Ticket for Modified Exhaust
 

I can't believe it!

I got a ticket in my 3rd Gen tonight for illegal exhaust. The officer said that Florida Law states you must have factory spec exhaust. He measured the tip of my exhaust and said it wasn't legal. He also said that it was too loud, but he couldn't write me a ticket because he didn't have his decibel meter.

I have a '93 RX-7.......bought it in 1997 with 49,000 miles and it had the OEM exhaust.....About a year later, I purchased an Apexi Dunk catback exhaust thru The Parts Trader as there weren't any internet options back then.

I now have 140,000 miles on my Rex and this is the first time I have ever been ticketed for my exhaust. The officer said that it has to be factory spec.

My choice.....1) get it fixed by Mazda within 30 days and only pay a $11 fine..and a bundle for a new exhaust....or
2) don't get it fixed and pay a $76 fine and take my chances.

Help me out here......How can I fight this?

"but he couldn't write me a ticket because he didn't have his decibel meter."

Wait, are u serious?

I would just pay the ticket. The O E exhaust is gonna cost you up the ying yang from mazda. Officer must of had a bad day. What a useless ticket.

WTF, Florida is one of the most leanian when it comes to cars....

I was once pulled over in Orlando in the Thunderbird (2.25" duals + magnaflow wide-open's and no cats), he heard it idling for like 10 minutes and never said an unkind word about it. None of my friends or anyone I've ever heard of getting a ticket here, in Cali yes but no FL.

I'd question it, hit the law books... I think Marion county is the only one here that has emmissions testing.

~Kris

Is the Apexi Dunk illegal?

I would absolutely fight it.

At 140,000 miles, it's not hard to present an argument that your original muffler rusted out. Plus, get a quote for a new one from the local dealer, and provide that along with the price for your muffler. If the court asks you if it's too loud, say it sounds different but you don't have a decibel meter to check. Finally, call the local muffler shops and have them quote installing another Apexi dunk and an OEM. They probably won't quote the OEM, and will quote the Apexi.

1) You will be able to argue you replaced it for compliance reasons (it rusted out)
2) You will show the insane cost of OEM and show why you chose aftermarket. The Apexi is a bolt-in cat-back, specifically designed for RX-7s.
3) Show them that muffler shops will install only aftermarket mufflers, and the Apexi is an option they provide.

Then tell the cop to go F off and pull over a Harley.

Dave

Apparently from your first post any modified exhaust is. I have the Apexi Dunk as-well and I've never had a problem. You should just look at the "Parts for sale section" on the forum and you might find a stock exhaust for cheap. If it were me, I would go that route, and then if I have any other exhaust tickets, just slap on the stock exhaust take it to get inspected by the police, then put back on the Apexi.

EDIT: check the link out---> https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.php?t=371036

I know I might be a little loud, because I also have a 3" SS downpipe. When that was added, the sound driopped a couple octaves, not louder, just lower.

But noise is not the reason I got the ticket....it's for a modified exhaust.

You know.......I've had the Dunk for the last 90,000 miles w/no problems. It way outlasted the OEM by double!

This really pisses me off!

That sucks man I say just pay the fine or go to court if you have time but its really hard to know if you'll win or not. Some guy was there when I was in court last time and the cop said he was squeeling his tires from the light with his 5.0 and driving hard where his tires were roasting in other gears as well and the judge was like ummm no I believe that he didn't do that and the cops jaw just dropped. I also won my case but there was another one there with an old guy around 70 that was going 54 in a 45 and the cop gave him a speeding ticket. The man said he was rushing home because he was feeling very sick and is diabetic. The judge lady said you shouldn't be driving if you have to rush home because you aren't feeling good. so weird....

:werd:

I got the same citation one night out at Gandy. The cops were pulling over every car with a non-stock-looking exhaust (and ignoring the loud-as-hell cammed V8s). I was leaving the local Sonic driving as quietly as possible. As I turned right, the cop was turning left into the Sonic. He looked at the back of my car and pulled a U-turn flashing his lights behind me.

There's no point in trying to fight the ticket. It won't hurt your driving record, and it's only $76. I don't know what kind of work you do, but I imagine that going to the court house to "fight" this ticket will cost you more than $76 in time and lost pay. I have been driving with the same exhaust now for almost a year with no problems. Bite the bullet and consider it part of the cost of ownership of one of the best sports cars ever made.

It sounds to me that the officer was a rookie cop. They pull people over for everything. :mad:

fuck the police!

I hate the fucking police those damn harley make a shitload of noise and the popo doesn't do shit wtf? In cali they give ticket like mofo.

Fight it! Search on the internet for others who have fought it successfully in your area. Look up the law which may also be on the internet. Make them prove it doesn't meet OEM specs. Does the cop know what OEM specs are? Did the cop measure and write down the size of your exhaust? Don't let the pigs make money off you or they will keep doing it! Fight it even if costs you a little money. You might even learn something.

What was he really pulling you over for? Think of the exhaust as a kind of "loss leader" sort of like a broken tail light. That way they can pull you over, get a better look at you and see if you've been drinking, smoking or ??? And perhaps find some probable cause to search you, etc.. When they come up dry, they have to justify their stop--so you get a ticket. This is an old routine... I know all too well.

