Passing The Transport Agency Inspection With Aftermarket Exhaust

Aftermarket exhaust, improve performance, aesthetics and give vehicles, from cars to motorbikes, sportier sounds.

Some aftermarket exhaust removes the part of the stock exhaust with the catalytic converter. The catalytic converter helps reduce the number of carbon emissions. It makes vehicle comply with emission standards. Its absence is sure to make the vehicle fail the emission test.

The installation of aftermarket exhaust usually comes with remapping of the engine control unit or ECU. The ECU controls the fueling of the vehicle among other things. A stock ECU is designed for fuel economy. It can be tuned for performance and match it up with the aftermarket performance. The tradeoff is that the vehicle becomes less fuel efficient and produces more carbon.

Then there is the issue of sound. Vehicle noise is regulated to protect the wellbeing of people. The vehicle has to undergo a test using a sound meter during the inspection. You can already see the problem here.  The added performance from the aftermarket exhaust normally comes with additional noise. The added noise can cause the vehicle to fail the sound test.

If the aftermarket exhaust eliminated the catalytic converter, it would be very hard to pass the emissions test.  The best course of action is to reinstall the stock exhaust system or the link that contains the converter. Then you need to restore the ECU mapping to stock. With the sounds test, some exhaust can be installed with a baffle to lower the decibels.  If that is not possible, you will have to reinstall the original can. The amount of work and time to do all these are actually not that much.

Restoring the ECU map is fast and easy. You just need the harnesses and software on your computer. Anyone who is into performance driving has all these. Reinstalling the catalytic converter and adding a baffle won't take more than an hour for anyone who has done it before.

Aftermarket exhaust is great for many reasons. But passing the transport agency inspection is going to require a bit of work. Still, that is a sacrifice many are more than willing to take to make driving a fun and stimulating experience.