Hey all.

I'm an AZ Balt guy and I have the 2.0 SC. I just graduated college and it's starting to look more and more like I'll be moving to Nor Cal (specifically the bay area) for a job. I've been trying to become more versed on the laws on modding in Cali, especially knowing that they are a ton more strict than they are here in AZ. I have a few mods, and I was hoping you all could tell me whether or not I'll be in the clear.

-K&N Typhoon CAI (I read on their site that it's '50-state legal')
-Megan Drift-Spec Catback
-Custom catless DP
-8K HID fronts in retro housings

Thank you all for your help!

 

Well as long as you have your C.A.R.B. sticker on your K&N intake you should be good, and as for your catless dp it will only be a problem for passing emissions, and as for your exhaust and HID lights shouldn't be an issue, but then again cops could be dicks and say its too loud, hope this helps

 

The Megan catback might be iffy cuz it f%*king loud.

 

Cool, thanks for the input, I'll have to check it out to see if the C.A.R.B. sticker is still there or not (the intake was on the car when I bought it). How does Cali do emissions? I know here in AZ, for my model year, they just check for a CEL and send us on our way. Do they actually sample exhaust gases on newer cars?

 

Haha, it is a crazy loud exhaust. I have the silencer if it becomes an issue, but AZ has a 50ft law too, and I've never gotten **** for ripping it occasionally.

 

Def not gonna pass emissions. My exhaust is loud as **** vibrant header and catless dp and gmpp cat back just dont get on it near cops.

 

You will learn very quick ca cops are piles of ****

 

yup, sniffer in the tail pipe while on rollers at 15mph and at 25 mph, plugged into obd2, pop hood, check engine bay, try to look at your zost

 

They are changing the laws right now for smog. I believe 200 and prior have to still sniff test and 200 and later have to just check OBDII and thats it. But maybe someone on here works at a smog place that can tell us for sure. I know mine doesnt have to go on anything for like 2 more years so by then I will have to start paying extra for some 'personalized' service haha

 

yeah, iirc new vehicles(with the old laws) need to have an oem cat for like the first 7 years or something...might be moving back soon and find out getting checked in ny was pretty painless, obd2 check and i think quick visual(with my long tube and blown out cat) still passed with my rear o2/all cat related functions turned off and my evap system not in ready state

 

LOL yea that is awesome... I wonder if they will see the p0420 code disabled in my car. I turned off that one and some evap codes lol fukin smog standards and CARB bs

 

only way they should be able to see it is if they pull your battery and then they will see that it still in ready state when it should have gone back to unready

 

having catless is prolly the highest offence
but they wont kno till they check.

 

didn't even think about that... but it doesnt really matter. Smog guys out here dont mess with batteries and such. As I am sure you remember, they are only interested in getting your car off the rollers so they can make another 60 bux or however much it is lol

 

yeah, only vehicles i ever had to get smoged were work trucks(none of my personal vehicles) there were between '79-'05 gas and diesel...nothing modded. no most any smog place wont pull your battery unless they really like to properly do their job and they see the vehicle is modded and are suspicious of tampering

 

Awesome!

Thank you all for the information! I'm glad to hear the only thing I'll have a real issue with is my catback (which I thought was going to be a problem). Thank you all for your help/input!

 

I'm a smog tech in Cali, yes the new program will start in 2013 called star's. its only purpose is to stop clean piping or under the table smogs. part of that program will also change the test for new cars. 2002 and newer cars will only have obd2 test and visual inspection. 2001 and older cars will have the same test we do now but will only be able to go to a 5 star station. You will need a c.a.r.b # for your k&N, and you will need to put your stock dp back on. Cat back is not a smog issue, the cops in nor-cal are not as bad as so-cal when it comes to loud exhaust.

 

isnt there some law/rule that after the car is 7 years or older it doesnt need the stock dp/cat, it can be an aftermarket?

 

you can go to aftermarket whenever you like as far as i know, it dosen't have to be 7 years or older. But if you go aftermarket the cat will need to have a carb number on it that matches up to the year, make, model and engine size of the car it is put on. This link will search to see if there is an aftermarket cat for your car. If you put in 2006 cobalt nothing comes up because there is no aftermarket that is carbed, so stock is the only option for the op's car.

https://ssl.arb.ca.gov/PartsSearchTo...earchTool.aspx

 

Doh! that doesnt have any cobalts

 

yep sucks.................