Got pulled over ; Got my hood popped
 

Sorry ahead of time for all the reading, but I need some advice as to what to do at the moment :pat:

Last week I was driving down to mission viejo in the speed to take my brother to my local aftermarket performance shop that was fixing his BMW. As I pull off the freeway (I-5) and head down a long (about 2 mile) straightaway toward the shop, I see a motorcycle cop hauling ass from far away coming in my direction. I personally didn't think he was coming for me due to myself driving slow the whole 22 mile trip and following the speed limit (and short shifting to not make too much noise in the area). As i'm already pulling into a parking space in front of the performance shop I was headed to, the motorcycle cop pulls up behind me and the lights go off

As the cop comes up to my window, the first thing he asks me is why do I think I got pulled over. My obvious response was I honestly don't know. The cop proceeds to tell me that my exhaust is "stupid loud" and that he heard me from the freeway and saw me pulling off (Mind you i've had my exhaust for 2 years now and I have never had a single problem).

So...this is where the fun begins. The cop sees my accessport plugged in reading the air/fuel and proceeds to interegate me with questions. It was obvious, at least to me, that the cop was well informed about performance modifications made to cars these days. He proceeds to ask if I have tampered with the ECU at all - I respond no. As he's about to walk away, he sees my meth control (DevilsOwn) next to the traction control button. The first thing he says : "Why do you have a turbo timer equipped to this vehicle?" I proceed to tell him its an injection system spraying water to cool the temp of the boost.

The officer takes a step back, and proceeds to tell me to pop my hood. Not wanting to retaliate or anything along those lines that I thought would get me in trouble, I listened. As I lift my hood up, it was like a christmas morning for the officer. I'm fully bolted (minus aftermarket turbo and intake manifold) so it was not a "stock looking" engine bay. The officer then went on a rant practically. EVERY SINGLE THING he proceeded to point out that was done to my car, and had me explain what it does to the engine, and why I did that certain modification (He pointed out my front mount, headers, BOV, downpipe....everything else)

To make a long story short, I got a pretty confusing ticket that has left me worried on what to do with the speed. I first got an infraction for my window tint, which to me doesn't make sense as I have only 20% all around AND drove the whole way there with my windows down. The second infraction was for my exhaust being too loud (I admit it's loud, but no where as loud as a CS or UR exhaust - I have an ARK). To me, if he didn't have a decibel meter equipped with him to read how loud my car actually was and to see if it was breaking the California legal limit of 98db, then why in the hell would he assume it's too loud. The third and final infraction reads "Air Pollution Control Device Req." The cop proceeds to tell me (this part threw me off) that my BOV not being tuned for my car and my FMIC is polluting the air.....? After I explained that the BOV only vents air/reroutes it and the FMIC basically just reroutes air to the front instead of on top of the engine bay, the cop shrugs me off and tells me to not drive my car or it'll be deemed a misdemenor (however you spell it) if he catches me again, and will have my car impounded immediately.

The cop lovely suggested that I take it to the state referee and get it checked out. I've heard they totally fuck you there, so thats not really an option I wanna look into. But i'm wondering if anything like this has happened to someone here, and how did you guys go about it? Sorry for the long text, and any info would be appreciated

Sorry to hear this man. Nothing except maybe your exhaust is illegal, and even that may not be. First and foremost, get a quallified mechanic to put in writing that nothing done to the car has made any changes to emmissions. Then take it to court. 99% of the time youll end up pleading no contest and paying the fine. It blows donkey dick, but youll be cleared. If not, plead not guilty and get a court date. I highly suggest at tyat point you get a mechanic to come to this court date. This guys husband is clearly not giving him dick. Even he knows hes being a prick. he wont even show in court.

I would have never opened my hood. No way in hell

Step 1: Move out of California
Step 2: Live happily ever after

No choice...


California Vehicle code allows CHP and other law enforcement to inspect your vehicle if they believe a violation of code exists.

2804. A member of the California Highway Patrol upon reasonable
belief that any vehicle is being operated in violation of any
provisions of this code or is in such unsafe condition as to endanger
any person, may require the driver of the vehicle to stop and submit
to an inspection of the vehicle, and its equipment, license plates,
and registration card.

