Cali Drivers.. question(s) for ya'll!

Good Morning!

So I've been going back and forth trying to decide whether or not I wanna dip my toe into the aftermarket pool. As you all know, Cali is ruthless for mods. Exhaust is shiny (subjective)? CHP might pull you over. Car sounds louder than stock (subjective)? Let's pull you over. I think that you catch my drift. Is it worth the hassle?

And it could very well be isolated incidents and I'm making it bigger than what it actually is. But let's face it... the car is great.. but it can be so much sweeter with a few mods.

Thanks in advance for any responses!

Pracis said:

Good Morning!

So I've been going back and forth trying to decide whether or not I wanna dip my toe into the aftermarket pool. As you all know, Cali is ruthless for mods. Exhaust is shiny (subjective)? CHP might pull you over. Car sounds louder than stock (subjective)? Let's pull you over. I think that you catch my drift. Is it worth the hassle?

And it could very well be isolated incidents and I'm making it bigger than what it actually is. But let's face it... the car is great.. but it can be so much sweeter with a few mods.

Thanks in advance for any responses!

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I've had an exhaust (Magnaflow) on my car for over a year. It is not excessively loud and haven's had any issue. I think as long as you are not driving like an ass you will be fine.

Depends. Are you willing to pay any and all fines incurred by modding? If so, then mod away!

Are there any CARB legal options? How do you guys plan on getting past smog tests?

Pracis said:

Good Morning!

So I've been going back and forth trying to decide whether or not I wanna dip my toe into the aftermarket pool. As you all know, Cali is ruthless for mods. Exhaust is shiny (subjective)? CHP might pull you over. Car sounds louder than stock (subjective)? Let's pull you over. I think that you catch my drift. Is it worth the hassle?

And it could very well be isolated incidents and I'm making it bigger than what it actually is. But let's face it... the car is great.. but it can be so much sweeter with a few mods.

Thanks in advance for any responses!

Click to expand...

Here are the three stages for 90 percent of people who buy a performance exhaust:

1. Install straight pipe or performance exhaust to make the car louder & throw away stock exhaust.
2. Install mufflers to make the car quiet again.
3. Regret throwing away the stock exhaust.

I live in Cali (Northern Cal) and I have a performance Exhaust (Cat-Back which is legal in Cali), which is completely street legal, you can see it in my signature. My advice to you...save your $800 to $1500 and stick with the stock exhaust. All performance exhausts are loud, and that is usually not a problem until you drive on the freeway where droning is an issue. Droning can be very annoying. I had to basically buy a resonator and have it installed to quiet it down. So unless you don't mind droning at cruising speeds, my advice is save your money and spend it here:

Change the OEM MT fluid to Amsoil Synchromesh
Buy a Ktuner from Two Step Performance along with their Stage 1 tune
Install a Performance Intercooler if you do some driving on the track

You can see my post on what I had to go thru to quiet down
https://www.civicx.com/threads/performance-exhaust-louder-than-you-expected-update.38288/

I'll second that. I gave up on CARB compliant exhaust mods over the years due to droning. Sounded badass around town, but freeway travel for hours is annoying.

And, I agree that you should save your stock parts. I typically private-party sell my cars after 4 years or so, simply because I tire of them and want something fresh.

Being able to revert back to stock provides you with a larger customer pool when you decide to sell it. Pull the mods, and Craigslist them...

Edd said:

I'll second that. I gave up on CARB compliant exhaust mods over the years due to droning. Sounded badass around town, but freeway travel for hours is annoying.

And, I agree that you should save your stock parts. I typically private-party sell my cars after 4 years or so, simply because I tire of them and want something fresh.

Being able to revert back to stock provides you with a larger customer pool when you decide to sell it. Pull the mods, and Craigslist them...

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I just want to add on this. When you mod your car, it does not bring any added value when selling it. Most people buying a used car will skip the modded car. The questions they have are, who did the mods, was it done properly, did it void the warranty, will it make the life of the car shorter? The only people the mods have any value to are the owners who did them

Repeating some great suggestions: tint, front strut bar, rear sway bar, ECU tune, lighter wheels, grippier summer tires, aftermarket front grill. Maybe intercooler and rear motor mount.

Good luck!

If your asking do we have a hole cops. Yes. More than any where else? Yes

xcivicx said:

If your asking do we have a hole cops. Yes. More than any where else? Yes

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Meh. Cant fault them for doing their job.

xcivicx said:

If your asking do we have a hole cops. Yes. More than any where else? Yes

Click to expand...

I grew up in LA, cops are definitely more a hole out there. Here is SJ they are generally pretty nice. Things are more mellow out here thankfully

pulling someone over because of the look of there car is not their job.

xcivicx said:

pulling someone over because of the look of there car is not their job.

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One of the issues with the LAPD, at least when I lived in SoCal (I moved to the Bay Area in 2001) was diversity. Most PO's were White males that patrolled diverse communities and live in places like Antelope Valley. Here in SJ where I live the PO's are a mix of the community...Asian (Chinese, Vietnamese), Hispanic etc. Plus the fact the homicide rate is extremely low, 23 last year and only 18 so far this year in a city with a population of about 1,030 Million, although property crimes such as burglary and auto theft is pretty high. The funny part is most auto thefts the cars from here are recovered in LA!

not all cops are a-holes far from it. it just the big cities get more than there share. and here in the big city are more reasons to be a-holes. for the car culture here you only got to worry during certain times.

NorCal here. I have a resonator delete which makes the exhaust a little louder, but not as loud as a full catback system. I also have a Mishimoto intake, which is CARB compliant (still waiting for my CARB EO badge).

I drive by police officers all the time and not once did they even do a double take. My buddies have way louder exhausts and they never got stopped.

Remember, the "loud exhaust" law is nothing new and has always been around. It's just now, you can't state ref anymore.

I'll second pmcderm29. Just don't drive like an ass and you will totally be fine.