For humor, I've seen a smog technician visually fail a Toyota Camry because he thought it had an aftermarket header on it. Turns out that it was a factory header and was just low miles/really clean looking.

I've been pulled over about 6 times in a heavily modified car in California (twice including a GTX3071, but I specifically recirculated the EWG tube back into the DP), twice for speeding, and the other times were for registration (yes, I procrastinated renewal of tags for awhile). Never got ref'd or warned about my exhaust because I hardly ever went WOT on city streets knowing how loud it was. For all the times that I was pulled over, the cop(s) never really heard how loud my car was because I was feathered the throttle when they came within range of hearing it (just a cat-back).

Basically, going forward, don't get your exhaust setup to the point where you can't control how loud it is even at idle (at least here in CA). You never know what kind of quota these cops are looking for these days after they consume their morning donut and coffee. And because of Hondas/Subarus, exhaust is a dead giveaway that there is a 90% chance that there is plenty of revenue-generating modifications underneath your hood.

Glad that you got everything cleared up, but don't put that exhaust back on if you plan on staying in CA. That or get a resonator added to the exhaust setup.

Lesson learned here, if your heavly modded and don't want to stock out, just pay the fine and get on with your life.

This muffler is what I used to kill drone at highway speeds - it has a spring loaded flap inside that keeps the car pretty damn quiet at part throttle conditions, and it flows really well when you drop the right foot. It's super easy to fab into an axle back in this "Camaro" configuration as well, even recycling pieces off your existing exhaust.

Dynomax® 17138 - VT? Muffler

If you want discreet with flow and don't want to run a cut-out, I'd give it a look.

I went to smog a couple of weeks ago, had put a stock box I got off eBay for $10 onto my Jbr tip/intake tubing. I have an ets tmic and corksport boost tubes. Oh yea a Jbr bypass hose also. All hoses are red except for the tih/ intake which are black. Yea the Jbr intake is not carb certified, so I was gambling there. I go across the street with my daughters to eat and watch this asshole pop my hood and look at my engine bay with a flashlight, close it and hook it to the machine. We head back and he has my hood popped and looking with a flashlight again. I ask if everything is good and he says yeah. He calls me over 10 mins later and I knew it was coming. He says all my tubes will not pass because they are not stock. I'll give him the intake and tih. But the boost tubes and bypass hose should be no problem. The only reason he didn't pass me was because they had logos. I ask dickhead why he just didn't stop once he popped my hood and he straight out lied and said he didn't pop my hood before which I then told him I was watching across the street. He played dumb. I left and took my car to the old guy at the gas station up the street from my work and had him pop the hood and look before I paid. He had no problem with the tubes or intake and tip. I did have my stock box on the Jbr intake tube tho. I passed no problem. It's just depends if the smog guy is a dick or not. Gonna buy a corksport intake since they made an effort to carb certify so I don't have to change shit next time.

I've been really interested in that muffler, but I've read by a few reviews that it begins to rattle. Not to derail this thread, but have you had any such issues?

No rattles. @Bmylez; put them on his CTS-V (different model of muffler, same series) and his did rattle. I think he got old inventory, and AFAIK the 17138 wasn't offered until they replaced the orifice material.

With a catless DP and 3" mid pipe, my car sounds absolutely perfect IMO. Screams when it should, shuts the hell up when I want it to.

Yeah, my rattling got to the point where I was embarrassed to be seen in parking lots and whatnot. I took some coworkers to lunch and they said my car sounded broken, so I said fuck that. The drone-cancelling was excellent, but the rattle was just too much. It doesn't help that I have a healthy cam, which makes the valves flap a little more violently. Sounds like the new revision is solid, though.

The problem is that even if you fail the test you have to pay. So the testers actually have every incentive to fail you, knowing that you have to pay now no matter what, and then you might come back again and get to pay again. It's a complete racket.

This sucks, I just put on my Corksport Catback and now I am looking left and right all the time. Worth it though, I will probably change my mind when I get pulled over.