2806. Any regularly employed and salaried police officer or deputy
sheriff, or any reserve police officer or reserve deputy sheriff
listed in Section 830.6 of the Penal Code, having reasonable cause to
believe that any vehicle or combination of vehicles is not equipped
as required by this code or is in any unsafe condition as to endanger
any person, may require the driver to stop and submit the vehicle or
combination of vehicles to an inspection and those tests as may be
appropriate to determine the safety to persons and compliance with
the code.


The loud exhaust opened the door to making this request valid and legal; if you car isn’t making unusual sounds (exhaust, blowoff) or smoke you might be able to invalidate the search later but the above code could have a bus driven through it, they might not be able to search the interior of your car without consent but it looks like consent for the engine is another story (and given as a condition of license/registration). As others have mentioned, I would avoid the referees for this if you can, I would have a mechanic note and/or document your mods, or stock out and have them document its ’stock’; I would get a copy of the noise statute and a DB meter and I would go run the car through emissions. Only thing worse than being a car nut in California is being a car nut who also loves guns...

Good luck

As soon as he said, "why do you think I pulled you over?", I wouldve stopped right there. Police officers have to tell you why they are stopping you as soon as the pull you over. No db meter, no ticket. Call a lawyer, take it to court, fuck that cops couch.
Oh and btw, dont open your hood unless they have a warrant.

Edit: Didnt see above post. Fuck california, thats ridiculous

This would make sense -- but if CA is like NC, then it doesn't matter.

Around here [Raleigh, NC] there are no defined db limits for an exhaust -- so it's up to the responding officer to determine if a car is unnecessarily loud. Not fun.

I would go along with cam1391 from my exp 99% of the time they either drop it or knock it down BUT if you do have tint and its illegal your gonna look stupid pleading not guilty or no contest. Thats just a shitty deal.

Well, if I lived somewhere like that, definitely would be in stealth mode.

Get as much carb legal documents that pertains to your mods. Get a lawyer and hang on! I don't live there so take my advice with a grain of salt, other than the stealth mode.

There are no dB limits in VA either, but the law is very simple: if it's is not stock or OE replacement, it's illegal. One of the reasons I keep my stock catback since most cops wouldn't be able to recognize an aftermarket downpipe. Also, I wouldn't have to open my hood like that silly shit out in Cali.

Sorry to hear about the unfortunate encounter OP. It sounds like the people who have responded have provided some decent advise so far, and I'd definitely take that shit to court. A police officer is not an expert in vehicle modification, therefore it is not up to him to say whether your BPV or FMIC is affecting emissions. All he can do is state whether the modification is illegal or not according to state code. Hopefully worst case scenario is that at least some of that stupid shit gets dropped and you only have to be responsible for the actual true violations (i.e. the window tint if you are in fact outside of the specified parameters for CA). Good luck man.

Does California give the Harley and Sport bike riders or even the old school hot rodders the same hard time they always seem to give the import guys when it comes to exhaust and other mods?

Doubt it, I actually got pulled over in Houston I my crx for allegedly the same reason. Cops were posted up with wireless radars behind some bushes just inside a school zone. Cop said the ol' you know why I pulled you over? Hit that pedal on the right. That's why. Lmao just then a stingray with loud exhaust comes rumbling through in a low gear. I lost my shit "getem getem call for back up." as the 20-30ish age group starts making up majority of the force, I don't think there will be as much discrimination.

Sorry but you live in California. You have to bend over and go to the ref. Everyone that doenst live in California needs to realize its a whole different ballgame out there with regards to vehicle modification.

Sorry to hear about this. I would see legal help because it sounds like you were only in the wrong for the exhaust MAYBE.

Glad I live in Florida where they don't give a shit about emissions or modifications.

So happy I live in FL (I think this may have been the first time I've ever said that) where no fucks are given.

It would be cheaper and less of a hassle to just stock your car out, take it to inspection, and then reinstall all the parts.

One more on a long list of reasons that I will never set foot in California unless for a flight layover.

@dale_gribble; Some Cali auto law conversation here. I know you've gone out of your way to maintain stock appearance, anything constructive you can add for this guy?

I'm interested in the outcome of this. This can not be the 1st time this has happened in that State.

In FL the Police officers can issue a ticket for exhaust being too loud, but I have not heard of a Mazdaspeed getting ticketed.

Window tint on the other hand is easy money for them. I just pay the fine and move on.

