Originally Posted by Zulu
Anyway, I really don't see any problem with an aftermarket exhaust if it is fairly mellow. I guess the real issue is sound level more then anything else. I was only looking at the physical exhaust rather then the sound produced by it. I was more under the impression that people were being fined because their exhaust looked different then stock. I wonder if anyone with an RSR ExMag has got pulled over. That particular exhaust looks a little nicer then stock, but the sound output is on the same level as a stock system for the most part.
The two usually go hand in hand, if anything.
For example, say you have two cars with exhausts that produce the same tone and at the same decibel level, with the only difference being one is a stock exhaust with a leak, and the other being a noticeably (looks-wise) aftermarket exhaust.
Say they both get pulled over by the same cop: the one with a stock (leaky) exhaust is more likely to get off with a stern warning, wheras the driver with the aftermarket exhaust is more likely going to get the ticket. The reasoning for that, is one's exhaust sounds that way because of faulty equipment, and the other sounds that way because
they made it sound that way. It's the second part that usually screws people, because it's one thing to claim ignorance as an excuse, it's another to be doing it on purpose.
And I'd have to agree with you about someone with an ExMag being less likely to be pulled over, because hell, that exhaust looks more stock than my own stock exhaust.
And really, having both an aftermarket exhaust
and a car that screams "look at me" (in this case, bright orange) is a recipe for unwanted attention.