Specifically:
§ 46.2-1003. Illegal use of defective or unsafe equipment.
It shall be unlawful for any person to use or have as equipment on a motor vehicle operated on a highway any device or equipment mentioned in § 46.2-1002 which is defective or in unsafe condition.
(1960, c. 125, § 46.1-308.1; 1989, c. 727.) § 46.2-1047. Muffler cutout, etc., illegal.
§ 46.2-1047. Muffler cutout, etc., illegal.
It shall be unlawful to sell or offer for sale any (i) muffler without interior baffle plates or other effective muffling device or (ii) gutted muffler, muffler cutout, or straight exhaust. It shall be unlawful for any person to operate on the highways in the Commonwealth a motor vehicle equipped with a gutted muffler, muffler cutout, or straight exhaust.
(Code 1950, § 46-306; 1950, p. 54; 1958, c. 541, § 46.1-302; 1964, c. 628; 1989, c. 727.)
§ 46.2-1049. Exhaust system in good working order.
No person shall drive and no owner of a motor vehicle shall permit or allow the operation of any vehicle on a highway unless it is equipped with an exhaust system of a type installed as standard factory equipment, or comparable to that designed for use on the particular vehicle as standard factory equipment, in good working order and in constant operation to prevent excessive or unusual noise. An exhaust system shall not be deemed to prevent excessive or unusual noise if it permits the escape of noise in excess of that permitted by the standard factory equipment exhaust system of private passenger motor vehicles or trucks of standard make.
The term "exhaust system," as used in this section, means all the parts of a motor vehicle through which the exhaust passes after leaving the engine block.
Chambered pipes are not an effective muffling device to prevent excessive or unusual noise.
(Code 1950, § 46-305; 1952, c. 455; 1956, c. 651; 1958, c. 541, § 46.1-301; 1960, c. 120; 1970, c. 266; 1972, c. 66; 1989, c. 727.)
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Basically, this means that you are screwed. They have the same basic law we do, it's just worded differently.
Specifically:
An exhaust system shall not be deemed to prevent excessive or unusual noise if it permits the escape of noise in excess of that permitted by the standard factory equipment exhaust system of private passenger motor vehicles or trucks of standard make.
This means that if your system is louder than OEM, it does not prevent excessive noise, and therefore is illegal. I would guess that in VA, like in IL, an officer can make that determination on the street w/o scientific measurement if it is blatantly obvious.
Also, concerning
It shall be unlawful to sell or offer for sale any (i) muffler without interior baffle plates or other effective muffling device or (ii) gutted muffler, muffler cutout, or straight exhaust.
Your removeable baffels could cause you to operate illegally here...
---Again, just the facts.
