Hi all - I've been lurking at various turbo and S/C car sites for awhile and a question that I have never seen answered is,
"If I get my car emission tested (which is required) will it pass?'

and also

"Can a cop pull me over and cite me for non-street legal mods?"

Those are my two questions.

PS I'm curious how this plays out in Md, Pa, WVa, and Va as I drive in all of these states.

I've been kicking around about what sort of car I should get and ultimately, when the finances are settled back down (hello Mr. New House Mortgage) I'll be most likely getting a G35 6MT Coupe and I will want to FI it.

Thanks in advance!

 

You can pass the emissions if you have a catalytic converter and your numbers are below limit. However, depending on states, you might fail the visual. I don't know how the emissions is in MD... so I can't really say yes or no to this questions.


Yes. A cop can pull you over for cite you for any non-street legal mods he can find.

 

OK good to know - I'll have to see if any MDers here can give some insight.

The next question would be 'Which mods are not street legal?' for example, a Vortech S/C or a Turbonetics ST kit... are those non-street? Can you have cats with those setups? And will either a turbo or S/C fail the visual test?


Strange that none of the sites have a general faq on this issue - it seems fairly important issues to consider when deciding what to mod...

 

You can keep the cats with Vortech SC. I don't know about Turbonetics ST... you'll have to research that yourself or someone else can answer that. You can always weld on a cat if the SC or Turbo kit doesn't let you keep one. I doubt you will fail the visual with SC or turbo, but ask the locals and you should have the hard facts instead of me just guessing.

Someone who's more knowledgealble should chime in on this issue... heh.

 

iwould like to know the answer to this too. Surely there has to be SOMEONE on this forum with a FI kit that is not carb legal that gets pulled over. So what then? You have to go back to stock?

 

Well I'm having alot of trouble finding out whether adding a turbo to the G35 is an emissions no-no, but Vortech claims 50-state CARB cert:

http://www.vortechsuperchargers.com/...ar/04_g35.html

Has anyone added a turbo in MD and passed emissions (and not paid anyone off lol)?

 

i,installed a stillen stage 2 fi 8/04,went thru emmisions with no problem.md only checks for gas filler mods and if you still have cats.good luck

 

All most all locations with emissions testing use the same general rules.

1) Visual test. How well this is done by the techs varies by location.
If a SC, turbo or any other device which may effect emisson control is found you may fail the test and the only exception would be if it is Carb approved.
If the cat/s are missing you fail the test.

2) Physical test. This will vary by location (county). An internet search should provide the specifics.
If a tailpipe test is conducted you simply must pass the standards.
If an OBDII scan (96 and later only) is used all stored sensor data is reviewed for anything amiss so if the vehicle is throwing error codes you may have a problem. It also is capable of detecting a non-functioning converter or one which does not have the OEM 02 sensor.