The Drive: California Cop Tickets Stock Hyundai Elantra N for Exhaust Noise.

I had a similar issue with my Fiat 124 Sport Coupe. It came stock with a Fiaam dual air horn. A Texas Lady mechanic failed my inspection because my horn was “too loud”. There was no measuring system just her opinion. I told her it was a stock horn and DOT approved for importation. She got loud and ordered me off of her property…I got loud and ordered her to give me my inspection sticker.

She called the DPS and explained and also asked them to have me removed from her shop. They sent the district Sgt in charge of the State Inspection system.

He ordered her to give me my sticker.
 
Does this car's exhaust system have valves or baffles in it that are actuated by switching modes?
If yes, "pay" the dealer to unplug the baffle/valve system, get the car retested, and then plug it back in after the car passes the test.
 
Well I agree you will never win a case against city hall - but I don't think anyone inferred that. All the article inferred was the guy wants to drive the car that the clown show of a state inspector suspended because they don't know how to do the test. So he needs a judge to rule he needs a new, properly executed, test.

As for the money part - welcome to our (in)justice system.
Yeah that guy encountered a total douche that has cop syndrome. There's no reason whatsoever to pull a car over that's bone stock from the factory.

Oh and yes absolutely it's all about money and nothing else.
 
I highly doubt that this article is telling the whole story and this car is bone stock. I see all kinds of cars with modified exhaust and with illegal tunes popping and back firing on deceleration. If I were a cop, I'd be handing out a lot of tickets for loud exhaust.
The car is clearly stock, many performance cars come with overrun/deaccel burbles etc. from the factory that you can activate like this with a "mode"...just watch the video I posted or use Google. I'm sure the public is in a better place b/c you are not a cop.
 
If the cop decided to ignore the law requiring he give the driver a ticket, the cop COULD have gotten away with it prior to body cameras.

Now that there are body cameras, that changes things.
Nobody is going through hours of body cam footage to ensure that cops are writing exhaust tickets. All he had to do was ask about it, note that it was not a modified car, and give a warning. Maybe the guy with the car was a jerk and that's what prompted it. Either way, ticket is fine, the rest is not.
 
Does this car's exhaust system have valves or baffles in it that are actuated by switching modes?
If yes, "pay" the dealer to unplug the baffle/valve system, get the car retested, and then plug it back in after the car passes the test.
This is a tune issue and just dumps extra fuel/retards timing to get the noises. No reason to do a thing, it's legal as-is.
 
Some of you just are not understanding the origin and dets of this story.

- The Elantra "N" is a special OEM model that has a track/sport mode which uses a special tune (called "N" mode) that makes the exhaust LOUD. REALLY, REALLY LOUD. Much louder than is allowed for use on the street, and not certified as part of the approved street-use program.
- The driver was using this special track/sport "N" mode while on the public street
- The cop pulled the vehicle over with the belief that the vehicle was too loud
- The driver ADMITTED he was using the "N" mode on the street; a mode that is not certified for street use
- A citation was issued, as mandated under CA law
When a cop suspects a violation has occured, and the state law mandates a citation, and the driver admits to the violation at the scene, just what is the problem up to this point??????

NOTE: the "N" mode is not the "normal" mode; it stands for "Nurburgring" - their inspriation for the high performance model
Here is the Elantra N owner's manual supplement:
"In the N Custom mode, you can calibrate a variety of chassis and powertrain settings to match your driving preferences and road conditions. Or just max out everything by pressing the dedicated N Mode button on the steering wheel. Depending on the drive mode, a twin-outlet variable exhaust valve system lets you select exhaust sounds ranging from normal to powerful pops, snaps and snarls." (underline my emphasis)


This entire story never would have caught anyone's attention but for one screw up ... the sound test tech ran the vehicle in the wrong mode during the test, which caused the vehicle to fail the test, and because this is an OEM program, as there is nothing to "fix" for a retest.

The OEM is not at fault.
The cop is not at fault.
The driver is partially at fault.
The inspection referee is mostly at fault.
 
Some of you just are not understanding the origin and dets of this story.

