sR owners. attn: plz

[ronny5]

well im a sw20 owner and just wanted to tell you a little story a friend (current s13 Sr owner) and i went throught today. we were rolling in his car. the car didnt have much body mods just some watanabe rs8's and hks hiper exhaust. we got rolled by a young cop. and popped us with the SR motor. he was a very cool cop. he is a current FD owner and enthusiast. thank god he let us go cuz he knows wassup. this is in socal by the way. but he did inform us of some news that we didnt kno.

stations around socal have brief meetings of motorswaps and modified cars and wat to look for. he also stated if you own a 240 be extremely careful. they study japanese drift magazines, videos' (probably option vids) and photos of different motors and mods. i guess D1 and the whole "drift fad" kinda sparked things up and gave cops the heads up of japanese tuning. studying. not only are they studying just motor swaps and wat to look at, they also seem to look at jdm styling as well.

these briefings that cops have go through out california. cities such as torrance, san gabriel valley, san jose, san mateo. these are the cities that he stated.

as a fellow jspec car enthusiast just giving you guys a heads up on wat we heard today from a cop (fellow JDM enthusiast). so guys be careful.

im sure most of you guys kno abotu this, but for those who dont. be careful

ronny
gen 4 sw20

[FRpilot]

if this is the case, then there's not really much we can do then. but thanks for the heads up

[DRFT]

whew good thing i live in boring ole sac, but im sure it will spread over here in no time

watch out guys!

[AadosX]

Heh, sucks for you guys. In AL we don't even have emmissions testing. To bad we don't have shops.

[phrozen]

nice heads up

[drift freaq]

well im a sw20 owner and just wanted to tell you a little story a friend (current s13 Sr owner) and i went throught today. we were rolling in his car. the car didnt have much body mods just some watanabe rs8's and hks hiper exhaust. we got rolled by a young cop. and popped us with the SR motor. he was a very cool cop. he is a current FD owner and enthusiast. thank god he let us go cuz he knows wassup. this is in socal by the way. but he did inform us of some news that we didnt kno.

stations around socal have brief meetings of motorswaps and modified cars and wat to look for. he also stated if you own a 240 be extremely careful. they study japanese drift magazines, videos' (probably option vids) and photos of different motors and mods. i guess D1 and the whole "drift fad" kinda sparked things up and gave cops the heads up of japanese tuning. studying. not only are they studying just motor swaps and wat to look at, they also seem to look at jdm styling as well.

these briefings that cops have go through out california. cities such as torrance, san gabriel valley, san jose, san mateo. these are the cities that he stated.

as a fellow jspec car enthusiast just giving you guys a heads up on wat we heard today from a cop (fellow JDM enthusiast). so guys be careful.

im sure most of you guys kno abotu this, but for those who dont. be careful

ronny
gen 4 sw20


I know you state in your location los angeles but I live in the city of Los Angeles and can say that the cops in my area Los Feliz (and the city proper) really do not have the time to bother you unless you are being very blatant. The San Gabriel valley i.e. city of Industry is already known as a hot spot as several sr owners have been pulled over and harassed. Now knowing that a cop cannot pull you over for body mods unless your car is really slammed and he is an ass. on top of that if your exhaust is not overly blatant they are really not going to look at you.
That said I do agree with on people being careful and keeping your eyes open . You only get caught when your not expecting or not looking thats always been my experience in the arena of driving. Mind you i am not advocating going out and getting crazy just advising the key is to be aware and always looking out.

[cali240sxdrifter]

yeah, like drift freaq said they won't pull you over if you give them a reason to. I have my SR for about 2 weeks and I drive normal to and from school at santa monica college. I have pass several cops and nothing. But it also depends on the area aswell, those cites that the cop mention are the hotspots and are very risk places. Over here in LA, Long Beach, The Valley (LA), have other more important things to do then to pull over cars with big exhuast. I seen a bunch of ricey honda's, trucks slammed to the ground with like 10subs on, lowercars all the time and the cops don't even care unless they are doing something illegal like traffic laws and so on. Am still going to safe side and looking for a much small exhuast and going to get that intercooler black spray paint for my FMIC.

