fact or fiction?

[nikkotyper]

I heard from a farly reliable source that all CHP stations have been faxed some sort of booklets about how intakes, exhausts, and ANY other modifications look, sound and work.

Apparently, one cannot have "legally" ANYTHING on their car short of cosmetic upgrades. Forget the CARB legal certificates.

At some show here in CA, CHP officers showed up in the morning and wrote down the engine and parts codes of all the cars. Any car that had JDM stuff, for example, was towed. The people with simple CARB certified bolt-ons were cited and were given 30-days to smog the car, otherwise they would get their licence suspended.

Their explanation was "Sir, were are finally cracking down on speed racers. We are here because your parents wanted us to be here. Anything you have on this car that is not OEM is against the law. Is that your car? Yes. OK. May I see your licence?"

Does anybody know anything about this? Remember, this is in CA.
I know that there is that disgruntled SCC journalist that researches and writes about this stuff. I guess I should re-read all his articles to find out.

Needless to say, none of my friends including me have ever gotten a ticket for anything related to aftermarket mods.

Your take?

[David K.]

Sounds like an exaggerated version of what sometimes happens at the street races. I've heard that in California if you're pulled over and they inspect your car the cops can write citations for anything from improper bumper height to wrong color lenses to engine mods. that are illegal. Most stuff you can buy for you motor will have a CARB E.O. number, basically meaning that it is NOT illegal, I think. But the trick is that you have to display that number underhood where it's visible to cops or inspectors. My intake came with a CARB approval number sticker that I put under the hood on the fan shroud. If there is no CARB number displayed, it's gonna be considered illegal. Things like lights and lowering springs and whatnot do have to meet DOT standards or they are considered illegal. I've also seen where they can impound your car in cases such as these b/c the vehicle is considered "unsafe".

[2k2civicSi]

i have an aem intake it didnt come with a carb thing

[Mechanic]

The positive: You get to live in California. The negative: anywhere else.

[ssvr6]

That's definitely a CA thing. When I order my Neuspeed P-Flow for my precious GTi VR6, it came with a CARB "plate" that was placed in the car.

My Injen CAI didn't come with anything. Therefore, illegal in CA.

Good thing I'm in FL where we don't even have emission tests anymore.

Steve

[iR-VTEC2]

I guess im lucky. Pretty much everything is "not cared about" where I live. We got dudes driving around in full race chevys and dudes driving around in lifted navigators with 44's and no one seems to give a crap.

I hope that doesnt change!