Up here where I live, every two years we have an emiisions test. I was wondering if I put on strup headers and high flow cats, will I be asking for a failure on the emissions test?

 

Depends on the quality of the Cats, Headers proably wont affect emissions as much as Cats. Crawford have the best performance but I have no idea on thier emissions performance; I believe that one guy here has them and passed his smog check. Helix Cats I know have good performance and Pass Cali emissions (although not legal since thier aftermarket) Thier is a thread floating around here about them.

Stay away from the RT cats they are very prone to faliure (Implosion).

Kinetix Have very good reviews on performance, no ideas on emissions.

Sorry I couldn't help you more, but STAY away from the RT, and get the Crawfords for the best performance and most stock look which might help on visual inspections.

 

ferret jumped around it, but hit it at the end. It's really not the emissions test you're worried about, as much as the visual. I have a set of Crawfords, and am not worried about passing emissions, which I wont have to take until 2008 (there is a five year rule in Arizona). Anyway, it's illegal to change the cats on any car with less than 50K miles on it, and if you do, you must replace it with the original cat.

I know the Crawfords will pass emissions, I'm just hoping that the inspector will see what appears to be a stock cat, and let it go at that.

Lou

 

Is it a OBDII test or a sniffer test?

 

I'm going with the Strupps headers because I've heard good things with them and they can be installed without lifting the engine. I heard the crawford is a ***** to install and will need an engine lift.

I'm more worried about the free flowing cats. I'm hoping they will do some of the work that the stock cats does but is more "free flowing"

And I don't know what a OBDII test is, but I think it's a sniffer test.

 

“sniffer test”

Some high-flow cats are tested, and “certified” to pass the sniffer test. This is quite a claim considering all states have different requirements. One of the most stringent requirements is California. If the manufactures states “tested and passes California emissions tests,” I’m guessing that it will pass 90 percent of the other states.

 

I did some more reading on the FAQ on the emmissions test where I live. There is no general standard for cars. There is standards for your specific cars. So basically they know exactly what the emission output of a stock 350Z is >_<;; And the test will compare your car's emmisions test to the number they have for a stock 350Z >_<;; Damn! I wonder how much of a buffer they will give you...

There might be a loophole though. If the expense of the repair is greater then $450CDN. You will automatically get a pass and an exemption for 2 years. (so you can save money to have the repair done) This rule was in place for people who can't afford to get their cars fixed because they are low income.

So I figured if I do fail the test, I'll take it to a shop, and ask them to make a bill up to purchase OEM headers and Cats from nissan + installation. I'm guessing the OEM parts alone will be over $450 and I'll just bring the bill back to the testing and show them I need an exemption for at least 2 more years.

Now, I could do that, but I'd rather not and go with a free flowing cat that can pass emission testing.

I'm going to a local nissan meet tomorrow and I'll ask around if anyone has any free-flowing cats on and what they did for the emission's testing.