We had a similar racket like that up in metro Vancouver called "Air-Care" for over a decade and it was just a HUGE cash grab. You pay to get inspected, depending on how bad you fail, and what you fail for, they would give a sheet saying you needed to spend X (usually started at about $200 up to $500 on average) amount of money on emissions related maintenance at an Air-Care certified mechanic/shop. I would say well over 1/2 the time the $ spent didn't fix the problem so you would still fail, but then you would be able to insure your vehicle for a year and then you would have to repeat the whole procedure 12 months later.

And of course there is a fee for each and every test (about $50 at the end before the whole thing was scrapped), so yeah, $$$ and more $.


If you happened to know a certified Tech you could add a new intake or a high flow cat, etc, and the Tech would just sign off that you spent a certain amount on emissions related systems. Some Techs would just sell you a receipt for a % of what you were supposed to spend.


The offenders who really dumped a ton of pollution out of every vehicle they own(ed) used all the multiple loop holes to avoid it, so it was one of those systems like gun control, where 90% of legal owners follow all the rules, and the criminals couldn't give a fuck.

At least they didn't give a fuck about mods unless maybe they noticed you removed a cat or emissions related hardware, but these test facilities didn't have trained Techs doing any of the testing or inspections, they were like McDonalds drive through workers with wicked AWD dynos. I wonder what happened to all those roller dynos and sophisticated machinery, there must have been at least 200+ of them, probably ended up getting scrapped :(

I recently sold my header locally to some guy in my area with a speed. He didn't seem to know anything about modifying a car lol, but whatever. The meth kit has been up in some ads around where I live, but no one has asked about it, so I might just sell it on here if you're interested

ROFL no wonder the fastest cars in the US aren't in california

Actually some of them are made there. Tesla Model S P85D. Guess if you live in Cali, might be time to figure out how to mod electric cars.

Fucking gestapo California. Couldn't pay me enough in gold-plated swimsuit models to live there. Bunch of tree-hugging, money-grabbing jacktards making life miserable for regular folks. That state could slide into the Pacific and we'd all be the better for it. Present company excluded, of course.


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Thats a little harsh. Our economy rivals a lot of countries.

Ohio is almost as bad just without the nice weather or job opportunities.

Though Ohio don't give a fuck about guns.

Got pulled over ; Got my hood popped
 

Granted Ohio isn't anything exciting, but I actually LIKE the weather...four distinct seasons are nice, and the snow isn't awful, at least where I am.

Maybe my comments on Cali were harsh, but I can modify my car all I like and not have to worry about some knucklehead LEO on a power kick looking to fine me or impound my car. I'm fully supportive of law enforcement and appreciate what they do (for crap income as well), but the one the OP bumped into? If I'm not street racing and putting the safety of others at risk, who cares? I absolutely HATE government overreach.


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Speaking of Ohio , I'll be flying in Sunday. Want to do a little over reaching of our own, maybe toss in a little docking too? Balls are in your court cutie.

LOL, I'll take a pass on your balls thanks. Now that we're off topic, where are you flying in to? if it's Columbus and you need help with transport somewhere (to avoid cabs, etc.), let me know.

Pretty sure Columbus, be there for a couple weeks. They'll get us rental cars, though. Thanks for the offer, only with Nator can you offer up gay sex, get declined and still get offered a ride. Lol

Yeah...I've discovered that about this site. Take everything in stride and help a brother out. If needs change while you're here, send me a PM and I'll get back to you.

Read fail. cancel reply.

Not harsh at all. I'm originally from Dallas, but have lived in LA the last 10 years and what he says is true. California may be a large economy, but the state is flat ass broke and has been for a very long time. It's incredibly expensive to live here, jobs don't pay much more than they do anywhere else (so most people are house poor, you have to make 2-3x the median state income to afford a median priced house), taxes are through the fucking roof (and keep going up), traffic is horrific, etc.

The best way I've figured out to describe California is that average comes at a massive premium. What I mean is that what is "luxury" in California is average in Dallas, by way of comparison. And what is average in California is the fucking ghetto in Dallas. I wouldn't still be here if my wife wasn't from here and doesn't want to move.

