Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Duratec Performance SHO Shop Hi-Flow Y-pipe. Is it legal in California?

SHO Shop Hi-Flow Y-pipe. Is it California state leagal. If so under what conditions?

with a high flow cat you will be fine

Where at in California?

Check out the regional groups below.

Should pass with a hi-flo cat

From what I understand, yes, it is illegal, in California, to replace the cat with one that is not stock. You're supposed to replace the cat with the original style cat if your car is anything newer than a certain year, like 94 or somewhere around there.

BTW, I have one myself!

what is the fine for the off-road y pipe?

In california it is illegal to do any modifications to your exhaust system. But O well that's not going to stop me!

In Cali-e there is not fine, but when you do an inspection you will FAIL the Smog Visual (no cats), even if you pass the sniffer. All in all I still suggest getting it, it makes good power gains, and when somg season comes, just go and throw one on. Smogs like every 2 years

I doubt that it is legal. In general, anything you do from the cat back is smog legal (but it may not be noise level legal, that is a different issue). Any alterations done before the rear of the last cat must be certified and have a CARB (California Air Resources Board) Executive Order number.

In practical application, the SHO shop Y pipe (with cat, not the off road one without cat) would probably never be questioned since I doubt that many smog inspectors would recognize that it is not a factory item. There would be some risk though.

Any kind of off-road Y-pipe, H-pipe, X-pipe or any configuration is illegal if the catalytic converters are eliminated.
This is not just true for California, but any state that has smog laws.
It is also true nationwide on any vehicle that came factory equipped with catalytic converters. The federal EPA laws make it a crime to tamper, alter or otherwise remove pollution control equipment from those vehicles so-equipped.

Of course, the typical Catch 22 of this legislation, as is true of most legislation, is that there are always exceptions.
Thus in most states, including California, you can replace the OEM converters with aftermarket converters just so long as the vehicle passes both the visual & sniffer inspections.
However, the flip side of this is trying to find someone who will replace catalytic converters if they are not either inoperable, malfunctioning or the vehicle has surpassed the legislated time of ownership in either years or mileage where replacement is allowed.
Any business who agrees to replace such items are themselves liable for violating state & federal law so many will obviously refrain from doing so, while others knowingly & willingly accept such a risk.

By the way, the comment that it is illegal in California to make any exhaust modifications is incorrect. I have an aftermarket cat-back exhaust on my Saleen that was installed in 1991 that is perfectly legal as is my aftermarket catalytic H-pipe due to the codicile in California law that allows certain aftermarket modifications if the manufacturer has received CARB approval by proving it performs an identical function as the OEM piece it replaced.

Okay my question then would be this...If you don't get fined for not having or failing the test what can they do to you?