A couple of months ago my friend bought an intake for like $40 bucks on Ebay.

You know, those cheap colored 1 pipe design no name brand intakes. Now today he rushed over to me because a cop pulled him over and the cop asked him to show him his engine. The officer asked him pretty much why his car was modified. What the fool should have said is that he bought the car like that. DOH!

The cop wrote him down cause he had an illegal intake that was not certifiable and did not have a EO number on it (Executive Order #).

I find this kind of funny how he was laughing at how much I spent on a Race Division Injen Cold Air Intake. Which I bought for about $235 brand new with shipping and taxes included.

I dont know how much his ticket is but I asked him and he says, "Alot of money... alot of frickin money." I would assume it's around $500 at least.

So what is the moral of this story?
Save yourself the trouble and buy a name brand you can trust!
BUY INJEN OR AEM! Then the cops cant touch you.

No, IMHO, the moral of the story is get a carb sticker from a 250 dollar CAI and put it on your 40 ebay intake.

Seems to me like the cops in the US have their heads up their asses if they're ticketing for something like that. Who is it hurting? Where's the danger? What's the problem?

Get a life!

The only reason you'd have a problem with that in the UK is if insurance found out you'd modded your motor without telling them. Otherwise who gives a shit.

Wait, so If I custom make an intake for my vehicle, just because I didn't buy it from a company paying "the man" I can get a ticket for it? That seems pretty silly.

tech. any modificaton to the car is illegal... even factory options...if it dosent roll off the line with the stuff its illegal, they just dont push it... they could be jacks about it but all long as you dont push them then mostly they stay off you.

Mine is custom made for my T-bird with my bare hands and they can't say anything about it because I work at a Ford dealership. And they would help me out saying it was an added option.

I've never been pulled over just so that they could check my motor what brought that up.

tech. any modificaton to the car is illegal... even factory options...if it dosent roll off the line with the stuff its illegal, they just dont push it... they could be jacks about it but all long as you dont push them then mostly they stay off you.


That is definatly not true in every state. If so, why would they sell products that have been approved and are stated to be legal????

There is a simple solution for the supposed $500 ticket. It's usually a "fix-it" ticket, and you have like 2 weeks or something to, well, FIX IT. Slap on the original intake, go the courthouse or whatever and they will sign a paper saying its fixed ands you pay like 30 bucks for wasting their time, go home and put new intake back on. I've done this countless times for lights and intake one time.

Nexagen - I got the same ticket here in San Diego, CA. It came to $237. The term EO is Exemption Order, given by the California Air Resources Board (CARB).

Igovert500 - Companies are not allowed to issue the sticker with the CARB EO# for their product without proof of purchase from the consumer. So you can't get just a sticker and to put on your cheap intake. They have to inventory those stickers every month with the CARB to ensure that extras aren't floating around.

Stoggers - The theory is that by altering the fuel-air mixture you are making the car pollute more thereby hurting everyone. Notice I call this a theory, don't argue it. This is the epitome of the "greenies" beating us hobbyists here in the states.

Evo8MR - Yes. If you make your own intake, it is guarenteed to be illegal. Just because you buy it from a company doesn't make it legal. The company has to have completed the paperwork and testing deemed by the CARB to prove that the installation of their product does not increase the emissions levels of the vehicle. Injen happens to be one that takes pride in getting EO#'s for their products. Along the same lines, Dejon Tool makes identical pieces, and they are illegal because DT didn't file with the CARB.

