforced.

Bikers are very under ticket risk every time they drive about exhaust and turn signal, plate. It's an heavy illegal act i.g. the misalignment on top of the plate to bypass speed detectors and cams
Police is well focused on all bikes and first of all here about Harley & Davidson, but people love them.

[Trap63]

Originally Posted by why?

Italy is the worst country on the planet when it comes to mods. Of course in the USA there is just less stuff to hit.

Yeah, you're partially right, but Denmark and Switzerland are the worster ones. Worst than Italy. Unbelievable the daily war against.

[Trap63]

Originally Posted by krayzie

And I've never understood who makes all the rules there, the country itself or the EU?

About Automotive and many economics Europe will issue Directives (like to be a Federal trust) to which each member state must mandatory issue a settlement of proper rules within a specified timing.
Each country can maintain a proper general rule only within the directions that Council of Europe has issued, this is the example of Road Code Rules (speed, exhaust, turn light, colours of lightning, paint - eu plated cars cannot be painted with gold or steel film, reflectant - and so on)
Only UK preserved a proper special status about RH drive, therefore each Japan import car will pass and import in Europe thru UK Customs. Cars can be nationalized as UK cars and the law grants to Europeize that vehicle thus is Uk car.
For instance Germany can accept all modifications if parts are under TUV certification, some countries accept this certification, Italy not.
Many of us use to de-plate the car, nationalize it as Germany car to pass the homologation and emissions test in a TUV Centre and than re-import to Italy (as the euro rules grant). The car become regular to drive within Italy upon EU directive. This you need to do with a Supercharger install if you wanto to drive with no aims to be like a serial killer on road.

[Trap63]

Originally Posted by Spuds

One more interesting note. The act of removing a catalytic converter is a federal offense, but getting caught without one isn't. So depending on the state laws and inspections, your car can be perfectly legal driving around without a cat.


Also in PA there is such a thing as a "street rod" and/or "exempt" registration which, like historical vehicles, does not need emissions inspections. There's annual mileage and some other restrictions of course.

this occours to our historic cars (over 30 years here) with exemption of road tax or minimum taxation. No emissions test, but is mandatory a Registry and a compliant check.