Yesterday, I was coming home from school and I noticed a cop following me. I was not speeding or doing anything out of the ordinary. His lights flashed so I stopped thinking wtf is going on. He writes me up for having an "illegal exhaust."

I have a ractive MT631C

He said anything that is not stock is illegal because of a sound increase. I plan on fighting this and arguing that my header/intake caused extra airflow and it was not the exhaust's sound.

Does anyone else have any suggestions on what I should do?

Thanks

 

yeah if u try fighting it, your gonna fail. i got 2 exhaust tickets, i took my car to the exhaust shop had them take off the muffler put the factory one on, took pictures, put the aftermarket back on. showed the cop the pictures they dont care. then they'll dismiss the case and bam, only thing u have to pay for is parking in the garage. $6 for me.

 

LOL. sounds perfect. go in there an argue that the other illegal modifications you've done to the car are the reason its loud.
did you give us the muffler model # like that's going to matter or someone would give half a shit?

 

exactly what i was thinking, what an idiot.

 

its because motherfuckers from all over slap a ridiculous can on the back of there car with a shiny tip so the whole world too see
thats what the police search for

i got rid of that shit. im illegal exuast but its legit, downpipe,2.5inch cat 2.5 inch flowmaster 2.5 inch 90 degree angle

took us 45 minutes to make, and isnt too loud but still kinda, i have it so it doesnt stick out of the car but doesnt fill exuast inside of it either

painted black... for more low profile


and if a cop pulls me over the only thing illegal is my exuast doesnt pass the back wheel, but i do have a cat and a muffler


seriously anyone with even headers/full exuast get rid of the 35 inch can if your gonna be daily driving it







think of it this way, unless if you ahve your swaped turbo monster beast then yea maybe go for flashy touches like that.
performance over look. always. until youve acheived performance

and no, performance is not 125 hp with a cold air aintake

 

Technically you can have a modified exhaust if it is in a factory fashion and not too loud.

If you go to Midas and get an exhaust replacement, it won't have the manufacturer's name stamped in it, the pipe diameter and bends may not be exactly the same either, but it would be legal.

Like stated above if you don't have an enormous polished can and/or obnoxiously loud exhaust, most likely you won't be bothered.

 

most cops will tell you even a midas exhaust is illegal. The actual law is that it cannot be modified in such a way that increases sound over O.E. noise levels. Of course, since traffic court is unconstitutional, and requires no evidence, you're fucked and it's impossible to fight. Unlike the normal court system that is innocenty until proven guilty, traffic court is guilty until proven innocent. And you can't prove yourself innocent easily when half the time the judge won't even let you speak. I saw a judge FORCE a kid to plea guilty once, it was ridiculous. Just kept on bitching at the kid re-asking him how he was going to plea till he stopped saying innocent and said guilty. I'm not sure how this shit manages to go on so easily. I guess we've just gotten so used to it and people are afraid to complain. Traffic court needs to be innocent till proven guilty like the rest of the court system instead of the joke it is today.

sorry for the off topic rant, and original poster, you should have seen this coming. Who doesn't know about exhaust laws these days? Even my asshole neighbors who don't know a muffler from a grill know the exhaust laws.

 

I got pulled over 2 weeks ago for my exhaust, so i went home and took off the apexi n1 axleback portion and put a stock axle back on. No reason to argue if you know your guilty, plus i can actually hear my radio without the loud exhaust

 

That is not true Dave. All parts and pieces have to be comparable to OEM if an aftermarket option is used.

Here's the code section from the Virginia Code book.



§ 46.2-1049. Exhaust system in good working order.

No person shall drive and no owner of a vehicle shall permit or allow the operation of any such vehicle on a highway unless it is equipped with an exhaust system in good working order and in constant operation to prevent excessive or unusual levels of noise; provided however, that for motor vehicles, such exhaust system shall be of a type installed as standard factory equipment, or comparable to that designed for use on the particular vehicle as standard factory equipment. An exhaust system shall not be deemed to prevent excessive or unusual noise if it permits the escape of noise in excess of that permitted by the standard factory equipment exhaust system of private passenger motor vehicles or trucks of standard make.

The term "exhaust system," as used in this section, means all the parts of a vehicle through which the exhaust passes after leaving the engine block, including mufflers and other sound dissipative devices.

Chambered pipes are not an effective muffling device to prevent excessive or unusual noise, and any vehicle equipped with chambered pipes shall be deemed in violation of this section.

(Code 1950, § 46-305; 1952, c. 455; 1956, c. 651; 1958, c. 541, § 46.1-301; 1960, c. 120; 1970, c. 266; 1972, c. 66; 1989, c. 727; 2006, cc. 529, 538.)

 

that's an acceptable solution for a slow car. But i'm sure as hell not putting a stock exhaust on a 9 second car just to avoid tickets.

For the record my daily beater has stock exhaust and I've been pulled 6 times in 2 years for it. Usually they just use it as an excuse to pull me knowing they can't ticket me for it but that it's a valid pull over if they have to defend themselves because it's believable in court due to the car type. I've been given a ticket for my stock exhaust once, though luckily the legal system properly functioned that day, it took a bit of persistance but I got through and it got dropped. Still quite annoying that following the rules I still get harassed. They don't care what kind of exhaust you have, they care what kind of car you have. If you have a modified looking honda, or any jap sports car, or SRT4, you WILL get pulled for your O.E. stuff. Pathetic but true.