As for the disposition, If it is a non-moving violation, I would consider it as cost of ownership, as was said in a previous post.

I think this is crap. It is illegal to modify an exhaust before not after the cat. a catback system is legal since it doesn't affect emissions.

I also think it is crap that police pull over certain loud vehicles but not others. Loud V-8's aren't a problem and loud choppers aren't a problem but loud imports are? I don't get it either. Loud is loud, regardless of what it comes from. People, please don't just assume that all Harley's are loud. They aren't. Factory Harley's are actually fairly quiet. I've got one in the garage to prove it. Only modified Harley's are loud and this is no different from the RX-7 or any other vehicle. Other loud bikes that are choppers aren't necessarily Harley's either.

The ticket was for "Improper or Unsafe Equipment" FL Statue 310.610(1)

The cop also wrote "modified exhaust non-factory equipment 5" pipe"

Well, it's not a 5" pipe. The tip may be 5", but the pipe is 3" and that's not illegal.

I looked up the statute and it says....

"...(1) Any police officer may at any time, upon reasonable cause to believe that a vehicle is unsafe or not equipped as required by law, or that its equipment is not in proper adjustment or repair, require the driver of the vehicle to stop and submit the vehicle to an inspection and such test with reference thereto as may be appropriate."

Further, the cop said that he didn't expect to find someone my age with an illegal exhaust. Then he started on how he writes a couple tix a day for this as he gets "kids" with Hondas buying big exhausts off the internet.

My brother was with me....he as worked for NAPA for over 20 years....he couldn't believe what the cop was saying. My brother told him that if is only writing 2 tix/day for big exhausts, then he better get some help because they sell a lot of aftermarket exhausts.

I believe that.....there is nothing wrong with my exhaust, it has not been modified, the cop saw my tailpipe and thought "I got anutha 1" .

Just chop the BIG tip off of it, and weld on a more factory look. My HKS got me pulled over a few times, so I went with a Pettit Dual, with no problems and eventually went with a Factory exhaust, and electric cutout setup that works really nice. The stainless steel gives the aftermarket exhaust away too, so that was the reason for going back to factory, and having the cutout. Good luck in court man. But the 5 inch tip is what got you pulled over. That and the stereotype of the import loud @ss exhaust for no apparent reason. The guys with the stock imports running around town like they are on some race track with their pathetic 16+sec 1/4 mile cars are what gives the import craze the wrong stereotype, hense you fell into it with the big tip. Someday people will actually laugh at these pathetic imports enough that they will be an embarrassment to drive unless they have the balls to back them up. Again good luck man.

This thread makes me angry. This is absolute law-enforcement-money-leaching-bullshit.

On Speed of light's note, I suppose I am fortunate to live in a state with no-probable-cause law. In Alabama, a cop can pull you over just to say "hi", so that eliminates them giving you stupid-ass tickets to justify a stop. I have never known anyone around here to get a ticket for an illegal exhaust...

I used to drive my four-banger to the dragstrip with a 3" dump pipe coming out of the turbo, loud as piss, shooting flames and stuff... never got pulled over for that.

Actually, now that I remember, I once lost my rear section under the car doing a hard shift, and looked up and saw a cop behind me. My buddy and I pulled into the McD's parking lot (11pm, more cops there), and I jacked up my car, removed the exhaust, put the parts in his trunk, and drove away with just a downpipe hanging out of the turbo... cops watched the whole time, didn't give a shit...

i think greddy and HKS have CARB OE certificates? not sure about apexi. im sure you could fight this, but may not be worth it. definately contest it. the officer may have to come to court on his day off.

I looked up more references to the Florida Statutes and found NO references to size of pipe restriction, especially the tip.

I guess his "probable cause" was the loudness or my big tip, but since he couldn't test for noise, the only other concern he could have is safety. Since my exhaust is stainless steel, it was not rusting or about to fall off in the road, and it has not been modified or changed.

I believe I'm in the right and the cop doesn't have a leg to stand on.....I'm going to court.

man i cant believe this!

meanwhile you have older guys/ladies in their 86 buick with the broken exhaust which is a hell of alot worse than a WORKING aftermarket exhaust get away with murder..i see that all the time around here. some lady will be driving her colt or something with no muffler and be ok.

i mean thank god for me, i havent gotten any tickets for my exhaust and my tip is BIG (LOL). i have gotten a warning but that was because i "sorta" ran a red light in front of a police station.

just fight it man, there are more WORSE things out there that cops need to attend to, stoping a kid whose minding his own business just cause he has a big exhaust is not one of them..

let me also add that until they ban sport bikes out there and harleys with their loud exhausts, im keeping mine..

I was in traffic court one day, fighting a ticket (and won), and saw two different cases about modified exhausts. As the court official read out the law "In the state of Florida it is illlegal to modify one's muffler in any way. And the exhaust can not be louder than xxxxx decibels......" I was so pissed off to hear that. As I was walking out, with the officer who came to court to argue against me, I asked him about it. He said it was a fucking stupid bullshit law.

The law is a fucking joke. There are sooooo many pickup trucks around here with no exhaust at all, and I garauntee you none of them have gotten one of those tickets. It's just a way for the police to punish the people they don't like. That is discriminatory, and it is profiling, and that;s bullshit. Either enforce the law 100% of the time, or not at all.