The law on exhaust

Mattstang04

Mattstang04

15 Year Member
Sep 15, 2006
1,152
144
104
St. Louis, MO
#1
Heres a slight rant. Last Wednesday I got popped at a very sneaky seat belt check and was given a ticket. Thats ok, my own fault:shrug:. It gave the local pd time to eye over my car. Now yesterday I get tailed for 2 miles and pulled over again by one of the officers that was present at the seat belt check. I had my belt on and wasnt breaking any other laws. At least I thought. He ends up telling me that my exhaust is too loud. I have a bassani X and Flowmasters No ticket was issued and no recommendations made. He simply said it may cause trouble down the road. I want to think he was just checking to see if my belt was on. On the chance that he wasnt, whats a guy with a loud and expensive exhaust supposed to do? Just throw it all out and replace with OEM. Sorry not gonna happen. What do you all think I should do? Change something or disregard and if change then change what? Anybody know the Illinois exhaust sound laws?
 
#4
What state are you located in.....and if the law states so ,,... He cant Ticket you , unless...you ready

You are in a non residential area with nothing around you for 200 yards in each direction, there are 2 local cops and a sheriff, and they have to use a specalized DB tester....

If they ever give you hassel fight it at court...I live in Cali, fought it and one and the above method is what the judge said is supposed to be used to test the loudness of the car !
 
#5
Just tell the Judge "Sir/Ma'am, it's not too loud".


Unless they measure it somehow....



A noise ordinance ticket in my state is like 500 bucks. I've had cops tell me to rev it up before .. lol ... and I have HORRIBLE luck with Police pulling me over.
 
#6
it used to be any exhaust over a certain decibel limit at a certain rpm was illegal.

now it is officers discretion, which is total ****ing bull****.

IMO you have two things you can do. you can fight it depending on where you live, but if its catless, youre going to lose wherever you live, im pretty sure even though most states dont give a ****, that getting rid of factory emissions equipment is still against the law. Or you can just pay the fine and go about your life.
 
#8
fatboy02gt said:
the last time i checked the fine for removing cats was like 2500 dollars per cat. i cant find it in wrighting anywhere but that is the number i remember.
Click to expand...

Ha! Could you imagine an SN95 paying 2500 x 6cats!? Thats rediculous...I doubt its that high.

Just keep the revs down when you see a cop. I've had several follow me, and I run an o/r h with flows. I just shift at like 1500 way before it starts to drone...no probs. The guys with SLP/Magnapacks and an o/r pipe are just screwed.

If you do get a ticket, you can always fight it in court. Nobody can tell you just by listening how many decibels. If it wasnt measured, they cant prove it.
 
#9
This is in IL. "No person shall modify the exhaust system of a motor vehicle in a manner which will amplify or increase the noise of such vehicle above that emitted by the muffler originally installed on the vehicle"

I've taken a lot of policing courses needed for my degree, there are a lot of things in the Illinois compiled statutes book that cops can pull you over for, Ex. loud mufflers, car sitting to low, improper use of horn, squeeling tires, things hanging from rearview mirror, less than 2/32 of tread on tires, etc. Most of the time they use these reasons to pull people over for probable cause. They need PC to pull someone over and then find DUI's, drugs, guns, etc. I wouldn't worry to much about your exhaust, unless you were a d**k to them and they are now out to get you. Just watch your RPM's around cops and coast or put it in neutral when around them and u shouldnt have to much to worry about.

Oh and depending on where you live it is different. There are laws for Cook County(Chicago area) and laws for the rest of the state. Above mentioned is for the rest of the state.
 
#12
Dragstr05 said:
Ha! Could you imagine an SN95 paying 2500 x 6cats!? Thats rediculous...I doubt its that high.

Just keep the revs down when you see a cop. I've had several follow me, and I run an o/r h with flows. I just shift at like 1500 way before it starts to drone...no probs. The guys with SLP/Magnapacks and an o/r pipe are just screwed.

