This whole thing starts several months ago in July '06. I knew it was time for me to get a new exhaust setup for my FC, and did some shopping around, I found Corksport's Power Series catback and really liked the single exit look, so I bought it. My car also had a Pacesetter header and a gutted cat. After installing the catback on my car, I found it to be quite loud, and I had no clue it would be SO loud, so I bought the silencer insert for it. Shortly after installation, I removed the gutted cat (which apparently did wonders for silencing) and installed 2.5" straight piping.

I hadn't been pulled over yet for it, and I'd even managed to not get cited for it when I got pulled over for speeding, and my cruise control kept my idle at a nice 1300 RPM. Everything was great for months, until mid January '07.

I was returning from my girlfriend's house and at a stop (nearly in front of the police station, on a hill, no less) happened upon two police officers chatting in their vehicles with their windows open. Of course, I didn't see them until I stopped, so I had no option other than cruising past them... in a straight piped single exit S4 NA. I cruised uphill, engine just barking away at a lowly 1800 RPM, and I knew it was loud, but it was better than revving it up so as to move faster. I passed the two cops, at approximately 3 miles per hour (+/- 12 MPH), and knew I was going to be in for a treat.

As I looked in my mirror, I saw both cops starting to move, and that's when I did too. I immediately went up to the speed limit in an attempt to make it the two blocks home. Of course, I had another hill to climb and a turn, which I shot straight through. I saw the cops behind me, they hadn't yet caught up and their pretty lights weren't yet flashing, so I kept going, a block from home I saw my least favorite colors shining in the mirror, and pulled over.

A county mounty stepped out, with a city boy for back up, and he asked for my license and all that good stuff, then he asked me that question, "Do you have a catalytic converter?" To which I answered, "No, it's too much money and I'm a broke college student." Then the city boy, jealous of the severe badassery my car contained asked if the exhaust helped with my times, I told him I saw a drastic improvement with this setup in my quarter mile times (but I'm sure more experience helped with that than anything), but it shut his smug ass up. So the county cop says I have 30 days to fix it, and that was that.

Luckily, I had an ace up my sleeve, I was in talks with a member of TeamFC3S about a RB header and presilencer. This made everything so simple, I thought. Near the end of my 30 days, I had it installed and took it to the police station where my chief listened and wrote it off as good. I thought I had won. I thought I fixed it. I was wrong, dead wrong.

Two days after my exhaust had been signed off, a state trooper was handing a speeding ticket to someone on shortcut I use to get to a city I had an interview in. You see, I had just made a turn and punched it, as I always do, and the engine went up to about 3K before I shifted, apparently it was very audible from a quarter mile way, because as I neared him, I slowed and coasted past. Then in my mirror, I saw him turn around, and being to pursue. I didn't pull over, just kept minding my business until I saw his lights. His lights were on his rear view mirror, so they were hard to see, I thought they were the sun glinting off, at first, again, dead wrong.

Here I was, sitting at the side of the road, with a trooper telling me my muffler was an amplifier and I was disagreeing. He, being an expert witness for shit involving cars (he's a former mechanic), just knew I had put on a system making the stock setup louder than it was. He did not know I had a presilencer and a muffler, and a baffle that reduced exhaust flow to crap. By state law, I met all criteria for a muffler system, I just was louder than stock, $186 louder than stock, to be precise.

So I decided to fix it, and I bought a new OEM style catback, with Dynomax mufflers. I'm sure people wonder why I didn't get the RB catback, and my reason is that it will be louder, and when the trooper inspects it, I want it to be as quiet as possible.

So now I've used two different headers, three mid pipes, and three catbacks. This shit is not cheap, and it's sucks a lot.

I have to go to court Thursday morning and plead it out, too, because I fixed it, the prosecutor will drop charges, but it still blows that I have to go to court right after working a 12 hour shift.

That's my rant.