I grew up in Cali, it is where I learned that window tint, non OEM wheels and loud exhaust equal harassment and ‘random’ searches; I got good at ‘stock’ mods and learned to love ‘sleepers’ it is one of the reasons I own a MS3, reminds me a lot of my first car a 1984 Dodge Colt Turbo...(TD04, intercooler, 50 shot NOS anti-lag and gutted catalysts, it passed several physical inspections and emissions at the pipe) ;) Now I live in El Paso county, in Colorado, no emissions... er, no emissions inspection.

20% tint on the front is illegal in CA. you can't have darker than 75%, which is... the window... on the fronts. You can have whatever you want on the rest of the windows.

I got pulled over for that every once in awhile. But I'm white, polite and lived in OC, so = warning. Except when I was ACTUALLY MOVING OUT OF THE STATE! Damn San Bernardino cop gave me a 'fix it' ticket for my tint... it ain't a fix it ticket when you're moving out of the place... it's $220. Then three miles from the AZ border, I got a 75 in a 70 speeding ticket, at 10pm... Another $250 + online traffic school. CA got a huge middle finger from me as I left.

That's a bummer for you for sure, but sounds like stocking out and going to a ref is the best idea. It's not a long process. My buddy had to do it to register his dirtbike. Took like 20 minutes. Granted, probably a lot less in depth for a Honda 450.

Sport bikes don't get messed with much because they don't stop. Every Harley in Cali has an exhaust and most are above the 98 db limit. Again, dont see them pulled over, probably for the same reason as sport bikes. I believe they also are not under the same smog laws, much more lenient.

Hot rodders get their grief for noise infractions since all vehicles under 1973 are exempt. Making the classics more and more valuable out here.

I personally have done everything I can to stay stealth. I also have done almost nothing to mine with engine performance because the last thing I need is a cop pulling my wife over with my kids and having this happen to them like with the OP. I went so far as to buy a cat to gut instead of a test pipe. Gotta look stock. My CS TMIC will pass visual and my intake is carb exempt. All I have left is working with e85 to eek out what I can from the car. Kinda stinks, but what can you do? In Cali, if you mod an engine or smog control and get caught, you are going to have a bad time.

Good luck OP, hope you get this worked out. Might really consider the advise to stock out. Remember, now that this has happened, you are on the state naughty list if you end up at a ref and MAY deal with extra scrutiny with yearly smog tests. I would love to say just pay it and move on, but if memory serves me correctly, if you are required to go to a ref, you have to go to the ref or no registration.

Iv been asked if my accessport was a radar detector lol

OK OP. My opinion.

Put cs tmic with oem shroud and stock bpv on. Put on a carb approved intake. Hide your wmi controller and tubing. You'll get past a roadside visual.

If you have to get cleared by ref, it's going to be 100%, and I mean 100% stock out. Not even exhaust. Take to ref. Get it cleared by ref. Show judge/leo outcome as needed.

If your car is flagged for annual smog and test or ref only, your mod days on that vin are over without a ton of hassle.

Edit: please post pics of your car and engine bay. I want to see what we are talking about here.

that sucks man. good luck. I would assume the same thing about the dB, if he doesn't have a decibel meter to check how loud the exhaust is, there is no reason to open the hood. Guess i'm wrong about that one.

this is why I keep my car stock looking, no flashy wheels, mild drop, no tint, hidden AP. I have a catless DP/RP and a UR exhaust, and I never even get a look my way by the cops. It sucks, cause it's my car and I should be able to do whatever the fuck I want to it.

I am thinking op's car must be screaming for attention somehow.

I would handle it like this:
Go to court and pray to God the officer does not show up. You broke the law dude, step up and face the consequences.
Words of advice to everyone. Never open you hood, period.

I have lived here in Cali my whole life, I know better then to attract attention to myself. Cops here look for any "probable cause" to pull someone over. It's all about stats in their world.



Sent from my iPhone 6

1) Follow Dale's advise

2) Consider a Lawyer

3) Reg car somewhere other than Cali...?

lawyer is just pissing into the wind in this case, OP has to stock and go to the ref.

So.....

Forgive my ignorance on the matter, but how the hell do guys like Lumberjack get away with such a heavily modded car? Is there a non daily driver type of registration for vehicles?

I ask because here in Florida we don't have shit. The Mrs and I have been throwing around the idea of moving to cali in a few years, but stories like this make me feel otherwise.

