Factory turbo cars are set up differently...
a few things:
boost cannot blow off into environment, it is fed back into a closed circuit
they are usually set up at low boost levels
the engine is built with forced induction in mind... so the whole setup is configured to meet all the requirements and standards of other vehicles, things like passing emmisions...

 

example, the wrx runs 3 cats on a 2l motor!

 

I'm a little confused. I'm not from CA, so this doesn't apply to me, but so long as the actual emissions from the vehicle are below a certain standard, why should it matter what actual equipment is on the car?

 

it shouldnt, and thats why smog tests are ********.

 

CA is total BS....most states are not like that. In CA, even if your car blows exhaust is well within...or even less than the minimum, they will fail you if ANY smog equipment is removed, tamperd with, altered....or anything else.

It really sucks.

There is a process called CARB exemption, and to get it, the manufacturer of the performance product must submit extensive testing that shows that their modiciations do not increase the emmissions of the vehicle...and of course..no factory smog equipment can be touched.

 

This all sucks. I hope Arnold can change this. LOL I doubt it. But CA has way too many laws. And they are all little BS laws too.

 

Don't forget the immense amounts of money that the part manufacturer has to pay the California Air Resources Board in order for them to issue an EO #

I've said it before, and I'm sure I'll be saying it until the day I die. The smog laws in Cali are about making money, not the actual emissions that come out of your tailpipe.

 

I used to live in the los angeles area, two cars ago i had a 91 crx w/ a b16a motor, that little car was very fast and fun...anyway, after exactly one year of owning it i got the notice in the mail that i need to smog the car. i made the mistake of going to a normal smog station... i failed hard!!!

...they told me if i went to a smog referee station that they could pass it w/ an exemption because of the engine swap...that was the worst advice that i could have followed...
toi make a long story short, the referee entered me in the statewide system as a gross poluter, at that point there is NOTHING you can do to get around it, besides swapping out a different motor and getting it smogged stock and then switching it back

...i sold the car on e-bay to ssomeone on the eastcpast...sad..but now happy with a twin turbo Z!!!!