That sucks to hear man. I've got the RB header and pre-silencer with 2.5 in pipeing to some cheap summit cans. Without the silencers its stupid loud, but I've been able to cruise it around town without much trouble. A cop decided to tail me the other day on the highway, and just as he got in my lane to pull me over we went over a hill and saw blue lights down the road so he backed off and gunned it past. Lucky for me the saftey chekcs around here dont invovle exaust checks.... yet.

Worth the trouble?

Worth the trouble?

You don't have to read it, Rob.

Echo echo echo

Youre lucky you dont live in California. Out here an exhaust like that would get you pulled over every 5 mins! :eyecrazy:

damn! glad i live in SC. do the harley riders get pulled for their loud exhaust too?

damn! glad i live in SC. do the harley riders get pulled for their loud exhaust too?

Only the trooper that pulled me over really enforces that law, I guess. He pulls over everyone that he thinks is too loud.

I got pulled over twice in an hour one night when I had the Corksport on an FC. I used to drive by dealer lots and set alarms off on all the minivans out front. That thing is loud as shit.

I got pulled over twice in an hour one night when I had the Corksport on an FC. I used to drive by dealer lots and set alarms off on all the minivans out front. That thing is loud as shit.

Without my silencer insert I would, too. Straight piped NA sounds like sex to RX owners, but not to anybody else.

I just finished installing the new exhaust, and it's not much quieter than it was before.... *sigh*

damn! glad i live in SC. do the harley riders get pulled for their loud exhaust too?

Never seen a bike pulled over, which I think is stupid... most of the bikes out here are loud as shit. Only my old n/a running open header topped them. lol

I just finished installing the new exhaust, and it's not much quieter than it was before.... *sigh*

You need a turbo to muffle some of that noise. ;)

Without my silencer insert I would, too. Straight piped NA sounds like sex to RX owners, but not to anybody else.

err, no, it's so loud I want to die X_X

All this police harassment sucks. Thats why I registered my car as historic.

Can you do that in your state?

You need a turbo to muffle some of that noise. ;)

There's a reason I'm not selling my Corksport. Next year, hopefully, I'll have the most ghettoriffic turbo'd NA.

err, no, it's so loud I want to die X_X

All this police harassment sucks. Thats why I registered my car as historic.

Can you do that in your state?

I'm thinking about registering it as a hobbyist, but I'd have to pass inspection from a trooper, first.

Part of the reason you were getting hassled is probably because there was a big shinny rice cannon hanging off the bumper...cops look for that kind of shit.

I like magnaflow mufflers, they are strait through, so they flow like a strait pipe, but do a remarkable about to calm down the exhaust. I used dual 2.5" with the longest casing I could fit under my car. Open headers were ear-bleedingly loud under acceleration, but with nothing but an X-pipe and two mufflers it became completely acceptable idling and driving, with a bit of roar at WOT, but still nothing unreasonable. Looks pretty much stock, too....
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/8/web/2540000-2540999/2540264_9_full.jpg

Same shit happened to me with my CS single when I had my NA. I had the stock manifold and cat, but I was pulled over anyway. The damn thing is very loud. I told him the exhaust was just a cat back and i still had my catalytic converter, but he said it didn't matter and was too loud. So he gave me a ticket which I went to court for. I get there and the guy asks me why I'm there and I tell him. He asks if I put a baffle in the exhaust and I say "yes, I put a silencer". He tells me "OK you can go". That was it. Nobody needed to see it, he didn't even ask for a receipt or anything. Now I have a turbo with a meaty single and it's quieter, until that waste gate opens and dumps out by my drivers side tire ;)

Halfbridge w/ 9.0:1 compression + big turbo + 3" straight through single w/ thermal R&D muffler (I can roll a tennis ball in one end of my exhaust and out the other) = somehow not that loud.


