06GTwJUICE

How many people in California actually care about doing it CARB legal? I hate seeing "for use in California on off-road/Race vehicles only that will never see highway use"... I wonder if I drive surface streets to work if that's ok... hahhaahhahha

I had a turbocharged import and almost nothing on it was CARB certified... but then again I got rid of the car after selling all the parts and returning it to stock so I never had to get it smogged.

Also curious why some parts, say exhaust don't pass smog and some do?

I'm starting up that performance ladder and wondering if it's logical to stay CARB legal or toss that out the door and just go for it like I did before..

Might try to register the car with my parents in Colorado possibly when it comes time to SMOG...

decisions decisions..

any thoughts, comments, ideas are appreciated.


thanks
jake

mrkabc

They will fine the hell out of you if the CA DMV catches you with a CO registered car and you live/garage it here.

I am worried about the CHP "sniffers" that I see around in SoCal. They can pull you over and test you on their portable dyno. I have seen that rig set up in Orange County a lot (COUGH COUGH Bristol Ave Santa Ana COUGH COUGH), with disgruntled drivers pulled off to the side of the road glaring at the techs testing their cars.

I am sure with light mods you would be OK, but I wouldn't remove the cats or anything drastic like that, just in case.

06GTwJUICE

I had one friend zip up an onramp and there was a smog pollution camera type device. They sent him a ticket with a picture of the heat signature of his exhaust (at least thats the best way to describe it) and a fine for pollution or something like that and a referee referal. Something like a thermal camera...

kinda scary...

i fortunately never stayed in orange county after modding my integra gsr with a turbo... and i've been fortunate enough to never have run into a rolling dyno smog **** police pullover checkpoint.



Forget the real criminals and lets go after enthusiasts that make up a very very small percentage of the "pollution" out there.

GRAYPNY

Performance
BamaChips Custom X-calibrator 2
Steeda Tri-Ax short shifter

I don't think you have much to worry about with your mods. If you go with off road H pipes, charge motion delete plates, then you will have smog issues. Good luck~

mikeelia

That isn't true. I've been in CA for over six years and so has my brother with out of state plates and licenses. I have my Buick registered elsewhere and he has his bright yellow 98 Cobra registered elsewhere. And we've both been pulled over and given tickets for other things with only a couple of questions. In fact I got a redlight ticket in my Buick and the cop hardly batted an eye at my license. No big deal.

It is not possible for them to prove anything, and if you aren't being a jerk they are not likely to hassle you much.
Mike

Webba

Hey how about we forget the coke dealers, and the minor rapists, and....where the F do you draw the line? Grow up and make your car legal and maybe this planet will be around before the end of the century.

emperorjordan

**** carb stuff!! just go for it, bro, be smart, and dont do anything too stupid. if you take the cats off, make sure you have a good muffler so its not too loud (like me, haha).

Your next mod should either be in intake.... or a blower.

good luck!

06GTwJUICE

You don't live in California do you?

When I drive to work every morning, it never fails that there is a 25yr old car or worse in front of me smoking like a chimney.... or that sled on the side of the freeway in flames because it's so out of repair it's not funny...

It is just amazing how hard the state goes after such a small group of enthusiasts for polluting the air when there are much much greater offenders out there. The car enthusiast is responsible for far less than 1% of the pollution out there... but yet according to you we must evil gross polluters..

Here in California it seems to all be about the $. Imagine where all the money could go if they weren't out chasing down that small minority of car modifiers?

I have a mutual friend who's a Northridge Shift supervisor for LAPD and he says it's a waste of time and the vast majority of the time they would rather go get the real criminals. They do however take interest in a modified car if they are caught racing or "fit the profile"... Him and his co-workers have nothing against domestics that are modded or imports for that matter but he does have something against the chop shops etc...

You say make my car legal but I would like to also cite the other 49 states that aren't under the iron fist.

Also just for the record.. CARB means nothing to a lot of police officers... so by staying CARB legal is really debatable

mrkabc

Hey Mike! I live down the freeway from you...