[Hawd]

Where exactly did this happen?? Torrance has some special task force that deals with the "import scene" or something to thate xtent from what I hear. Luckily I live in hawthorne/gardena/inglewood area and cops are dealing with other shit :) haha. It all doesn't matter anyway because my shitz all busted up :(

[DoriftoSlut]

Yeah did he tell you why you guys were getting pulled over? Or did he pull you over to give you a heads-up?

i mean A you need to be doing something illegal to get pulled over. As long as you have a front license plate, a decently quiet exhaust, and don't speed, they CAN't pull you over for anything illegal.

B. Know the laws. If you get pulled over for an exhaust and the cops tells you you have to pop your hood, he is lying to you. Flat out lying. And they WILL do that to you. If you comply, you waive your rights. Exhaust has nothing to do with emissions, it is only noise violations. (assuming you still have a cat).

C. Be polite. "Im sorry sir, but there is no reason to pop my hood and go through that hassle. I will do it if you have a search warrant and i have to, but otherwise its not worth my time and i feel i am being stereotyped/profiled." He may say that your exhaust is probable cause "I'm sorry sir, but if you feel my exhaust exceeds the legal dB limit, i will go get it tested to verify it is or is not legal. There is no emissions controls on an exhaust system therefore i can't figure out how you can attribute that to what is under my hood."

Seriously it may take some balls and shit but hell let him detain you... if he goes through your car without your consent it is technically illegal. And a court will uphold that. Its your privacy and you are legally protected unless there is probable cause that leads to an illegal modification. One thing may be an Intercooler or Boost gauge. Dont have those visible on the street. Nothing else points towards a modified engine.


Well this is how i was exlained it by a police officer friend. She even printed out a section of the law that states motor vehicle operators do not have to grant a search of their car or engine bay unless probable cause to obtain a search warrant is present. Something along those lines. If its late at night and the cops needs a search warrant, he needs to call a judge. And probably wake him up. And if he has shaky reasons that are not solid for your modified engine (ie a profile of how your car LOOKS is not probable cause) the rudely awoken judge will most likely be less than happy.

Again, this is all coming form my cop friend. When you get pulled over they may blatantly lie to you or intimidate you. Don;t give in. You dont have to.

All in all its a risk driving a modified car (which is stupid... SRs pass emissions with better numbers than many LEGAL engines. People shouldn't feel scared driving something personalized and unique.. what a society... tsk tsk.) Its like DWB (Driving While Black). Its sad that it happens, but cops TOTALLY profile and stereotype. Especially with modified cars and/or minorities.

Anyways, drive safely and responsibly, have a clean, non ghetto, car with plates and current registration, and you should not have any problem. And go to court if anything happens. This would be fun to watch:

Judge: "How fast was this man driving in the 40 mph speed zone?"
Cop: "37 mph sir."
Judge: "So why did he get pulled over?"
Cop: "Um, because we all got breifed on modified cars. And his fit the profile of possibly having something illegal done to it, but it was not apparent until i could pull him over and have a closer look."
Judge: "So what were you looking for? Drugs? Bodies?"
Cop: "Well not exactly. Modified intake system. Japanese engine. Turbo."
Judge: "...."

I mean its illegal to do some of the stuff they do. Let them know that YOU know that.

Be safe.

[NZO]

i mean A you need to be doing something illegal to get pulled over. As long as you have a front license plate, a decently quiet exhaust, and don't speed, they CAN't pull you over for anything illegal.

Come on now, we all know thats wishful thinking. ;)

B. Know the laws. If you get pulled over for an exhaust and the cops tells you you have to pop your hood, he is lying to you. Flat out lying. And they WILL do that to you. If you comply, you waive your rights. Exhaust has nothing to do with emissions, it is only noise violations. (assuming you still have a cat).

Sure you can deny them access to your hood, they can also tow your shit allllll day long.

