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Fister exhaust and center muffler delete :
Just wanted a heads up on those that had these mods done on their 997.2 whether it passes California's smog test.
Although no tailpipe sniffing on OBDII, but will it pass visual inspection ? I hate to go that route and found out I have to put the original exhaust back just for the smog test.
Aren't the cats the only thing that affect emissions? I'm not that familiar with how the testing works but I wouldn't expect much difference in the chemical composition of the exhaust caused by going through the mufflers. Someone more knowledgeable can correct me if I'm wrong.
Not here in Cal. The smog guy roams around the car examining the exhaust plumbing with a mirror like a bomb squad to see any mods done with the original system. Not too sure with the center exhaust delete and by-pass pipe they might spot it and fail the visual examination.
I'll let someone from California respond, I know nothing of the procedure there. I'll just say that a muffler delete shouldn't have any affect on the composition of the exhaust so it would be weird that they would ding you for that.
Fister definitely wouldn't be an issue since it is the factory muffler. It would pass.
The Sharkwerks pipes aren't CARB certified, but
1) You can't see them from the top and if you've driven a bit and they're dirty, I don't think they would stand out from a 997.1. Just don't polish them up before the inspection. Or install them after if you've got one coming up immediately. Its a quick mod.
2) They aren't the muffler or the cats and are just tubing and I haven't read of anyone failing in CA for them.
Think carefully about wht you want. I recall a few guys who came out to our HPDE events when I was coaching that had recently modded their exhaust and it sounded like a cupcar, nice and raw. They loved it. 6- months later they were commenting that they were going back to a simpler sport exhaust because the noise had grown old.
Fister definitely wouldn't be an issue since it is the factory muffler. It would pass.
The Sharkwerks pipes aren't CARB certified, but
1) You can't see them from the top and if you've driven a bit and they're dirty, I don't think they would stand out from a 997.1. Just don't polish them up before the inspection. Or install them after if you've got one coming up immediately. Its a quick mod.
2) They aren't the muffler or the cats and are just tubing and I haven't read of anyone failing in CA for them.
I'm sure you'll have no problem.
this is good advice because there is ZERO consistency at our smog shops, so no other answer really matters.
Did you change anything? Yeah? They can fail you even if you didn't just because they are not educated on your car. ...ask me how I know.
One smog dude will be aforementioned bomb squad style sticking a weird snake up the tailpipe and stuff while another dude will just want to go to lunch and DGAF.
I try to pick sleepy spots with very old men working at them where they just want your $50 or whatever and for you to leave ASAP before going back to a nap but even with this rock solid strategy, one of the last times I got a 100% stock EVO smogged, grandpa wanted to fail me for a "shiny" upper intercooler pipe and "making the car turboed." lol. "it is lancer?" "why turbo?" Then, he argued with me about dynoing an AWD car on a 2WD dyno. I told him he was about to launch the car through the wall. He was on the phone for super long with someone about it and then angrily passed me. ?????? OK.
I also had an 85 Civic with an 89 Si motor/trans in it for years that no one noticed ever during smog, so there is that too.
Car started out a car with carbs and ended up with an EFI motor. That is kind of an obvious change.
This is why smogging even a bone stock car in CA means downing some pepto first for me.
I just had my smog done a month ago here in South San Francisco. I didn't have issues passing my 997.2 with Fisters + Sharkwerks and passed accordingly. Even my 1986 911 passed smog with M&K GT3 style sports muffler and a drilled airbox. Hope this helps.
this is good advice because there is ZERO consistency at our smog shops, so no other answer really matters.
Did you change anything? Yeah? They can fail you even if you didn't just because they are not educated on your car. ...ask me how I know.
One smog dude will be aforementioned bomb squad style sticking a weird snake up the tailpipe and stuff while another dude will just want to go to lunch and DGAF.
I try to pick sleepy spots with very old men working at them where they just want your $50 or whatever and for you to leave ASAP before going back to a nap but even with this rock solid strategy, one of the last times I got a 100% stock EVO smogged, grandpa wanted to fail me for a "shiny" upper intercooler pipe and "making the car turboed." lol. "it is lancer?" "why turbo?" Then, he argued with me about dynoing an AWD car on a 2WD dyno. I told him he was about to launch the car through the wall. He was on the phone for super long with someone about it and then angrily passed me. ?????? OK.
I also had an 85 Civic with an 89 Si motor/trans in it for years that no one noticed ever during smog, so there is that too.
Car started out a car with carbs and ended up with an EFI motor. That is kind of an obvious change.