Only thing I've seen people get ticketed for are tints, ridiculously loud stance boy exhaust, and diesel trucks that try to do that "rolling coal" thing. There are cars down here in south FL that are practically falling apart and never get harassed.

Here's a pic of one I saw like 2 weeks ago at a light on my way to work, sad thing is there are much worse. End of rant.... back to my original question... How do you guys in Cali mod?

I've kept mine stock looking and relatively quite for this reason. I've been pulled over 5 times in my speed but never has a cop asked me about it or given it a second glance. California cops are total dicks you just have to give them a reason they'll take total advantage of you. I 100% agree with dale, don't give them anymore reasons to watch you. Stock out before going to a ref and maybe talk to a lawyer.

it seems like the pull-me-over mod is anything cosmetic. rims, tint, any extreme drop, decals, gauges, shit like that. Performance mods don't really matter until the cop asks to pop the hood.

I've actually gotten lucky not to get pulled over for not having a front licence plate.

No advice, this just sucks.

I hate California laws.

Yet another reason why I hope my property in Nevada turns to "waterfront property" sometime soon.

I kept my Speed completely stock until I moved to Texas.

Certain areas in CA don't require SMOG to register your vehicle. Those are mostly rural or unincorporated. I'd assume since SMOG isn't a requirement there, cops won't care as much. Which might be the case for Lumberjack since, iirc, he lives in Temecula. If you're in the right zip code, emissions don't matter.

Shoot man. Feel sorry for the OP. There ARE advantages to living in the wasteland that is Detroit (no emissions or fucks given). :)

Nailed it. All other posts are moot at this point.

Bottom line...you are fucked.

Stock out

Go to ref

Pay the fine

Never mod that car again :disappointed:

This is your only solution, really.

Op, I'm in garden grove so I can help you stock out some of your stuff. Not sure how you'll get a stock cbe if you had to cut off the stock one though.

I might have to remove my stickers and other awesomeness after reading this

show me the ticket


did he send you to a referee or suggested it ? the ticket will be clear

state referee is a government sanctioned place (usually a college auto class) that will know everything illegal on your car ....which will be anything without a CARB stamp on it , any gauges , controllers ...anything that splices into the oem wiring.

short and sweet if you got a state referee mandate you need to stock it out completely , anything short of that will result in a FAIL .... and the next time you get pulled over it will get impounded since it's operating illegally.


no way around it man .....they will catch everything.


the good news ....you can always put the shit back on after u pass and start the cycle again. that happened to me in 2011 or so ..... i just parted it since the motor was on its last licks..... and sold it .



OC and especially South OC is brutal about this shit



in b4 part out thread



p.s. first visual inspection ...... until you pass that they wont even bother hooking up the obd2 and put it on the rollers to see if it pollutes beyond whats acceptable

For LJ, New cali cars don't have to smog for 5 years so he still has years.

Ton of custom cars in socal. It's a huge culture down here from desert trucks to lifted to imports. You can visually see a lot of infractions every day just on the highway. Too lifted, no flaps, tint, no front plates, tires poking, too loud, tinted tails, loud systems, no tags, loud exhausts. It's not an overly hostile environment because it is a big culture.

This guy invoked something in the cop and I don't think we have the full story. We have the typical I was being a saint story. something doesn't quite add up or he just got the 1 out of 100 ahole cop.

new cars dont smog in cali for 6 years ...and every 2 years after the 6th

LOL, that sounds like the best option honestly...

Just to clarify to everyone...the state referee is RECOMMENDED and not required, meaning I don't have to go to them. I say this because as the cop suggested going to the state ref in his opinion, he gave me a court date right there and then. May 15th

As this may seem to be the only option, the way I look at it is this way:
1) For the tint, I would remove it, no way getting around it. Thats fine with me

2) For the exhaust: Why can't I go to court and state that a DB meter was not present when I got pulled over. How can they justify that i'm breaking a noise law?

3) As for the Air pollution control device req: If I go get my car smogged (and pass whether with or without my catted long dp - I would change it out as needed) then what's the problem? If i'm not polluting through my exhaust given the smog is certified, ect., then why stock out?

My car is completely 100% stock exterior wise besides JBR mudflaps and light dark tint on my tai lights. I will post pictures of my engine and car soon when I upload them from my phone.


