OK, here's the scenario...

1) Accessport on order - can do stage I immeditately but stage II remap is now FREE(my favorite word in the engoorish language).

2) I want a TBE and I'd prefer one that is quiet, like a borla hush. I've got to replace that blasted DP for stage II but I want something that will pass smog. Or I am just hosed because I won't pass the visual anyhow?

Is my best bet just to keep the OEM exhaust in the garage and bolt it on every coupla years?? I'd prefer to not have to deal with this...yes, i'm a lazy bastard.

I may sound like a puss but I do care if my car is spewing noxious gases on everyone else. I'm not judging anyone here about their exhausts just stating a personal preference.

And I wanna stay low key to avoid attention from the fuzz, I've gotten two tickets this year already and those beeyotches are expensive. In Kalifornia, there is a State fee of $22 for every $10 of traffic fine!! Got a fine of $45 for going over the limit line, aka blowing stop sign with total disregard(cop was cool), and the ticket is like $129 after The Man™ steps in.

Did you know there is a "Second Level" traffic school which is a 12 hour deal? Don't know if I'll do it b/c the fact that you've taken this 2nd level traffic school does appear on your DMV records. Now the insurance co. knows you've gotten 2 tickets in last 18 mos. Those sneaky bastardos. However, you don't get the point on your DMV record.

But I digress...

Are street legal and stage II mutually exclusive??

 

I'm not too sure if you could pass visual test with any aftermarket downpipes. So, yeah changing downpipe every two years might be a only option we have in California. But Daddy has downpipe(w cat) and 3rd cat(w/o cat) section that do somewhat looks like stock. As for a catback, I have Greddy Evo. Cops never bothered me for it. They never pulled me over for that exhaust even when they were right on my behind. It's very quite. Yeah, I think borla hush might be a good one too. Quite and more stealth.

 

clever name, but shouldn't it have been Toris?

 

I talked to Cobb about this... I also live in CA and have the AccessPort. I want to go to Stage 2... but stay street legal... anyways... Cobb said that with their downpipe w/ high-flow cat you will pass the sniffer test, but most likely fail the visual... so I think I will just buy the Helix dp and just put the stocker back on and flash to Stage 1 every two years... I really don't think there's any other alternative...

 

Ever met anyone with the last name "toris"? See, if my handle was like "Seymour Butts" or "Connie Lingus" the gig is up but peeps have to think twice whether or not this is my real name or not. Some guy in CS even had a frat bro named Clint Torres or so he claims.

 

i forget who makes it but i remember hearing of a high flow catted dp that was carb legal...

 

doesn't matter, because tampering, or removing the stock cats is a federal offence.

 

I was under the impression it was cutting them and reselling them was a federal offense

If its approved by the california board of air resources (ie CARB) then you should be able to scrap the other cats.

 

CA Vehicle Code

27156. (a) No person shall operate or leave standing upon any
highway any motor vehicle which is a gross polluter, as defined in
Section 39032.5 of the Health and Safety Code.
(b) No person shall operate or leave standing upon any highway any
motor vehicle which is required to be equipped with a motor vehicle
pollution control device under Part 5 (commencing with Section 43000)
of Division 26 of the Health and Safety Code or any other certified
motor vehicle pollution control device required by any other state
law or any rule or regulation adopted pursuant to that law, or
required to be equipped with a motor vehicle pollution control device
pursuant to the National Emission Standards Act (42 U.S.C. Secs.
1857f-1 to 1857f-7, inclusive) and the standards and regulations
adopted pursuant to that federal act, unless the motor vehicle is
equipped with the required motor vehicle pollution control device
which is correctly installed and in operating condition. No person
shall disconnect, modify, or alter any such required device.

(c) No person shall install, sell, offer for sale, or advertise
any device, apparatus, or mechanism intended for use with, or as a
part of, any required motor vehicle pollution control device or
system which alters or modifies the original design or performance of
any such motor vehicle pollution control device or system.



Even if it's approved by carb, you're still "disconnecting" your original cats, and "altering" and "modifying" it by installing an aftermarket dp.

 

yet another reason to hate california.. man this state needs to have its *** kicked throughly

on topic, i have heard that you can disconnect a cat only with the intention of replacing it with an approved one. Plus you have to have the old cats taking away by a government funded service? wtf

What we need is a muffler shop guy to give us the real McCoy info on what goes on when replacing a cat in CA

 

don't really know the full laws, but I think the only way you can change the cat with an approved one is if the cat itself failed somehow. But don't quote me on that.


Oh and I think the cat has to be replaced by the dealer. If not, there's a warranty service on the cats, that if they fail within a certain number of years, they'll replace it for free.

 

So then in theory you could at least just have the fed pickup the old cats and replace it with a carb approved one at a dealer

 

ahh you know what? I may be wrong on the carb approved parts. But I don't think there's an aftermarket dp that will improve performance, yet keep the same emissions levels as the stock cats.

Quote from carb:

" Exempted parts are add-on or modified parts that have undergone an ARB engineering evaluation. If the part or modification is shown to not increase vehicle emissions, it is granted an exemption to emission control system anti-tampering laws. This exemption is called an Executive Order (EO) and allows the modification to be installed on specific emission controlled vehicles."

 

so far the only carb exempted exhaust parts listed are all headers, no downpipes.

 

So in other words you can do it as long as it has the Carb EO# sweet