JAMS

February, 2010 issue of European Car

A substitute bill (S.B. 106) to ban the use of most aftermarket exhaust systems has been introduced in the Utah State Legislature by Senator Patricia Jones (pjones@utahsenate.org) and passed by the Senate Transportation Committee. The bill now moves to the floor of the Senate for a vote by all members. Under the substitute bill, all vehicles must be equipped with an exhaust system that is “installed by the original manufacturer of the vehicle and is not modified; or meets specifications equivalent to the muffler installed by the original manufacturer of the vehicle and is not modified.”

mooty

did you say a woman senator started this thing?
why does the gov't meddle with all this sh*t.
why dont they spend some time to dig this country out of recession and debt???

how about a senate bill where everyone gets an RS for free paid by elected politicians.

mikymu

That's the same state where the dominating church help funded proposition 8 in California banning gay marriage and mandate serving alcohol behind a veil until recently. Yes, we are united states of America but there are several choice states I refuse to live in and Utah is on the top of my list. They can ban aftermarket exhaust all they want and ban signal green Porsche while they are at it. I can care less

ObeyMyFast!

Thats just wrong...

russo

Big Brother taking away more individual freedoms. This type of legislation is
more likely to happen in so called liberal states.

OldGuy

THIS is not good. The LAST thing we need right now is our conservative states taking away freedoms while the National leftists are taking everything into their control!! We DONT need them helping the socialists in Washington!

RollingArt

That shtiz been illegal for years in CA.

Isn't it already illegal to meddle with street exhaust in most states. I think that may actually be a federal law.



Phil

mooty

sorry, you mean fooked up state...

RonCT

As Phil said, this is nothing new. I think just about every town and state has something like this on the books. Fed as well, more from an EPA standpoint.

Here's an example of why some of these laws probably exist. Try spending 10 laps behind the "D-train" boys at Lime Rock. All heavily modified race cars with no cats, limited (if any) mufflers. I literally had to pit-in before I lost my lunch in my helmet from the fumes. All pretty loud too... That's an extreme, but even my 964 came with a cat bypass, G-pipe, and Wong chip, so it wasn't strictly legal.

I'm not condoning, just expressing why I think these laws go into effect. Ever get some bone-head blowing through your neighborhood at 2 AM with straight pipes, either car or bike? The whole neighborhood is woken up.

I had a full AWE system in a previous car - headers, cats, and mufflers. Great on the track, but it was just too loud on the street - so I pulled back and ended up with the stock mufflers which toned it down. On this car I just have the Sharkwerks primary bypass. Nice tone, not too loud. Not something that will attract attention by the neighbors or police and won't run me afoul of any Fed law on cats.

I remember finding notes on race shop websites that even admit that the cats and mufflers they sell are not legal for street use. Off road / race use only.

I have to wonder how some of the GM, Ford, etc. OEM sport exhausts conform with the Fed and state / town laws and ordinances. I've heard some pretty loud OEM systems in the US made products.

10 GT3

No Federal Law. In Texas for newer cars it is OBDII plug only. I passed my emission test with cat-bypass pipes on the car as I never got a code or light. OBDI and up to 24 years old they just dyno with a sniffer. If 25 years or older, they just slap a sticker on it.

OldGuy

Its not illegal in california as long as you meet the CARB levels. You can change the exhausts and stuff
but you need to have the Cats installed properly so its emissions are legal. It would be illegal to sell the stuff if it was illegal to use it.

RollingArt

It's illegal. Believe me.

Like Ron stated above, it's illegal to sell modded exhaust for street vehicles. The companies selling it always give the "for off road use only" line. Always. Check some of their websites.



Phil

k4site

Motorcycles are the biggest offenders, and Harley's are on the top of the list. When I go to flagstaff and try to relax on my back porch the noise these cycles make it difficult to enjoy the relax setting. The ricers with fart cans can also make it difficult to relax. My age explain why load noises are annoying, I am 68 and I think the stock exhausts are OK. I currently own a GT500 which has a great mustang v8 sound. A 360 Ferrari great stock sound, a gt3 with a great stock sound. The price of aftermarket mufflers are out of sight as far a price, I enjoy what the manufacture has choosen.

GTDeux

Good luck enforcing this law... how the hell is law enforcement going to prove the exhaust isn't OEM?

In California, if the cop wants to bust you for an illegal exhaust and make it stick, they're supposed to prove it goes above a certain sound level like 95db or something like that.

Antonov

Thats not accurate. So long as the smog equipment is left in tact, its not illegal assuming it meets sound restrictions. I have been sent to referee, and have never had issues with sound.