I recently talked to my neighbor, who happens to be the OC Sheriff. His advice to me is as follows: Exhaust wise, there was no DB meter present, so there is no proof to show my exhaust is breaking the law..noise wise. Yea, my exhaust is loud, but so what. There's no real proof it, but I don't know...I may be pushing my luck with that one. As for the Air pollution device req., he proceeded to tell me that he didn't know what that was, but it sounded logical to him to take my car to get smogged, pass smog, and then show proof in court

I also got a letter in the mail from the court stating that the officer WILL NOT be present on the court date I was given

BTW, thank you for all the advice and support. This truly sucks :worried:

I know it may sound like I was doing something wrong to provoke the cop, but believe me, I just happen to get unlucky. I also think this because I pulled off on Avery Parkway from the 5 south freeway. Ive to that area countless times about 3 times a week for school when I attended Saddleback College last year. I also daily my car to Irvine Valley College (12 miles away from Avery Parkway) and never had a problem. I know better to not go WOT down that area or cause attention haha

Pics of the car the way it sits now, including a photo of what it looks like looking into my driver side window (Officer's view)

Exterior looks mellow to me. Looks like you just got that one ahole cop. Sorry.

Stock it out, go to ref, profit.

show me the citation , does it have a white sticker on the back ? if he suggested it and didnt actually cite you for it u should have sucked him off .... but technically he can impound your vehicle . if you were cited for it then u will have no options .


sounds like u got lucky

Here is the ticket he printed out front and backside along with the court letter I got in the mail 2 days ago. Sorry if the pics aren't right side up

Edit: also got written up for no proof of insurance. Couldn't find it in the heat of the moment. Ended up finding it all the way in the back of my glove department

I see the white sticker... the only option is to stock out and take it to the state ref. That means everything needs to be stock!

Mandated ref. Gross.

Just saw this. Thanks for the offer! I have every single part/parts that came off the car during my mod adventure

Well, I hope you like it dry, you're about to get fooked.

The cops exact words: "What I would do is go to the state referee. If you can prove me wrong about your modifications, great. They're the guys that will decide that." Then he told me my court date, and ended his rant with me

This isn't looking good for me. I don't know why he didn't mention I have to go to the state ref. He made it sound like an option if its true according to the sticker that I have to go regardless

This is one of the biggest reasons I decided to go with a CS TMIC, I can use the stock shroud and they can't say much about my CS CARB approved intake if I was ever to get asked to pop my hood (Which I wouldn't let happen unless they had a warrant to search my vehicle)

Another thing I've learned in CA is don't tint the car and don't put any stickers on your windows especially of performance part brands, you want to look like a regular 3 in their eyes driving around...

white sticker pal...u arent skating off this one..... stock out or u will get it impounded next time u get pulled over.

theres no getting away from this. sooner u accept it the sooner u can mod it back up after u pass smog and inspection

and im telling u because i unlike the rest of the people here have been through it ..... thats why i asked u if you had the white sticker .... i wasnt guessing .

Also, make sure all of your sensors are checked in. You'll need a scan tool for that. CA will fail if a single sensor bank isn't checked in.

If you are going to mod in Cali keep it a a sleeper. Im in OC as well and have seen bike cops go out of there way to harass people with tint on the fronts. I have been successful with 50% on the fronts for 7 years. I also keep the wheels moderate if I swap them and the exhaust quite(even if aftermarket).

The car that seemed to get me the most attention was my maxima. lowered, dark, tint, and exhaust(amongst other things). This seems to be a bad combo.

My 65 fastback was at least twice as loud and certainly faster. If memory serves, I did not get a single ticket in that car even though I drove it far crazier(first car). I did get pulled over a couple of times and told nice car, but at worst I recieved a verbal warning.

The tint and loud exhaust are going to make this a hard case for you. Definitely not a bad stop and Im sure enough for probable cause. My advice would be try your luck in court, see if you can push out the date. Chances are at some point the officer wont show and you can get this reduced or dismissed. Good luck.

Edit:

Just saw the ticket. Yea, youre f'd on this one. Stock out and get it ref'd you can probably get away with most of your mods afterwards, I would just ditch the catback and lighten up the tint on the fronts.

Wow, definitely not ready to accept I have to stock out, but I guess I have to :worried:...Thanks for all the advice and input. Does the smog have to take place at the ref or can I take it anywhere? I ask because my good friend owns a smog shop not far away from where I live

Has to be referee only.