I really think it's all in the muffler, it's a huge muffler designed to make things quiet, and it works, it works damn good. Car is loud as fuck with open downpipe.

did the cop measure your exhaust noise with an instrument at a set distance and set RPM? or did he simply use his ear? Subjective judgment, or the police officer himself deciding what is and isnt too loud, is illegal. A friend of mine used to work with a guy who fought a loud exhaust ticket all the way to federal court over a 2 year period, and won. You can cite his case in court if you can find it and the ticket will be meaningless. Then again, if they had some sort of instrument you are fucked.

did the cop measure your exhaust noise with an instrument at a set distance and set RPM? or did he simply use his ear? Subjective judgment, or the police officer himself deciding what is and isnt too loud, is illegal. A friend of mine used to work with a guy who fought a loud exhaust ticket all the way to federal court over a 2 year period, and won. You can cite his case in court if you can find it and the ticket will be meaningless. Then again, if they had some sort of instrument you are fucked.

Anything louder than stock gets a ticket.

This whole thing starts several months ago in July '06. I knew it was time for me to get a new exhaust setup for my FC, and did some shopping around, I found Corksport's Power Series catback and really liked the single exit look, so I bought it. My car also had a Pacesetter header and a gutted cat. After installing the catback on my car, I found it to be quite loud, and I had no clue it would be SO loud, so I bought the silencer insert for it. Shortly after installation, I removed the gutted cat (which apparently did wonders for silencing) and installed 2.5" straight piping.

I hadn't been pulled over yet for it, and I'd even managed to not get cited for it when I got pulled over for speeding, and my cruise control kept my idle at a nice 1300 RPM. Everything was great for months, until mid January '07.

I was returning from my girlfriend's house and at a stop (nearly in front of the police station, on a hill, no less) happened upon two police officers chatting in their vehicles with their windows open. Of course, I didn't see them until I stopped, so I had no option other than cruising past them... in a straight piped single exit S4 NA. I cruised uphill, engine just barking away at a lowly 1800 RPM, and I knew it was loud, but it was better than revving it up so as to move faster. I passed the two cops, at approximately 3 miles per hour (+/- 12 MPH), and knew I was going to be in for a treat.

As I looked in my mirror, I saw both cops starting to move, and that's when I did too. I immediately went up to the speed limit in an attempt to make it the two blocks home. Of course, I had another hill to climb and a turn, which I shot straight through. I saw the cops behind me, they hadn't yet caught up and their pretty lights weren't yet flashing, so I kept going, a block from home I saw my least favorite colors shining in the mirror, and pulled over.

A county mounty stepped out, with a city boy for back up, and he asked for my license and all that good stuff, then he asked me that question, "Do you have a catalytic converter?" To which I answered, "No, it's too much money and I'm a broke college student." Then the city boy, jealous of the severe badassery my car contained asked if the exhaust helped with my times, I told him I saw a drastic improvement with this setup in my quarter mile times (but I'm sure more experience helped with that than anything), but it shut his smug ass up. So the county cop says I have 30 days to fix it, and that was that.

Luckily, I had an ace up my sleeve, I was in talks with a member of TeamFC3S about a RB header and presilencer. This made everything so simple, I thought. Near the end of my 30 days, I had it installed and took it to the police station where my chief listened and wrote it off as good. I thought I had won. I thought I fixed it. I was wrong, dead wrong.

Two days after my exhaust had been signed off, a state trooper was handing a speeding ticket to someone on shortcut I use to get to a city I had an interview in. You see, I had just made a turn and punched it, as I always do, and the engine went up to about 3K before I shifted, apparently it was very audible from a quarter mile way, because as I neared him, I slowed and coasted past. Then in my mirror, I saw him turn around, and being to pursue. I didn't pull over, just kept minding my business until I saw his lights. His lights were on his rear view mirror, so they were hard to see, I thought they were the sun glinting off, at first, again, dead wrong.

Here I was, sitting at the side of the road, with a trooper telling me my muffler was an amplifier and I was disagreeing. He, being an expert witness for shit involving cars (he's a former mechanic), just knew I had put on a system making the stock setup louder than it was. He did not know I had a presilencer and a muffler, and a baffle that reduced exhaust flow to crap. By state law, I met all criteria for a muffler system, I just was louder than stock, $186 louder than stock, to be precise.

