Anyone familiar with Tanabe's Touring exhaust knows that it's really not so loud. When I got my vehicle " inspected" this morning at my local Massachusetts inspection station the technician tried to tell me that it was too loud, but he would give me a break and not fail the vehicle. Told me if I were to be stopped by the police he could get in trouble for giving me a sticker. I told him to forget it and just went to the station across the street and got a sticker no problem.

 

Chapter 90: Section 16. Offensive or illegal operation of motor vehicles

No person shall use a muffler cut-out or by-pass. No person shall operate a motor vehicle on any way which motor vehicle is equipped (1) with a muffler from which the baffle plates, screens or other original internal parts have been removed and not replaced; or (2) with an exhaust system which has been modified in a manner which will amplify or increase the noise emitted by the exhaust.

Well he was following the law, maybe he was fresh out of school and actually cared. That is harsh, I thought CA was bad, at least we have a dB limit.

 

What about all the custom exhaust shops doing business in Mass? Every exhaust system they fabricate uses aftermarket mufflers. I actually believe the Tanabe is legal to install as long as it doesn't exceed the db limit.

 

As far as I can find there is no dB limit unless it's recent legislation I haven't found. That is code from 2009. You are supposed to install something that is not louder than stock, there is no mention about dB limit. You may or may not get away with a louder exhaust. If a cop is feeling particularly dickish that day it might be the day your card gets pulled, who knows.

It's not illegal for a shop to install something, it's up to you how you use it. I could go put a straight pipe on right now at an exhaust shop here in CA, drive out of the parking lot and get pulled over. I've had exhausts that were loud as shit here and never got pulled over. Just like one inspection guy was cool with it and the other wasn't, it's about enforcement.

 

Damn, and I thought MN was the only state with the bullshit law that basicly made it to the officers discretion to decide if your exhaust was illegal.

 

Wow.... that is SUPER harsh...

I had to modify and re-pack the baffle on my Skunk2 exhaust to make sure I passed the db limit locally in CA... I live near 2 CHP routing stations so at least on the street I have to keep it quiet.

 

In CA, ANY non-stock exhaust can get you a ticket, DB output does not matter. If you piss off a local cop or CHP, he/she can nail you for any custom exhaust, and the only way to satisfy traffic court is to re-install the factory exhaust system. You will also get a fine in court. Modified exhaust is completely illegal (on new cars/trucks).

 

Illegal? No, 95db limit still applies and that is law, CA vehicle code 27150.2.

Can cops be dicks and make the exhaust ticket non-correctable and force you to pay the fine? Yes they can. The system can make it such a pain in the ass to actually follow the law. I know people that have got tickets with STOCK exhausts (350z, etc).

As such this completely depends on the cop, sometimes you will be able to get the ticket signed off for a small fee, sometimes you won't. Either way, it's so much of a pain in the ass that it's not worth it on a daily driver if you live in any metro CA area.

 

The point is, if you make yourself a target for cops with your driving or behavior, they can find dozens of things to write you up for. In '09 when I had my custom exhaust welded at a local muffler shop, the tech warned me that any modded exhaust is now ILLEGAL in CA. If you want to argue with that, go right ahead. The tech had re-installed three stock exhaust systems in Santa Cruz (during the previous three days to my visit) because of court actions against the drivers. I did the mod anyway because my exhaust looks pretty similar to stock, even though it is completely different.

This also may depend on the area where you live/drive. The tempers of Santa Cruz Police, Sheriffs, and CHP are pretty short. Maybe Hayward folks can get away with more shit. ??

 

Well I took your word for it that maybe the law had changed so I checked it out and that vehicle code is current on the DMV website.

The point you are making is valid and I agree that it might as well be illegal as the system makes it so difficult to follow the law that you give up and just don't modify it to begin with, it worked with me

Hayward PD aren't super anal about car mods so far as I can tell, there's a lot of cars running around here of questionable legality, so they must not be cracking down that hard. My plate lights are definitely questionable (too dim, wrong color, I thought they'd be brighter ) and probably would have gotten me pulled over within 48 hours in LA, not so here.

So yeah, it differs from area to area and cop to cop, which is BS, but the law is the law, depends on how much it's worth to you to fight for your right to modify your exhaust hahaha

 

Can someone why cars have a different standard then say a Harley? My neighbor has a Harley and revs it and it is loud but if your car sounds similar you get pulled over.

 

Same reason why Mustangs with straight pipes don't get pulled over for exhaust tickets? IDK.

Motorcycle exhaust dB laws in CA are even stricter than cars, 80dB I believe.