State referee only , there's a number u call for locations .

Move to Texas. Lots of spanish rice out here, and no hood poppin.

That sounds so extreme to me. Good luck, and I doubt a lawyer will help in your situation.

Move to FL, it's a lot like California but less gay.

That does suck though.

Here's what you do, go to court and tell them the tranny blew and the car is undriveable and can not be taken to the ref. you should just have to pay a fine at that point.

Worst. Idea. Ever.

Sounds to me like he may be a whiney Honda fanboy that can't hang with the big dogs so he takes it out on you. Not your fault his car sounds like a hive of angry bees and not an angry large bodied mammal.

But in actuality, I'd get legal representation.

I'm gonna completely stock out, get it cleared by the state ref, then throw everything back on and finally contribute to the 100% E85 thread.

As much as I would love to fight it and prove them wrong, I don't think it's worth it to go through the trouble of lying to them/getting legal help

I got reffed a couple years ago.

Sheriff pulled me over for no front plate, but really was pulling me over for my mods.

We chatted for a bit. I asked if he was one of the "drag net" sheriffs and oddly enough, he was one of a few that got the training for the local department. Showed me his records binder and diagrams. Popped my hood and pointed out my vented hks, CPE nano and front mount piping.

Got a ref ticket. Stocked out. Got sniff tested. Passed and moved on with my life. I did have to go to court for it. I had to pay a modified emissions fine. It was less than 200 iirc. Judge almost threw it out until he realized it wasnt a fix it ticket.

I got caught. Its California. You know the rules. You pay to play. Sheriff and I chatted about it. He was pretty cool about it all. Commented that my car looked nice. At the end of the day hes got a job to do.

Dont give yourself an excuse to get pulled over. Get a front plate. Roll your front windows down if youre tinted. Dont drive like a dick.

I don't have a front license plate, but maybe I should get one after hearing that haha

I always drive with my windows down. When the cop pulled me over my fronts were completely down and my back windows were barely up

my car is fully bolted too and with the same ARK CBE. sucka is pretty loud. I don't have front window tints and have license plates in front. As long as they don't have a reason for you to get pulled over, you should be fine. Been pulled over many times for speeding... thank God that they never question me about my mods hahaha.

If you get pulled over... turn off the car right away, roll the windows down, put the keys on the dash, and put your hands where they can see it.

I thought aftermarket tmic/fmic is legal here in Cali?

1. I'm stationed in VA
2. My car is registered in FL
3. Everything on car is legal in FL and we don't have to do emissions...
4. ?????????
5. Profit

Prove them wrong about whaT? The law doesn't say you can't make your emissions worse. It says that you can't modify your car unless they are carb approved parts.

Anything that alters the entering or exiting of air without carb approval is illegal. When I got reffed I went so far as to disconnect my boost gauage vacuum line. Didn't want to risk failing visual.

Put a few torx bolts in the hood and claim that the hood can only be opened by the dealer.

Almost all the posts I see that involve cops and mods are from California.

I guess you guys are stuck having to buy CARB only approved parts to be safe.

Sorry to hear this horrid news OP. Good luck to you sir!

Note to MSF: Never EVER hold a Epic meet in Cali. That would be a cops wet dream.

I don't think one gives a shit about Cali regulations if the car is registered elsewhere?

I honestly am not sure, but they sure could give us a hard time just to be a pain. Unless there is some other law in Cali.

Do you have to pay anything to get it passed w/ referee, some processing fees or anything like that?

If it's out of state they aren't going to shake you down unless your are breaking laws.

Yes. I think it was less than 20 bucks. Its been a few years.

I think if you are visiting from out of state and car is register in your home state they can't do much. Now if you moved to Cali from out of state, you have technically 10 days to smog and register your car if I remember correctly.

Edit: but you can still get ticketed for speeding, reckless driving or any of dumb shit you do

I've also noticed and seen more issues in so cal than up here in nor cal but I'm sure it's just as bad

I also have a bagged s10 and we would caravan with 20-30 trucks to shows all around california and never had issues with cops or being pulled over for modified suspension which is surprising because we would be tucking tires and riding a few inches off the ground

The certificate is like 20 bucks , these are the rules of the game ... We know we are doing something illegal do the best to not draw attention towards yourself .