You can not say anything to the police but you might end up in more trouble as well depending.
There's no legal requirement that a police officer inform you why you are being pulled over, or even why you are being arrested (if that were the case). However, most police departments have policies that require officers to inform the subject of the reason for their detention.


I tried that before why did you pull me over.. NOPE 90 percent of the time they ask for my license and insurance go back to their car then come back and say why they pulled me over.

EDIT: Not gonna give a cop a reason to get pissed not worth it.. Would rather go on my way

Jesus titty fucking christ....

I guess I should stop bitching about living in New Jersey.

Fuck everything to do with all of this thread...I hope everything works out for you @OCspeed;

Thanks man! Everything has been running well ever since I put everything back together :fingersx:

I got pulled over yesterday for not having a front license plate and the cop questioned me if I had anything done to the car and I just said no...He let me go without a ticket haha. I live around many STI's and Evos and never see them getting pulled over :facepalm2:

Hands down the worst part about living in California. I shouldn't have to reconsider my desired modification path..

Reviving an older thread here, but honestly what are you doing to attract so much attention?

I've never had a problem with cops out here. Any time I've been pulled over for speeding they give me the ticket and go on their way. Maybe it's because I make it a point to be courteous. Smile. Put my hands on the wheel. Tell them I'm reaching for my wallet and need to open the glove box, etc. I think they appreciate the consideration. I'm also white and middle aged. Perhaps that does have its privileges.

The last time I got a ticket, a motorcycle cop got me. He asked why I was in such a hurry. I said no reason, just got a little over zealous. I asked how fast I was going. He said he stopped clocking me at 90 (in a 65, I think I got up to 95). Gave me a ticket for 80 (maybe 85), whatever the limit is where you can still take traffic school and get the ticket dismissed. This has happened to me twice, by the way.

And at least as far as speeding goes they are pretty lenient. Typically you need to be doing 10+ over the limit for them to even look at you. Varies by area of course.

In my area, Northwest LA, I'd guess 90% of the cars have window tint all on all windows (except the front). Some are so dark you can't see in at all. All kinds of cars are modded, from ricers to 'stangs, to 'vettes. Loud exhausts, lowered, all kinds of custom motor work, etc. I'm sure folks get pulled over for various reasons, but obviously it isn't enough to deter mods.

There's a reason SEMA has such a big presence in California. The mod market is huge.

You must be white.

Second paragraph, last two sentences.

So im making a trip up to san diego in a couple weeks and my car is also pretty loud and tinted, since I live in AZ with AZ plates will I catch any heat from the Police or should I be fine since im an out of towner?

I dont' think they mess with out of state cars for mods. I could be wrong though and you could just come across the biggest douche copper.

there have been times where i thought cops were going to pop my hood when i had my ms3. (catless dp, cpe catback, non-carb intake). they just usually gave me the speeding ticket, even with my limo tint lol.

there was even one time where i did a pull on an onramp and hit about 90, let my foot off cuz i saw a bike cop. he pulled up next to me and said "SLOW DOWN!" and he sped away lol. you guys must have some bad luck :X

I've been in CA for weeks at a time with my Texas plates and haven't been pulled over once. There's nothing CA legal about my car. Oh, and I'm originally from Orange County, and I used to get hassled for my tint by Lake Forest and Irvine cops. It was 20% on the fronts at the time.

Yeah I generally get lucky with cops and just start shooting the shit with them, also helps that my father in law is a local detective, I just get worried because I always try to mess with people on the long stretches of freeway and cali cops just aren't my cup of tea. But this makes me feel better.

As much as I miss OC, and the beaches... Reading all this stuff makes me glad I'm in Texas.

Ive never had a problem with cops too until that day. It was in Irvine/Mission Viejo off Avery Parkway. Cops are known to be douches in that area so i'm sure I just got unlucky. I put all the mods back in plus switching out the catted dp to a catless and I haven't had an issue, even though I still drive around that area all the time for school.

Lol I second this one. Hope it works out alright!