So I decided to fix it, and I bought a new OEM style catback, with Dynomax mufflers. I'm sure people wonder why I didn't get the RB catback, and my reason is that it will be louder, and when the trooper inspects it, I want it to be as quiet as possible.

So now I've used two different headers, three mid pipes, and three catbacks. This shit is not cheap, and it's sucks a lot.

I have to go to court Thursday morning and plead it out, too, because I fixed it, the prosecutor will drop charges, but it still blows that I have to go to court right after working a 12 hour shift.

That's my rant.

Just a little update, I've got my Dynomax stuff on, it's a straight through muffler, really nice sounding. I'd say it flows as well as the RB set u, at a fraction of the cost. Sounds a little throatier, too. Anyway, I went and pleaded not guilty, got a pretrial conference (Apr. 19th) and then the trooper inspected it again, said it was still too loud, but because I didn't use him knowing my grandpa as a reason to get out of the ticket, he moved it back (May 17th), since I had tried to get it fixed. I've now got Dynomax Race Bullet mufflers to be installed by a local mechanic tomorrow, and hopefully, these will finally get the car quiet, hopefully.

I am not going to spend another $500 on another new catback that sound quieter. It's just bullshit, I've spent so much trying to make these people happy, and I've done damn good, can't they just leave me alone?

Yeah... so why arent harleys fucking pulled over?

Yeah... so why arent harleys fucking pulled over?


Word!

Sometimes I wanna ram those fuckers when they're passing me in town.

Yeah... so why arent harleys fucking pulled over?

No shit. They are about 10 times louder and almost equally obnoxious as fart cannon Hondas. I've never understood that logic, either.

Because police almost never pull over motorcycles?

Same reason they seem to ignore historic vehicles.

I guess they figure "Hey, its only a couple days a year they're out on the road anyway"

Yeah... so why arent harleys fucking pulled over?

This trooper does, and trucks too.

He's actually really big into motorcycles and restores muscle cars. He likes the smooth exhaust note more than the loudness. Although, he avoided me saying muscle cars don't get tagged. But I'd never pull one over... Harleys, loud trucks of all sizes, and little morons like me, I'd all pull over, but never EVER a muscle car.

The mechanic called, somehow. Somebody didn't get what they were supposed to do and cut off my mufflers and installed what I wanted to be midpipe mufflers. So now my car is as loud - if not louder - than it was before this whole fucking thing started. I feel like fucking crying. Seriously. I'm at my wits end with the bullshit. I can't even drive the car to my house at this time because I know it'll be too loud. This just isn't right.

Guys, gimme ideas. What should I say to the mechanic? I don't think it would be too much a stretch to not pay. But I don't want to lose the only reliable mechanic in my town.

damn that sucks. can't he cut it apart and re-weld the way you want?

damn that sucks. can't he cut it apart and re-weld the way you want?

Probably, but I don't know.

I went down and checked the situation out. Unfortunately the guy doing the work was out for lunch, but I talked with his partner (the owner, but also the newer guy) about it, and we've worked it out. I'm just going to have them install two cheap generic mufflers, and from what I gather, it'll be for the price of the mufflers. So, I've got my Dynomax super turbos and racing bullets to tinker with.

It was just a communication breakdown, no big deal. I was afraid it was going to be worse than it really was. He even cut the tips off of the mufflers and welded them onto the racing mufflers, so it looked good. It looked great! And sounded like rolling sex, but the state wouldn't like that... but I'll save them for a rainy day.

It's done. All over. Met with the trooper 20 minutes ago he signed it off.

Way too much time and money was wasted on this.

I just did the exhaust on my 3rd gen.

3" SS to 3" cat to 3" mid to 2.5" Dynomax Super Turbo....

it's QUIET!

louder than stock at idle but very bearable and nice and quiet around town, I love it.