The writing is on the wall when it comes to smog and aftermarket parts. In past years there was kind of a gray area, but now they have cracked down really ******* the smog stations and the technicians are much less likely to look the other way. They could go to jail. California is the worst as is has taken the high road on "green" compared to all the other states. It has always seemed absurd to me that a car with a combination of performance parts that runs clean and passes tailpipe emissions should be illegal.
In many states they have no visual inspection, the car just needs to pass tailpipe emissions. Technically many cars that have headers or modifications should fail, they just do not look. In California it is much more rigorous. Vehicles must pass a visual inspection, tailpipe inspection and a computer readiness test.
To be clear, there are no legal headers for Vipers 2003-2010, period. Also, by law any car after 1996, you cannot replace the catalytic converters unless they fail, and then they must be replaced with an OBD approved catalyst. For headers to pass they must be considered a direct replacement that does not alter the location of the stock cats. From for 1992-2002 many Viper headers were approved, as the cats were not moved from the stock location. This cant happen on a later Viper as there is no room to fit the headers and keep both cats. We got lucky on the Ram SRT as Bassani was able to make headers like "a basket of snakes" with long tubes that bundled up under the hood and hooked up to the stock cats. In California only 3 headers were ever CARB certified for the Gen 1-2 Viper. Edelbrock, ****** and Borla. None of these are made anymore and are getting harder to find.
I deal with emissions failures all the time and they keep tightening up the standards. Many folks add headers and aftermarket cats and then they pass the smog the first time around. Most technicians don’t know what type of exhaust the Viper came with, the cats are hidden and many times the headers have heat shields, so you don’t see the stuff. The second time the car needs to be smogged and the cats have deteriorated some plus the standards have tightened up, so they fail.
Nowadays you need to be more careful, many folks end of having a big expense to get the car legal. The car has less value when you sell it as you cant smog it.
I must admit I have seen a few 900hp Vipers get through emissions here in California. Modified internally engines technically need a CARB exemption but you cannot see inside the engine. Build a good motor, add a CARB legal Paxton Supercharger and CARB headers (Gen 2) and you have a real monster that will get through smog and be easy to sell.
Hope this helps.