My co-worker had AZ plates on his Hummer, he got pulled over twice for speeding - the second time he got pulled over the DMV got involved and sent him a fine for violating the law that you must register a car in CA within 30 (or was it 60? Can't remember) days of moving here.

It was a pretty hefty fine - The back registration and also the violation $$$ which amounted to a couple thousand bucks.

From what I hear the DMV has tried to crack down on this ever since Gov. Schwarzenegger rolled back the registration $$$ and now the DMV is starving for cash. I was told there are incentives for the DMV to catch "out of state" registrations.

And yes, CA is a **** state (because we are run by tree-hugging Democrats!) that is enforced by CARB, Cal-EPA, and AQMD, not to mention the Fed agencies. Their agenda is not to bust REAL criminals but rather to make sure that you have as many performance-robbing add-ons as possible so as to convince you that your car isn't worth it so you can take the bus or walk.

DUD121

Could be neck and neck, but I'm betting we destroy ourselves before the planet does. You don't think there might be one or two funky lookin cats willing to pay a pretty penny for some enriched uranium? Do what ya want with the car and enjoy it while you can. Ask The Man why he isn't running down that big rig that just roared by and laying a smog check on him. Let him stutter and stammer about federal law for a little bit. Post reaction pics, please.

TacoBill

I'm with Jordan on this debate.

You just got to excercise some good sense if you're driving around with a modded car (ie. Don't rev up and burn rubber through a crowded intersection).

Let's see.. K&N CAI, FRPP Stingers, O/R H, BamaChips Tune... all illegal here in CA! (But, I have them. )

mrkabc

You don't have to do anything stupid to get caught by one of those sniffer/dyno checkpoints. In Santa Ana they block off the street just like a DUI checkpoint, and if your car "fails" the on the spot sniffer test they wave you over to the side of the road and dyno your car right there on the spot.

Speeding, burning out, etc., are all irrelevant. All you have to do is make the wrong choice of streets to drive down on that day. I have seen the sniffer set up on various freeway on ramps as well.

The only good news is that they aren't that common.

06GTwJUICE

I was far from legal in my aftermarket turbo car I got rid of before getting married. I never got into trouble as I'm old and don't raise hell everywhere I go.

I almost went to the drag strip once time when they had pomona streets blocked and had smog/mod check stations setup. where they ticketed every car that had illegal mods on it.. even thougth they were ALL going to the race track to race instead of doing it on the street.

Then they closed the track down to racing becuae the locals complained. Now the NHRA is limited to a few races a year there and no local stuff (that i've heard). Unless thats changed again....

As a car enthusiast in todays world, you just can't win. When I was a kid with my 72 chevelle all we had to worry about was a speeding ticket and whether or not our parents were going to find out we modded our cars.

06GTwJUICE

the exact tactic they used at Pomona raceway a few years ago.

TacoBill

Well, it's a good thing I don't live in Santa Ana.

If I do get popped and have to submit to one of those portable dynos, I wonder if they'll give me a printout of my HP and Torque numbers?

btw, speeding, burning out, etc., are not irrelevant. Racing down a street with no checkpoints and getting caught, suddenly becomes very relevant.

mrkabc

I agree, all I meant was that to get busted for smog illegal mods you don't have to be speeding.

If you do speeding, burning out, racing, etc in L.A. County (and I think San Bernardino County now too) they can impound your car and sell it.

THAT might put a dent in your day!

TacoBill

I've read that too. And you're right, that would be a major bummer if that happened.

I guess I'm a rebel for making my video #2 in my sig!

rrobello

those check points are on a volunteer basis, you can say no, but expect to more than likely get a smog only test center requirement when it comes time to smog

rrobello

Ive never heard of that, any more info? I dont get how that would work or be legal.

06GTwJUICE

He moved out of state, to a more friendlier Dallas Texas but I'll ask him the next time he is online.

I think the onramp he was headed up was Wilshire or Santa Monica Blvd onto the 405 south.