FreakScort - you are so wrong that I'm not even going to go farther than that. Just accept that you are wrong.

thundebird_muscle - First, sorry if I mispelled your handle. Second, you are wrong also. Again, the company/person manufacturing the piece must file with the CARB for an EO#. Just because it was installed by a professional does not make it OK. If you were to get a ticket in California you have a few choices. 1) Go back to stock, clear the ticket, do whatever afterwards. 2) Ignore the ticket, pay the fine, go on with life (what I did). 3) Go to the Smog Referee (NOT a Smog Tech). This guy has giant volumes of books and computer databases with every serial number ever used on a factory part, as registered with the CARB upon manufacture of the vehicle submitted for initial testing. This is also updated every quarter. A dealership doesn't count since they aren't the manufacturer. I have been pulled over just because the officer wanted to check my engine. It sucked.

goingbig - Completely correct. There is a reason we have different levels of legality in relation to smog laws. There is the basic Federal Standard that applies to all 50 states. Slightly stricter is what is referred to as the 48-State standard. It covers less than 48-states, but it is a middle ground. The most stringent is the California Standards. If something is "50-State Legal" then it has passed the CARB standards and since those are the strictest around, it passes the other two standards by default. Some states have adopted the CARB laws, some completely ignore the issue of smog.

skubydobdo - Only one problem with that. I asked, when I got my ticket for illegal engine modification, what would happen if I paid the ticket and got another one later. By California the law, the fine doubles with each repeated offense within a certain limit (I don't remember the time limit anymore). It has potential to get REAL expensive, real fast. So long as a different item on the car is sited each time, you are fine. But if one thing gets cited twice, you feel the pain.

I hate Californias car laws, I cant drive for a year becasue of my DUI w/out a lisence

bullshit!@

next time he asked to see under the hood ask him for a warrent to search the car

The request for a search warrant does not apply, at least under California law. Cali passed a law allowing officers to search a vehicle based on probably cause. Your only hope in this case is that the officer poorly chooses his wording for probably cause. If he searches the vehicle because of a burned out taillight, odds are that a lawyer can argue that citing an offense in the engine bay cannot be allowed since the two are not related. Same as if he searches the vehicle for alcohol/drugs/etc and cites you for illegal engine mods. But you aren't likely to win that arguement without a lawyer.

I meant, that not everyone puts the sticker on their cars, I didn't put it on my honda, so you could probably get your hands on one somewhere. Rocket, you are completely correct on the probable cause, it's a catchy clause, and one's best bet is to catch the cop in a poorly worded mistake.

thunderbird, 2 reasons why stuff like this happens that I have witnessed at least.
A) the cop catches you racing, speeding..etc, and is a dick and writes you as many tickets as humanly possible. Like headlights not the proper height off the pavement, brightness of headlights, every possible aftermarket piece gets ticketed somehow, if the cop is a dick.
2) I have seen random roadblocks where every sports car or 'riced' car gets pulled over and inspected for nitrous bottles and such. It's ridiculous, but any car they deem a possible 'racecar' they pull over and try to search.

my friend made an intake for his car out of pvc, he had his car searched several times and they have never said anything about the intake, he also has a custom exhaust hes never gotten shit for that either. there illegal only because they pollute more you automatically fail emissions inspection with any alterations to intake or exhaust.

of course all of this only affects you if you live in california, everywhere else all intakes are legal.

RocketDSM, Excellent posts

VA doesn't have any emmisions checks (thank god) and is pretty laid back towards ricers and what not. The only thing they tend not to like are neon underbody kits as well as those snake eyes for you windshield wipers. However, if you were to get pulled over (most likely from one of the latter offenses or speeding etc) and the officer sees a nitrous tank in your back seat, im pretty sure he would cut you a ticket for that. Some may argue that the officer has to have a warrant, but they can search your car on probable cause. If the officer asks to search you car, then he probably doesn't have a cause, your always entitled to say 'no'. If he truely wants to search it, he will find a way. I would imagine another reason that california state sets up these road blocks are for public safety. Most people do race their cars on the street. I know of 2 deaths within the last year of ricers racing. One bystander, and one racer. It is possible. I have always suggested that people race at the track. (and let the numbers do the talking) but I have raced people on the street. Yes, environmetalist play the major role in this subject. Search through a jegs catalogue and you can see some of the parts have '50 state legal' decals next to their pictures and I believe it will list you the CARB ##

Personally, i Live in maryland, we are aloud to have nitrous tanks in the back of our cars, aslong as they arn't directly hooked up to the engine while driving it on the streets. So, you simply just "turn off" your bottle by twisting it and pull out the feed line and your street legal, buit underglow is illegal here moving but fine when parked, and from most of my friends in the racing scene here, no one has gotten a ticked for intakes, mostly just tickets to go to emmisions because there exhausts are loud.

