Alrighty guys...

Now im pretty dang sure that its illegal but i'd like to know if anyone has anything proving otherwise that you can legal put a fmic on the 2nd gen fc and drive it on the street...

i know that driving around town can be hazardous with the police and "illegal mods" are the most wonderful thing that cops check for in CA on imports (not domestics just imports) but i wondered if anyone knows of anything that you could argue about it being legal, or better for smog, or whatever...

anybody got anything? really would like to pop the fmic on but dont wanna press my luck at the moment with cops in so cal just looking to pull you over for anything.

thanks all!

 

its not illegal, but you are in cali. move away, and then have fun.

 

HKS and Trust (GReddy) make CARB-approved intercoolers. For the list of approved models, click on the link below. Scroll down and choose Select Device Type: Intercooler System, then click on the Search for EOs button.
http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/aftermk...es/amquery.php

I don't see how any any intercooler would affect vehicle emissions, but the knowledge of physics and common sense are never attributes of socialist governments. Therefore, if you want to use a different brand, you will need to have the California government test it, which I am sure is not cheap.

Before anybody asks, no, a CARB-approved intercooler for another car is not CARB legal on an RX-7.

Enjoy the socialist government that you elected.

 

^^ So how is the cop going to know if you have an HKS intercooler or an Ebay special?

 

^ Don't CARB approved units have a stamp or tag on them indicating as such? Shouldn't that also be on the paperwork you get when you buy the part?

 

CARB is NOT elected.

 

these days they will just give you a ticket to go see the smog referee. you can either pay a fine, and do nothing, or you go see the smog referee, and they will inspect the car (visually i think) to make sure its got all of the correct parts on it for the year and model.

which is much better than the old days, when the rx7's were on the map, cop would open hood, see C.A.R.B. sticker and yell at you for not having a carburator, and you just get a ticket for speeding or whatever the hell they felt like giving you.

 

Yes.

The legislature that enacted it was ELECTED, and ever since then Californians have ELECTED politicians who continue to support it. Those of you who live in California also ELECT to live there. Enjoy.

 

lol, true... it's been kind of fun watching the govt bubble implode...

 

Yes, it will be interesting to see what happens. At some point they will realize that they can no longer afford micromanaging things that don't really matter. Well, either that or they will just impose a more rigid standard with few or no exemptions. It is difficult to guess what they will do, as even conservatives like Reagan are guilty of taking away freedom.

 

well i live in cali.. and i read alot of the book of carb legal stuff.. and it didnt say anything about intercoolers. if the car is stock with a turbo. then intercoolers are fine. even the piping.. ive never seen intercoolers with carb stamps or anything on them lol. so yeah.. what u have to worry about is the douch bag cops lol.

and it all depends on where u live too. so yeah.. do some searching. and you can find the carb list online.. then just look around. gl with that tough

 

Stock parts are fine on a car that has already been approved for sale in California. Aftermarket parts are where you need to be careful.

 

being a smog tech, changing from a top-mount to a front-mount is 100% legal. adding an aftermarket blowoff valve on the charge pipe could be questioned, but most techs, as long as its fed back into the emissions the same way as stock, will pass you.
i know i would, its just a matter of who smogs your car.
cops will give you ****, but according to BAR and the EPA, its all good

Lloyd

 

i wasnt talkin about stock intercoolers. im talking like a huge ebay ic. is totally fine... i see ppl rockin aftermarkets in my town. no big deal there.. but as magus says. bov. is a different story.

atmospheric bov. is illegal. if u get one that returns the air.. well i dunno.. ive never got an aftermarket one of those... but yeah.

 

Hell, there is your answer right there...find Magus when it's time to smog!

 

smogcheck.ca.gov look it up there. it says it plain as day, aftermarket intercoolers, as long as the vacuum stays routed the same

Lloyd

 

in that case what is the deal with atmospheric bovs? when i got pulled over and ticketed the only thing he could say about the bov was that it was only for higher boosting purposes (duh) and that it was loosing me power in reality (which actually isn't the case due to the fact he didn't realize that i was running a larger turbo on my car and that the stock recirculation valve wont handle anywhere close to 12 pounds + of boost).

the funny thing is, he didn't argue that it was illegal or tell me that i absolutely had to remove it. i told him that i read and had talked to other police officers and had found that it was fine and there was nothing they could find or myself in the laws that it was illegal.

any thoughts?

 

oh also here i believe is the pdf that magus is talking about...very interesting...i love how obscure the laws are sometimes...

http://www.bar.ca.gov/80_BARResource...%2012-2009.pdf

 

ok, so, let me translate from smog tech talk to normal person talk.
aftermarket intercoolers are completely acceptable, as long as the turbo is stock. there ya go
this includes, tmic-fmic, smic-tmic, smic-fmic, and any and all variation of the 3, as long as the turbo stays stock
and as far as BOV's, most cops are retarded about finite laws and specific car related stuff. most of the time they can figure out if something has a stolen engine or obviously not stock, but when it comes time to make a judgement call about something like a recirculated BOV vs open air, they have no ******* clue.
i have had run in after run in with cops busting on subis and evos and me having to straighten the cop out.......idk why i do it, i just have to educate i guess.
plus, its easier to talk to a cop since i am smog certified and im an obvious credible source

so, in reality, if you get pulled over by a cop and he asks to look under your hood and give you **** about really anything, just politely ask to see the finite law, theyll go away most of the time

Lloyd

 

intercoolers are a legal modification in california, anyone who sais they aren't simply doesn't know. i can't count how many cars i run through smog and have also never been questioned about them because i only take them to shops that know what the hell an intercooler is and if it's legal or not.

dumped BOVs are not legal though, funny but yes they do affect emissions.

 

i just said that ben lol
i would imagine that they affect emissions only because of vacuum routing, but past that, i dont see why they would be illegal.

Lloyd

 

if you think about it simplistically, the air is measured by the AFM which determines how much fuel the engine needs. when you vent boosted and metered air to the atmosphere it creates a temporary rich condition which is where all the "flaming exhaust" videos tend to come from.