1. They look for OEM parts, keep engine bay looking stock.
2. Unless you have a CARB sticker for the part, you may get hassled. Exhaust must be below 95 decibels. Some may check for cats.
3. Most smog stations will not be able to tell that you have a 3 port or changed the sensor.
4. If you get pulled over it is up to the officer. I have been pulled over then let go with no tickets before because I was driving an evo. They do not carry decibel meters.
5. No clue.
6. They mainly hassel peeps with tint on the front driverside/passengerside windows.
7. Yes, mount the front plate unless you want a reason to get pulled over.
8. Keep car looking low key (OEM looking), quiet exhaust is best.

 

Hey everyone, so I have a dilemma. My 2004 Hyundai Tiburon has a aftermarket turbo kit on it. And its time to register my car but it requires smog. I'm desperate to get this thing smoged and registered. If anyone knows anyone who can help me please PM me. BTW I'm in the San Francisco / South San Francisco / Daly City area.

Thanks.

 

You should probably ask around at any performance shops you've had good experience with. I'd be wary to tell anyone where I'll be going when my smog time comes. Actually I don't tell anyone at all.

 

The thing is, I do most of my own work. The work i've had shops do told me that they dont mod their own daily driver cars anymore cause of that reason.

come on bro, help a fellow tuner enthusiast out. We'll keep it between us. Or take me there yourself lol.

 

Well, it's a done deal; I'm moving to SF.

kwanza, thanks for the help. I'm basically putting the car back to stock (aside from a catback), and I'll sort out what I can do to it later. Hopefully they won't scream too loudly about a few extra sensors and a lot of extra wires going into the ECU.

(I have less than two weeks to finish up the work on the Evo, get my 2g DSM race car to the point where it can actually sit on the ground again so it can go into storage, and sell my wife's 1g DSM. Whee...)

 

1. I actually bought my Evo off a Marine who was from Illinois but was stationed down in San Diego, but the car was still registered in Illinois, so you might have to go what I went through. All I did was get smogged (his smog papers expired a month before I bought the car and it was stock so I didn't mind) and go to the DMV to get it registered in CA and for new plates. Smog shop I went to didn't have rollers for AWD cars so all they did was stick in the sniffer and OB2 and it passed with flying colors. Lady at the DMV just looked at the car from the outside.

2. I think it all depends on the officer and his mood that day. But legally, I think any changes to the exhaust system in this state is illegal.

3. No idea.

4. I've heard of cops asking people to pop their hoods, anything that could look out of place could potentially net you a ticket.

5. No idea. BTW, is it illegal to have a Flex-Fuel badge if your car isn't a flex-fuel vehicle from the factory?

6. You should be fine with no tint on the front windows.

7. Definitely run both plates.

8. Pretty much what kwanza said. Typically, 5 MPH over the speed limit on highways is "acceptable", but not in some areas, such as the coast (San Luis Obispo/Pismo Beach area). Welcome to California

 

I'm also in the same boat here with Cali. I'm currently in seattle and they are super lax here. The gist of a smog test is a plug in to the obdii and I don't think they even put the sniffer in last time.
I would have to sell my dsm cause that thing is never going back to stock!

My evo is very questionable. I would have to make it a track car i think. They wouldn't notice the 2.4, but the magnus, uicp for the magnus, turbo, mani....

Do they criticize things like a FMIC or intercooler pipes? painted valve cover or even a COP?
What about keeping car registered in WA at parents house or family and just renewing that? Some areas up here don't even require emissions like at my brothers house. I've heard that they can check your car (police) but can't send you to get inspected if your out of state. Perhaps if the car is registered to a family member up here and I'm driving it???

I'm interested in any advice you guys have and am really curious to know how you guys do it down there?

Thanks a lot-

Rob

 

If you can keep it registered in WA, I would definitely do that. If you had the WA plates and got pulled over in CA, I believe they can't cite you for anything they perceive as illegal modifications since your car would still be registered out of state. I've heard of military members doing this, maybe they can chime in.