I got my AEM @ Cox Imports. What do you guys think about Cox. I enjoyed my expierience and they had competitive prices!

All I am saying I am soooooo glad I do not live in California. I live in Florida where they do not even check emmissions to begin with. Bare in mind though you have to have a cat or you get a big fine, but that is only if the EPA agent pulls you over. He or she is the only one who can write the ticket. California emission laws are just gay. They make you bend head over heels to pass emissions when ironically the software companies pollute more. Yet the motorists are the scapegoat. Lets see, if I was California Governor or in Cali "THE GOVENATOR" who would I tax and put the blame on, the motorists or the 80 billion dollar tax revenue software manufacturers. You don't piss off your bread and butter so the motorists fit the bill!

All I am saying I am soooooo glad I do not live in California. I live in Florida where they do not even check emmissions to begin with. Bare in mind though you have to have a cat or you get a big fine, but that is only if the EPA agent pulls you over. He or she is the only one who can write the ticket. California emission laws are just gay. They make you bend head over heels to pass emissions when ironically the software companies pollute more. Yet the motorists are the scapegoat. Lets see, if I was California Governor or in Cali "THE GOVENATOR" who would I tax and put the blame on, the motorists or the 80 billion dollar tax revenue software manufacturers. You don't piss off your bread and butter so the motorists fit the bill!


Their laws are gay? Do you understand how much pollution/smog California has? Those laws are there for a reason.

the laws don't do anything to materially affect pollution though

To say that something is "gay" isn't relevant. If you have an issue with a law or regulation - state it and stick to facts.

Fact is that the smog laws have done a GREAT deal for the California Air Quality. There hasn't been a Stage 1 Smog Alert in the Los Angeles area in decades. Most people don't even remember the days of Smog Alerts. They got the job done.

I take departure at how they regulate the pollution and to whom they subject the smog laws upon.

Just recently, the California Legislature passed a bill changing who is exempt and who isn't. It is now stated that all vehicles 35 years old and older will be exempt, up to the hard limit of model year 1976. This used to be that all vehicles 30 years old and older were exempted, with no cap. Us "gearheads" know that we generally take care of our cars, and especially the older ones. When a car is properly tuned, even without specific emissions equipment, the emissions levels are almost neglible. So why the change to a static year rather than the previous rolling exemption? Makes no sense to me.

The laws keep getting more and more strict on what levels of emissions are allowed. If the laws are there to protect the environment and ourselves, how can the standards change? Did we become less resilient and require cleaner air now versus two years ago? Last I checked the process of evolution doesn't make things more vulnerable.

Currently, a manufacturer has a level of emissions allowed for their total model selection. This is why companies like GM (Chevy specifically) carry so many super friendly anti-pollution models (Aveo for one). This balances out the Corvette.

Same type of system applies to the average MPG across the entire model selection. GM has to maintain a certain MPG for their entire lineup. Again, cars like the Aveo making up the difference for the actually desireable and - heaven forbid - FUN vehicles we actually want.

The smog laws are a good idea that has accomplished a lot. The problem is that the system hasn't opened as much as would actually help the auto enthusiasts - and it continues to strangle what life is left in our crowd with tighter controls. In my opinion, it is a good IDEA with piss-poor execution and management.

No nitrous bottles? Thats when you hide them somewhere they cant search :) Why do they do these things anyway? All the laws seem kind of stupid.

seriously? only in cali modding your car's is legal... phew... i was kinda concerned for a while, cause i never even thought that modding your car could be illigal, because it is your peice of property. this country is going to hell :disappoin ... yea the pricks who make these laws have enough money to drive around ferrari's and don't want some guy/gal with a lesser value car to kick there a$$ in a race... :lol: just my opinion though...