If you do get a ticket, you can always fight it in court. Nobody can tell you just by listening how many decibels. If it wasnt measured, they cant prove it.
Click to expand...

it is that high, proved cat fines become astrinomical. And you CAN get a ticket for having a "loud" exhaust w/ out all kinds of cops and/or meters. my bro got on while he had his cut out on in his turbo supra - the cop heard him from a block away and pulled him over when he saw him. Saw there were no cats but gave him a ticket just for the sound. He had to pay it then bring it to a Ref. and have a decible reading showing it was now back to stock.
 
#13
man that is some crazy stuff. well around here we have cops that just nail the little import cars but they leave us domestics alone. I get cops coming up to me at a light roll there window down rev there motors in teh cop car lol and then tell me to rev it up they give me a thumbs up and go on there way.
 
#14
i used to get the same thing, now the cops are going after everyone equally. Domestic or Import. we have a law that if the car looks modded, its probable cause to pull you over and do an inspection. ive yet to get popped by that account but aside from a slighly awesome sounding exhaust i just get popped for normal infractions (speeding, etc).

i have a catless exhaust. i dont give a ****, im sick of having where i live effect what i do to MY car that I pay for and I pay insurance for, on the roads MY tax money pays to upkeep (and they do a ****ty job at that). if they fine me, i just wont pay. its my ****ing car, i can do what i please to it, your ****ty retarded laws be damned!
 
#15
yea these laws are pretty gay. I dont know how many people heard but in maryland a police chase involving a bike ended up in like a 7 car pile up because a stupid police office plowed into the cars and killed a couple people trying to chase down a sportbike they didnt get a plate number or anything of the bike and now there is talk about banning sportbikes from teh street. It will never happen but its so rediculous.

they said cause sportbikes are too fast on the street cause it can out run a cop car. but in reality just about anything on the road can out run a cop car especially if the driver knows what he/she is doing. the cop was not being smart and probably thought he could catch him and never called in for back up. sportbike wouldnt have been able to out run a radio.

sorry for being off topic.
 
#16
wow that sucks i am so glad that none of the above has ever happened to me. of course the only thing i have for exhaust is flowmaster cat back but its still loud and with the whine of the blower the guys at the front gate of ft. Bragg pulled me aside when i was on R&R to do a "random inspection". I ended up BSing with the guy for a half hour about some of the mods i did.
 
#17
found it......SEC. 205. CIVIL PENALTIES.
(a) Violations.- Any person who violates sections 203(a)(1),
203(a)(4), or 203(a)(5) or any manufacturer or dealer who
violates section 203(a)(3)(A) shall be subject to a civil penalty
of not more than $25,000. Any person otherthan a manufacturer or
dealer who violates section 203(a)(3)(A) or any person who
violates section 203(a)(3)(B) shall be subject to a civil penalty
of not more than $2,500. Any such violation with respect to
paragraph (1),(3)(A), or (4) of section 203(a) shall constitute a
separate offense with respect to each motor vehicle or motor
vehicle engine. Any such violation with respect to section
203(a)(3)(B) shall constitute a separate offense with respect to
each part or component. Any person who violates section 203(a)(2)
shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than $25,000 per
day of violation.
 
#18
Now that I have had time to cool off, I am pretty sure the officer was probably looking for something other than the exhaust. But needed a reason when he didnt find anything else wrong. I have a bachelors degree in criminal justice so I can usually gauge police fairly well. For a while I wanted to be a cop. Now I can only imagine what it was he really wanted and I can tell you it wasnt about looking over a cool car just for fun. This guy was all business. I dont have a record of any sort other than speeding and seatbelt violations. I guess it was just my day to catch crap.:nonono: Pretty rude but I aint changin a thing. If I get a ticket later I will put the stock H pipe on long enough to thwart any real consequences. Im not a jerk and will not down the officer unless it becomes a habit. He has his reasons for his actions but it is still my ride not his.
 
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