This is why smogging even a bone stock car in CA means downing some pepto first for me.
They dyno'd your car during an emissions check? What the hell?
These narratives sound like worst case scenarios. Your should be fine with Darin's modded OEM cans and an X-pipe. HenryPcar, PM me if you live in the South Bay and I'll pass along a couple shops that will smog you. No proctology exam req'd.
They dyno'd your car during an emissions check? What the hell?
It is so random but yeah, they have dynos. IDK why certain cars get it and others do not but they are also doing smogs where they just plug into your OBD. There might be some method to the madness but when people from other states make fun of California, THIS is an exact example of why.
They also set up smog traps at on ramps around LA to get people. I have driven past them on multiple occasions and I have no idea exactly what they do and how but it is completely nonsensical and seems to vary from smog tech to smog tech and from cop to cop.
I hate it and I have always hated this about California more than pretty much any other aspect of living here. Smog has been a thorn in my side since 1992 and a lot of my close friends drive bone stock daily drivers and have pre-SMOG vehicles as their funtimes cars as a result.
If you read car forums from CA enough, you will see tons of examples of "I have this and this mod and I passed" next to, "I also have this and this mod and failed," same mods, different results... After dealing with this for so long, anyone who tells you it isn't pretty much a crap shoot must have a good shop, so ask them where to go because from SD to SF, I have had really really mixed experiences.
One last thing I will say is, I also got scammed when I was 18 by a smog shop that failed me and then pretty much strong armed me as a little kid into having them "fix" my car under threat that they would flag my car as a gross polluter and it would be taken away from me. None of that is actually true but I was terrified and had no support network to help me. As an 18 year old without any parental support either, I ended up paying a few hundred for them to basically just pass me. Later, I had a trusted mechanic look at it because my car was dying at idle with the AC on, and the crooked smog shop basically did some weird stuff to retard my timing and etc., which is why my car was dying over and over. Laws have since been enacted to attempt to counteract this but to me, this is everything that is wrong with CARB and CA in a single clear example.
/rant.
sorry.
I bet you will pass with cross pipes and fisters though. I will put $20 down on you passing if those are your only mods.
Calfornia used to require cars to be smog tested under load, thus the dyno. For modern cars with ODBII ports, they now just check the DME for errors and do a visual inspection to look for mods that might affect emissions.
Agree that the CA smog industry is a money grab. What really sucks is that only 1975 models and older are exempt. This used to be a rolling cutoff (cars older than x years were exempt).
FWIW - Sharkwerks claims their crossovers are 50 state legal..
It is so random but yeah, they have dynos. IDK why certain cars get it and others do not but they are also doing smogs where they just plug into your OBD. There might be some method to the madness but when people from other states make fun of California, THIS is an exact example of why.
They also set up smog traps at on ramps around LA to get people. I have driven past them on multiple occasions and I have no idea exactly what they do and how but it is completely nonsensical and seems to vary from smog tech to smog tech and from cop to cop.
I hate it and I have always hated this about California more than pretty much any other aspect of living here. Smog has been a thorn in my side since 1992 and a lot of my close friends drive bone stock daily drivers and have pre-SMOG vehicles as their funtimes cars as a result.
If you read car forums from CA enough, you will see tons of examples of "I have this and this mod and I passed" next to, "I also have this and this mod and failed," same mods, different results... After dealing with this for so long, anyone who tells you it isn't pretty much a crap shoot must have a good shop, so ask them where to go because from SD to SF, I have had really really mixed experiences.
One last thing I will say is, I also got scammed when I was 18 by a smog shop that failed me and then pretty much strong armed me as a little kid into having them "fix" my car under threat that they would flag my car as a gross polluter and it would be taken away from me. None of that is actually true but I was terrified and had no support network to help me. As an 18 year old without any parental support either, I ended up paying a few hundred for them to basically just pass me. Later, I had a trusted mechanic look at it because my car was dying at idle with the AC on, and the crooked smog shop basically did some weird stuff to retard my timing and etc., which is why my car was dying over and over. Laws have since been enacted to attempt to counteract this but to me, this is everything that is wrong with CARB and CA in a single clear example.
/rant.
sorry.
I bet you will pass with cross pipes and fisters though. I will put $20 down on you passing if those are your only mods.
One of the things I love about being in AZ now is that I don't have to deal with varying processes for smog check as well as the fear to be strong-armed into a repair due to a "fail". Every place is pretty much the same and it takes just a few minutes. No fear that they will charge you to fix something because all they do are smog inspections.
08-28-2019, 01:45 PM
Fister exhaust and center muffler delete
