There's this cop that is always in the parking lot at work when I get back from lunch and today she drove over and asked me what exhaust I had. I told her borla and she said "you know those are illegal right?" and I just said that it was 50 state legal and tried to be really polite and nice to get out of there and back to work. She then said that "anything louder than when it comes from the factory is illegal. Just so you've had fair warning. I have a '98 and it doesn't sound like that."

I didn't get a written warning so I'm not TOO worried about it and I've had the cc305 for a year and the borla, no cat, hooker shorties for 2 years and had absolutely NO problems until now and it's a daily driver.

One person told me that before that can write a ticket that won't get thrown out in court, they have to do a decibel test-and those are supposed to be rediculously easy to pass b/c they test from far away (to my understanding). Another person told me that what she said was correct but she prolly just wanted to know what exhaust it was b/c she liked the sound of it (said that b4 I told him that she said she had a 98-so that is definitely possible). I'm moving in a month and quitting my job in 3 weeks so I'll prolly just not drive during lunch anymore to eliminate this problem. I just wondered if anyone else had this problem and what happened/the did.

 

It really depends on the cop. Some of them are cool, some of them are PITA, and like you said, some of them just want to check the car out. My car is loud as hell, but I haven't gotten into any trouble so far, and I hope you don't either.

 

What a damn fool you came across. Geez, that little girl deserves to be locked up for stupidity. Some people are just so stupid. "Louder than factory". What a putz. Where do they come from? How many are they? How many companies are they CEO's of? How many political offices do they hold?

Dangit! "George is getting frustrated!"

 

The fact is that any cop can write a noise ticket, even if you aren't in violation of the law.

How?

Because he's ACCUSING you of violating the law, not convicting you.

To add insult to injury, it's very easy to get convicted in lower court even when you shouldn't be.

The bright side is that those tickets almost never survive an appeal.

My advice is to just look up the law and see what it says and DOESN'T say.

 

I'm not really too worried about it. Louder than stock-even if that's the way it's written- would NEVER hold up in court. Especially when you consider some of the things that come out from GM- like that big block '02 camaro, or even LPE camaros. They will be damn loud and are legal. I think that some LPEs are even considered factroy-technically-just like saline mustangs. I figure that if this law was true- all conversion companies would produce illegal cars. The cop was prolly just ragging and trying to pretend to be a hard A$$. Thanks yo.

 

for sure bull**** if she talked to you about a closed borla......

 

Actually, they usually do. That's the problem.

They don't fare as well in the appeals process though.

 

If this police officer bothers you about the loudness again, ask for the specific line in the code that mentions that specification. The maximum level a production OEM system can have is 80 dBA (I think, though it may be 79) on either the J986 or 1470 pass-by test. If you were to buy a replacement muffler from a Midas or a Meineke shop, it would be louder than stock, and by her words, illegal. That is pure bull. There probably is a limit to how loud an exhaust system can be, and it probably varies from place to place, but aftermarket exhaust can be louder than stock and indeed, almost always is. She is just being a jerk. Ask for specifics if she approaches again. i.e. How loud is stock and how loud is this comparatively? What is the state (or local) code to which you refer? Call the bluff.

That said, you don't have a cat and if she checks, you can get busted for that pretty easily. If you are illegal, pick your battles wisely.

 

maybe her 98 was a v6

 

Noise Polution and disturbing the peace are to common tickets written for loud cars. I have seen cops get out the decimeter and take messurements. Sometimes its ridiculous, In the dead of noon your getting a sound violation or warning, Cops have a grudge againest F-bodies. they always have and always will.

Its funny, rarely do you see a guy with an old street rod, get a ticket for noise, But then again you usually dont see them on the throtle at 2 am like some F-body drivers with unruly exhausts.

Drive wisely and you'll be ok, if you get a ticket just except it, its not worth fighting.

 

WTF?????? What a DUMB b*tch!! WTF does she know about cars let alone aftermarket exhaust??? U coulda probably told her u Ultraflow exhaust or some other made up name and she probably would said the same thing! Stupid! Automotive Ignorance at an all time high! And u said Borla (singular) and she fired back with "THOSE are illegal"?? u can only laugh....what do u do if ur car has like an SLP package with exhaust stock??? WTF would she say then. "oh those cars are illegal"?? Just another small town cop with sh*t to do, why does she go pull over some ricer with a really obnoxious exhaust instead of one with ballz???? When she said she had a 98 and all that crap u shoulda said something like "oh really, well i was gunna go halves with a buddy on a ounce of coke but decided i'd rather put my $$$ into something constructive!Oh and u have a 98? Well congradulations, now why don't u go out an actually earn a paycheck so that u can make the payments on it (her "Camaro" she probably confused Camaro with Alero! ) Cuz u sure as sh*t aren't doing it here! Oh and by the way ur 98 is an LS1 and the two sound very different with Borla!!"

 

I think u hit the nail on the head. Shes old and she wants to know whats a good sound exhasut to put on her car so that the midlife crisis is alittle bit easier to cope with!

 

 

Sigh...agreed. as much rebel agnst as i've put in this thread, with ur luck she'd probably show up to counter ur arguments in court, cuz remember she doesn't have anything better to do....Or if she does show up maybe u can bribe her with some bacon???

alright i need to chill out with these replies.

 

I got busted for burnouts in a parking garage, This was with the 88' caprice police interceptor i had. Thats life, what are you gonna do. I was cocky and when the cop on the bike told me to go home because the mall was closed, I smoked them right in front of him, little did i know there was two cars on there way.

The cops told me i could have been charged with 7 things, such as wreckless driving, wreckless endangerment, speeding, failure to obey posted signs, exhibitional driving, and few others that at the time i thought were out there.

Now i keep it under control and drive responsibly and no more trouble. (except those tickets)

Ohh well