 

27151. (a) No person shall modify the exhaust system of a motor
vehicle in a manner which will amplify or increase the noise emitted
by the motor of the vehicle so that the vehicle is not in compliance
with the provisions of Section 27150 or exceeds the noise limits
established for the type of vehicle in Article 2.5 (commencing with
Section 27200). No person shall operate a motor vehicle with an
exhaust system so modified.
(b) For the purposes of exhaust systems installed on motor
vehicles with a manufacturer's gross vehicle weight rating of less
than 6,000 pounds, other than motorcycles, a sound level of 95 dbA or
less, when tested in accordance with Society of Automotive Engineers
Standard J1169 May 1998, complies with this section. Motor vehicle
exhaust systems or parts thereof include, but are not limited to,
nonoriginal exhaust equipment.

27150. (a) Every motor vehicle subject to registration shall at all
times be equipped with an adequate muffler in constant operation and
properly maintained to prevent any excessive or unusual noise, and
no muffler or exhaust system shall be equipped with a cutout, bypass,
or similar device.


http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/calaw.html

 

^ so I read that as in you can have an exhaust but it must be less than 95dba since our cars are less than 6k. Then I read up higher that none of the cops even have a decibel meter, so if it sounds loud they can write you up but it wont stick cause they cant test it in the field so you go to court and fight it.

I'm sure I can keep it registered in WA and at my bros place so I will never have to drive it up for emissions. Visual inspection would be based on the cop I guess. I'm sure I will get tickets! Do they visually check for a cat? How much are tickets if they issue them?

How do you guys with really modded evos get around in cali? I find it hard to believe everyone trailers it and only drives it on the track?

Anyone know about motorcycles? How strict are they with them? emissions testing, visual, etc? Maybe I can register that down there.

Thanks

rob

 

Logic,

Welcome to the Bay Area.

Where in SF will you be working?

 

man youd think as liberal as cali is with the weed they be laxed about cars,.....ahhhhh i love florida, inspections...we dont need no stankn inspections, good luck though

 

Thanks, Bryan! I took a job with Twitter, so I'll be just south of Moscone Center (although apparently they're relocating farther west on Market sometime next year). No clue about living arrangements yet; as usual, I'll be winging it and hoping I don't end up living in the Evo.

So, you're the man who'd definitely know...how hard is it going to be finding E-85 in SF?

(It's going to kill me living out there with my 2g and all my tools in storage. Maybe I can turn the TIG and chiller into a "modern art" bedside table or something. Definitely not going to be able to fit a 60gal air compressor into a studio apartment. Ah well, less time spent on hardware means more time to spend on software.)

4bangn: FL is fantastic for emissions, but you get some "interesting" weather down there. Some parts of IL do OBD-II tests, but they got rid of roller testing here any few years ago (and anything older than '96 gets a pass); the IL EPA trusts my ECU far more than they should. But CA appears to have gone insane, at least to this outsider.

 

Theres no stations in SF. The nearest station is in Oakland. I would suggest for you to pick up some gas tanks and stock up unless u wanna cross the bridge every week to fill up. The shelf life on e85 is about 20 days( I can be wrong) because after that you start getting condensation and ruin the gas. I have a loud *** exhaust(on my sig) and thank god I never got pulled over for it. If you need a tuner I would suggest going to FFTec in union city. Sean and the rest of the guys are great! GL with the move. For car parts and install I would suggest speedelement in Fremont.
Have fun in SF! It's definitely a great city to live in.

 

+1 on fftec

also, if u don't drive like an a$$hat and paint ur exhaust black you shouldn't have to much trouble with cops. cops <3 shinny stuff, so the more u have the more trouble ur asking for. another thing is, cops will use the loud exhaust to search ur engine bay for illigal mods and as far as cats go, it depends on the cop. do what i did and just weld the heatshields off ur stock cat onto a testpipe and nobody will be able to tell the difference