Originally posted by wontgrowup:
Two updates to give to my fellow citizens of the wonderful commonwealth.....

1) Went to have my car inspected today, and have some info pass along to you guys.

First of all, thank god the place I take my car to for inspections is staffed by gearheads!! There was a number of issues they could have failed me for right off the bat, but they were like "If you get stopped, YOU put these mods on AFTER we inspected the car, OK???"
1) KKM- It is now illegal to modify your intake system as it "interferes with the emissions controls".....their words, not mine



umm....i doubt it. i don't think that is true. i think they, although you say they were being cool, they were being picky pr*cks that 99% of any other inspection stations in MA would give two monkey poops about.

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2) high Wattage bulbs are a no-=no (I think we all knew that anyway)

how in the blue moon, would they even be able to tell what kind of wattage your pulling? no way. so i guess HID's are illegal? nope.... again, being picky pr*cks. As long as the ALIGNMENT of the bulbs meet requirements, and they WORK, you are fine.

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3) Window Tint- I was 2% over and they told me that most police Depts. have light meters in their units that will crack down on this.....no more than 35% on any of the windows!!(my "dark" tint is on the back windows, not the fronts)


ahh yes. tint. something i'm very familiar with. 35% is the state maximum percentage for window tint...on ALL windows, in this state. However, EVERY cop, no matter on a good night or bad, will tell you straight out, that they will NOT waste their time with anything that close. They are cracking down on cars such as mine....5% in the rear windows....if they can't see inside...they're gonna get ya eventually. Even inspection stations will only measure the tint if its REALLY A LOT DARKER than 35%. Again, I say, picky pr*cks....

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4) Another item I asked him about- aftermarket exhausts. He just smiled and said that any exhaust not installed as part of a "factory package" is illegal. I asked about replacement exhausts, and all he could say was that is was up to the discretion of the inspecting station whether or not violated noise laws, etc.




iirc, the state inspections does NOT include noise measurements from the exhausts. That is a police judgement and depending on where you live, some cops are more strict than others. I have the Borla....they gaurantee their exhausts will not violate any noise laws. If you get ticketed, they will foot the bill. This dude was obviously being a picky pr*ck. Don't believe MOST of the words this guy spoke....I suggest going to another inspection station next year.

Please don't take this as a complaint or a b*tch towards you cause trust me, it isn't. Its against the inspection station you went to and the "words" he spoke to you. Its absolutely STUPID some of the things he said. If the emissions are good at the exhaust level....you're fine. end of story. don't listen that guy.....

later.

Hugo ------ 98 SVT - 53k mi - SOLD 04 Mazda3 S 5-Dr