[nokeone]

Lindsay's advice is actually right on...as long as you are respectful and intelligent about it...i know for a fact i wont pop my hood if i get pulled over because my exhaust was too loud or cause i was speeding...they are totally unrelated as Koosher pointed out..

people just need to start being more careful...i think super loud blow off valves and flashy intercoolers will become less popular as these are red flags for cops...i bet you we start seeing a lot more sleeper cars out there...

if everyone just rolls over and takes it in the ass we have no hope...take a stand...choose your battles of course...but just like they are spending all this time educating their cops on this stuff it's not a bad idea to educate ourselves as well on what they legally can and can not do...

ramble ramble....lol

[S13SilviaGirl]

^^^^agreed, both with Rindsay and Nokeone

[TheSparo]

even if you have an intercooler, it's still leagal since GReddy has a kit out for the KA including an FMIC with a CARB legal approval... am i right?

[Wei240]

i don't think it's carb legal yet, (if it is, it's news to me), so, no, all kits are illegal

but doesn't the chp have more rights than local cops for probable cause?

[SilviaDriver]

i got pulled today TWICE under 3hrs in less than a 3mile radius!!

first was a front plate which i know was my fault and he also said "you seem to have changed front ends have u?" i got a fix it ticket

less than 3hrs later i got pulled again

i got pulled over by vehicle being LOWERED headlights under 22inch height

i talked very polite asking permission on everything even unbuckling my seat belt didnt want him to think im pulling a quick one on him

i asked him shouldnt he measure the height and he said "from the eye of it i can tell its below 22inch"

im sure its under too being i have a s15 conversion and my car is sitting on 15s right now with sportlines im damn sure its under too.

he then asked me to pop my hood. i was bout to say something but then it was hot and i was in a hurry so i let him go for it

"is ur car extremely modified?"

another reason i let him was becuz..all i have was an INJEN intake

he saw my intake and asked for the CARB sticker and i gave it to him all he did was tell me to place it where it can be seen

he let me go with a warning tho.

so you dont have to be out doing crazy stupid things to be pulled

and as for exhaust...a new law says a cop DOES NOT have to test ur db on the exhaust..he can give u a ticket by his JUDGEMENT

[kazuo]

the dB thing is actually OLD law.

He can give you a ticket for it, and you will have to either throw the stock piece back on or go see the ref to get it tested for noise level.

This is why I don't drive a car that attracts attention...

[cali240sxdrifter]

ohman, thankgod am out of Cali and on to Florida in a few months. Cali is going to the shit hole

[SR_TeXaN]

so much bs these days, shouldnt cops be gathering up Rapists and Gangbangers rather than messing with car enthusiasts?

[CO S13]

You guys have crazy laws there. Our cops may pull us over for stupid reasons, but I personally have never had to many problems with b/s tickets. You did remind me to ask about our law on headlights. I would rather not give them a reason to pull me over.

[CO S13]

so much bs these days, shouldnt cops be gathering up Rapists and Gangbangers rather than messing with car enthusiasts?
Ha Ha good point. My exhaust isn't hurting anyone.

[WilloW]

ohman, thankgod am out of Cali and on to Florida in a few months. Cali is going to the shit hole

I'm getting the hell out of San Jose soon too, going to TX.

[SR_TeXaN]

Texas doesent have any Bullshit laws about modifying your car... (yet)

[WilloW]

Texas doesent have any Bullshit laws about modifying your car... (yet)

I checked recently and the Dallas area has started emission testing similar to CA (dyno, OBD2 for 96 and up).

[a2low240]

Man I love PA. And in MD you can run arund town with your hood off the car so every cop can see your huge snail under your hood and not do a thing about it.

[red240]

Can't wait to get to Florida, Nazi smog laws here in socal!!!! gotta go!!

[fliprayzin240sx]

Im stuck in caLi but FL tags...still cant believe a pig gave a me fix-her up tix for my mafuckin headlight. Had one of em 2 color fog lites white/purple. Oh wells shiet still not fixed since my cars still not fixed. Just suck that imma try to get that shiet signed on and yes the fog lights are gone but is now replaced by a massive BLITZ LM FMIC. You think theyll notice it? =p

[stealthj]

i gotta go to the DMV to get a front plate.....

and i FUCKIN HATE CALI laws, i want to go to Nevada... or imma become a cop... come to me if u want ur fix it tickets signed off!

[s13dan]

thanx for the heads up and i will keep it in mind but i live im missouri and hopefully the redneck piggys here wont know the difference.

[S13Koop]

http://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=810247
just addin in