Hey guys,

I know the legality of turbos have been covered many times, but I was just wondering what a cop could do if they found out you had a turbo? Fine, impound, ref inspection??

Henry

 

Definately a fix-it ticket, and probably the state ref. I've had my hood popped once, but that was pre-turbo, "The Man" told me to stop trying to be Mario Andretti and that "any modification of the exhaust is illegal in CA." Blah, just drive normally and stay away from the street races and u won't get popped.

 

my friend got pulled over cuz the cop saw his boost gauge. he had to take out his turbo to pay the fines. thats all i really know.

 

all you do is pay the 144$ fine if you get a state ref and pay it, and dont give a ****, i've done it before and i know countless others that have. the damn thing stays off your record etcc, you can do it a few times before they dont let you have the option of paying the 144$ i think.

 

I got pulled over for speeding at like 2am while I was tuning m AFC
Anyway, it was Sherrif's Dept, and the dude was actually pretty nice. While he was running my info, his partner pulls up in another car and starts asking me what mods I have and such:
"What modifications do you have?"
"Um, just bolt-ons..."
"Really?"
"Yup"
"Why don't you go ahead and pop your hood"
"k"
"Is that carbon fiber? You know you're not supposed to have a carbon fiber hood, right?"
"Really?"
"Yup, is that a turbo?"
"Um, yah, bolt-on turbo..."
<then he starts looking for nitrous lines or something around my intake manifold and tries to find my filter, which was nonexistent at the time>
"Where's your air cleaner?"
"um, behind the bumper..."
"Is it an open-element?"
"yah, I guesso"
<so he takes off, and the first guy who pulled me over comes back>
"Did my partner tell you what was wrong with your modifications?"
"Um, I think he said my hood wasn't legal..."
"Well, basically, all of your modifications, like your intake and headers and stuff aren't smog legal, and you need to get those taken care of. I could cite you and send you to the smog ref, but we'd be here all night, so why don't you come back here and sign your speeding ticket"
"um, ok"

I guess I was lucky to get off with just a speeding ticket(which was $321 ), and the sherrifs were pretty nice for not really knowing what they were looking at, but I would've been royally screwed if I had to go to the smog ref.

 

thats why i love miami fl. and wont leave anything goes down here. no emissions testing. and cops really dont care what you have under the hood.

 

wow... you guys from san jose who got pulled over got lucky. are the san jose police being nice these days or something? you couldve gotten way worse... and that is usually what the san jose police like to do. usually... if they see turbo, its an automatic ref ticket.

a few weeks ago, my friend went to the runs at calaveras and the police blocked off the streets. they pulled everyone over... asked for their ID... and then let em go. aint that **** funny? usually, they hand your *** to you.

 

had a friend that got pulled over and was sited many sitations including turbo. He took it off and went to the ref and got it signed off. It was around the the street race area of the south bay area. They are more inclined on what you got under the hood on a weekend night because of all the racing activity going on down there. Anywhere there is heavy street racing activity you bet you can find a probing officer that knows what to look for.

 

cops that like to bust kids with fast and flashy cars are furstrated dicks that never had the chance to do it when they were young thats why they enjoy giving those types of tickets and hassling the kids. i am in the process of become a cop down here in miami and i would never be a dick and start busting kids because what type of cars they drive. thats just plan out wrong.

 

wait so can someone else confirm this? If i get a ticket that says i should go to the smo ref, can i choose to NOT GO to the smog ref and instead pay $144 or whatever the fine is?

i'm seriously considering putting on a front plate just so they have one less reason to pull me over (and pop the hood) if i'm not doing anything stupid.

-Xerxes

 

i have gotten a modified emissions ticket for turbo before and all you do is pay the bail amount which is the fine and thats it.

 

Xerxes, definately put on your front plate bro. Believe me, it saved me a lot of trouble after i put it on, and plus u'll be less paranoid. Oh well, back to online traffic school for me, my third speeding ticket.... all pre-turbo

 

think u can pass a turbo kit off as being a Greddy kit or sumthin? i mean if u hada Greddy CARB sticker and stuff?

 

Hey guys..what about engine swaps...like say i have to go to the ref to get it verfied..what kind of info do they need? or do they just give u a smog check and run a vin# test? as long as its all legit right?

 

I heard that cops in CA will actually run the CARB numbers to see if they're legit and for the correct car. But then I've heard of cops giving tickets regarless of CARB numbers or papers.

Well thanks for the info guys, keep it coming.

Henry

 

cops in cali dont care about carb numbers. what they usually do is write you the ticket and tell you to go to the judge. and show him the carb papers and then the judge decides if its ok or not.

 

If you are a cop you give tickets because of the law. If putting a turbo on is against the law you will give a ticket for it. It isnt there fault, we are the ones breaking the law....

ahhhh good ol' Eugene Or, no emissions....

 

SO...how many of you guys still have the cat on? Heard it was $1000 fine if you do not have one...

 

I passed CA DMV inspection with my turbo on the car. When i moved here from colorado i had to get it smoged which ment removing the turbo and hiding all the other stuff. Once i got the car smogged, i swapped back on the turbo and went to DMV to get my lic plate. Well since i was outa state they had to do a "dmv inspection". They had to check for engine numbers and VIN numbers. Well i the lady just overlooked the huge garret turbo hanging off the front of the motor...as well as the wrong engine in the car all together..not to mention everything else..like the lack of a CAT.

liam

 

haha was it when neostream supra/gsx/ another whtie hatch was runnin all night ?i was there hahaha that **** sucked .. they lsot my id

 

but even if putting a turbo is against the law the cop can use his or her discurgtion wether or not to give you the ticket

 

Who posted those greddy papers. Just show them that and say its a greddy turbo so they dont fine you for it. The most can do then is make you go the ref and you'll have time to take it out.

 

Whats the deal with cops taking pictures of the engine bay? I think I've heard a few people mention that as well. Is this to make sure you don't take anything out before visiting the ref?

Henry

 

nobody runs at calaveras...ahem ahem

 

so why is a turbo illegal, when some cars come stock with it? Supra tt, audi..........