I took two years off after my incident and when I bought the 5.0 I said ok just cat deletes and a tune lol ..... Year + later and I'm knee deep into NA mods etc ..... But my car looks bone stock from outside and idles good enough to not draw attention , at WOT though u can literally hear it 3 blocks away . Already got two tickets one for dragging a ctsv and American cars always get more love from popo

First thing I'd do is remove the tint and put that front plate on. If they can impound just for having the ticket, my luck a motor cop having a bad day would stop me and I'd be going to the impound lot and paying major coin.

this should be a sticky for the California Nator/MSF folks....

More fighting it than proving them wrong, since regardless it's against the law. I don't know I just thought I had more entitlement to prove something but the ref is the ref. Stocking out soon, maybe next week

Wonder what would happen if you welded a 3rd or a 4th cat to make the exhaust even cleaner. :D

Got the ref date. May 12th. Smog test and a dB test for the exhaust checking if its over 95 dB

Edit: $116.25 for all of this according to the lady on the phone

In all seriousness you would fail the ref.

I do remember seeing a sign posted that the decibel test fee was going to increase. Part of one of the things we voted to fund the last election. That fee goes to find whatever it was.

If I'm not mistaken, if your car is registered in Texas and you get caught with a traffic violation out of state, you get double the fines/penalties or double the points in our point system or something to that extent. Now I'm not sure if what the OP got caught with is a traffic violation, but I suppose we all have to be careful when we visit Cali with our cars.

Traffic violation is unlikely. Pulled off the freeway to all green lights (only had to pass 2) and

then proceeded to the long straightaway toward the shop following the speed limit. Cop claims

it just had to do with my exhaust noise. Doesn't seem believable because I was cruising at 65

the whole way and coasting trying to make the exhaust not drone too much. But whatever

wow. well fuck cali. if i ever visit i will ride my bicycle thank you very much.

http://i.imgur.com/OfIL7Or.jpg

One of my friends got a DUI on a bicycle, in, wait for it, Coronado, California.... Would be funny if it weren't true.....



But it isn't respectable. It's mildly terrifying. And that actually makes it quite appealing. - Mazda 3 MPS review, Matthew Jones, Top Gear.

It sucks but you just become more low key . The laws aren't really for pollution , they're for revenue .

My car as it sits does not have a single CARB part on it , don't even have cats ... But runs pure E85 since June , haven't put 1 drop of gasoline on it Since , so it should actually not only polute less but doesn't deplete our limited resources ..... You would think that was enough to be legal .... But it isn't , so .... What are they really after ?

Your money , as always

How dare you say such a blasphemous thing about our upstanding government officials! :laugh2:

You had me worried, so i looked it up...

TX Speeding Ticket And Traffic Ticket FAQs at DMV.org: The DMV Made Simple

From what I gathered from that, we'll get the same points out of state that we would in state.

You caught my eye since I drive to CA at least once a year from Austin.

Jesus these laws seem crazy in California. In Pennsylvania, specifically Philadelphia, we do not need a decibel meter to gauge the exhaust sound. If we reasonably believe it's not oem, we can pull you over for it. Our tint statute also does not list a specific percentage. It just states if you cannot see the occupants of the vehicle you are in violation.

Now it seems that California officers are allowed to search your engine bay if they have probable cause. An exhaust modification, accessport, etc. are most likely probable cause because they are signs of engine modification. On another note, many people said they will refuse this search because they need a search warrant. Commonwealth V. Gary, which is a supreme court decision meaning it is a standard that must be followed country wide, states that if probable cause exists (in this case, illegal modifications) an officer DOES NOT need a search warrant to search the vehicle.

You just picked the wrong State to live in lol. I wouldn't say the cop is an asshole, he is just doing what the law requires. He took an oath to enforce the law and he is payed tax payer money to enforce the law. In my opinion, other than having a strict officer, nothing the officer did was illegal.

My billion dollar idea, make performance parts that look like stock parts from manufacturer.

I thought about that. Plus, manufacturers are much smarter than aftermarket engineers with much larger budgets. So, design parts that are basically stock but work 10-20% better using a similar to stock design with optimizations.

Reason I will be pulling off my tint and usually do.. And the reason I love my Greddy exhaust.. Its quiet as hell. I do not want to draw any attention from the police.. no tint, low noise exhaust, and not super slammed is a bonafied win here