alchemyst[wrx]

Just curious if anyone have mods on their cars and still pass smog. It seems that all these after market parts are great hp gain, but will fail smog test. I'm looking to mod my car in the future, but want to keep it "legal". I'm not trying to be "The Fatest WRX" and try to race every Civics that I can find. That is not why I bought the car. I just want to know if even possible to gain decent amount of hp and still be legal. Thank you all.

subabu05

Right off the bat two things come to mind:

1. Engine Management of some sort (accessport, euctek, ect.) Yields about 25 to 30 hp gain depending.

2. IC hose replacement. Yields about 5 or so hp gain and much faster turbo spool up time.


3. Remove the snorkus for a few more hp and faster spool up.

All are legal to my knowledge.


Happy modding!

alchemyst[wrx]

Well, what about U/P, D/P? Bigger TMIC? Turbo upgrade? Any good combination that will give the car some good "UMPH", but not too over-powered? Any thoughts are highly appreciated.

dubbRX

i was told by the guys at gruppe-s that the helix upipe should pass CA emissions, as well as the catted downpipe, and i think the borla hush too!
i'm thinking of going with this setup because its still "legal" and dont have to worry about changing part when its time to smog...also, i have the AP and am very impressed...

Kevin M

iTrader: (12)

The guys at Gruppe-S are wrong. Whie a catted dp and catless uppipe combo will pass the sniffer (probably) they will not pass the visual. The only legal mod is a catback exhaust. That's it. However, you can usually get away with a reflash, a catless uppipe, and IC hoses.

Chrisnonstop

Well almost nothing. As we all know, yet don't want to admit, almost anything you do to your car makes it ilegal at the smog shop. Plus you jeopardize your warranty at the same time. Up pipes, down pipes, turbos, intakes, engine management of any kind,...alll that stuff that makes our 227hp 4 bangers into decent sports sedans/wagons, is against most states emissions laws. ESPECIALLY here in CA. It sucks. So if your car is modded, even slightly, you'll need to take it to a place that might look past the visual portion of the test. Otherwise keep all the stock stuff and swap it out when it comes time to test. PITA.

RupeDawgPSU

Also - It depends on what state you live in. Here in PA, they don't have the visual test - just the sniffer. I have talked to my mechanic about passing inspection w/ a new TBE system that has a cat. He said as long as it passes emissions, its all good.

dubbRX

to those with downpipes, do you guys just switch it to the stock downpipe when you need to get a smog test?? how easy and how long does it take to switch it....if i'm gonna have to switch it, i might as well get the catless downpipe....

subabu05

I'm in S.F. too and I'm running a full catless tbe. The worst part of the install is actually putting the friggen uppipe in. Once you have that in you don't want to switch it out for love for money; point being, to replace the stock components besides uppipe you are looking at anywhere from 2 or so hours ( depending on if you are working by yourself or with friends and if you have enough tools for everyone to be wrenching at once) to most of the day depending on your wrenching experience. If you are going to run a full tbe might as well be catless. If the cops pull you over and you are running an aftermarket catted tbe they'll prolly know it's aftermarket anyway. I have notcied cops in S.F. aren't too picky as long as you aren't running a fart cannon... stealthback is the way to go imo. My catless tbe passes emissions, but even so I'll be switching out before I bring it to smog. Bottom line, the power is worth the hassle. Go for it, ever since install my car is a totally different beast.

I have also heard that after 50k miles on the car it doesn't matter what type of exhaust (catted or catless) you have as long as you pass emissions. Anybody else hear this?

alchemyst[wrx]

Ok, what about this setup:

- Remove the snorkus
- New U/P, D/P (catted), not sure what brand has "performance cat"
- Stromung Cat Back exhaust system (double tip), like the OEM look
- AccessPort (got this one already)
- Bigger I/C (APS)
- Better turbo (VF29?)

Any thoughts? Pass or not? Thanks.

Kevin M

iTrader: (12)

Again, in states that use CA standards for emissions, none of those are legal, not even the silencer removal. Nothing at all is, except a catback. If your state does an OBDII check as well as sniffer, you can get away with a reflash and uppipe, and a catted downpipe if there's no visual.

alchemyst[wrx]

BAN SUVS - I live in CA, so let say Stromung Cat Back and AccessPort. Am I still SOL? Thank you for great infos.

Kevin M

iTrader: (12)

Yeah that would be fine. Feel free to do an uppipe as well, they'll never know as long as you do the resistor mod to prevent the CEL.

RU-X

iTrader: (9)

isn't california also doing dino test too to see if the cars making any more HP than its suppost to? and if that happens..... wow..... what mods will there be left to do HAHA

Kevin M

iTrader: (12)

There's no horsepower test, but the sniffer is actually supposed to have a phase under load. Fortunately, not enough places have AWD smog dynos so full-time AWD vehicles are exempt.