- The Elantra "N" is a special OEM model that has a track/sport mode which uses a special tune (called "N" mode) that makes the exhaust LOUD. REALLY, REALLY LOUD. Much louder than is allowed for use on the street, and not certified as part of the approved street-use program.
- The driver was using this special track/sport "N" mode while on the public street
- The cop pulled the vehicle over with the belief that the vehicle was too loud
- The driver ADMITTED he was using the "N" mode on the street; a mode that is not certified for street use
- A citation was issued, as mandated under CA law
When a cop suspects a violation has occured, and the state law mandates a citation, and the driver admits to the violation at the scene, just what is the problem up to this point??????

NOTE: the "N" mode is not the "normal" mode; it stands for "Nurburgring" - their inspriation for the high performance model
Here is the Elantra N owner's manual supplement:
"In the N Custom mode, you can calibrate a variety of chassis and powertrain settings to match your driving preferences and road conditions. Or just max out everything by pressing the dedicated N Mode button on the steering wheel. Depending on the drive mode, a twin-outlet variable exhaust valve system lets you select exhaust sounds ranging from normal to powerful pops, snaps and snarls." (underline my emphasis)


This entire story never would have caught anyone's attention but for one screw up ... the sound test tech ran the vehicle in the wrong mode during the test, which caused the vehicle to fail the test, and because this is an OEM program, as there is nothing to "fix" for a retest.

The OEM is not at fault.
The cop is not at fault.
The driver is partially at fault.
The inspection referee is mostly at fault.
What is the CA law related to this beyond the ticket? Did the cop have to suspend his reg and force this test as part of the law? So this happens to anyone they pull for loud exhaust or was that something beyond normal in this situation?
 
Nobody is going through hours of body cam footage to ensure that cops are writing exhaust tickets.

Perhaps not, but it's entirely possible that someone does review some of the footage, like a random audit.

Like cheating on your taxes. How lucky do you feel?
 
Perhaps not, but it's entirely possible that someone does review some of the footage, like a random audit.

Like cheating on your taxes. How lucky do you feel?
Police officers allow warnings all the time so how does that work?
 
Cops say a lot of things. Never treat any of it as legal advice. Nowhere in the article does it say if a judge decided anything. It sounds like the owner was trying to get out of the ticket by getting a test to prove the car is not illegally loud. In that case it should be tested like he was driving it, with the N button on, and indeed it is illegally loud that way. He has no defense against the ticket.

After paying the ticket, which he did deserve to get, I don't see why he can't just get it tested again with the button off and clear the registration. If he has to "fix" something first, my fix would be to pull the button out of the dash. Then when the inspector says "what's the loudest mode" you can say "there's only one."
 
Police officers allow warnings all the time so how does that work?

Where did you miss the part about California law REQUIRING the cop to give a ticket, not a warning????

The cop did what he was legally required to do. I can't guess his motivations for doing so, but at a minimum it might be to avoid problems with his job.
 
Where did you miss the part about California law REQUIRING the cop to give a ticket, not a warning????

The cop did what he was legally required to do. I can't guess his motivations for doing so, but at a minimum it might be to avoid problems with his job.
So there is no discretion for exhaust noise violations in CA but there are for other violations? I am missing this part clearly. Listen..I'm good with a ticket if you break the law it's the rest of this that is nonsense and what is so crappy.
 
So there is no discretion for exhaust noise violations in CA but there are for other violations? I am missing this part clearly. Listen..I'm good with a ticket if you break the law it's the rest of this that is nonsense and what is so crappy.

No discretion. See post #4 in this thread, which states:

Assembly Bill 1824 went into effect in January 2019. This new legislation does not make California vehicle exhaust noise laws more strict. Instead, the Bill only makes it mandatory for police officers to issue immediate tickets to offenders.
 
You are on point as much as all of this is crazy to me. The issue I take is with the testing etc. - he should have had no issue beyond paying the ticket as the car is as-delivered from the new car manufacturer. These cars always revert to the "D" mode on key cycle and you have to select sport/N/whatever which as you state, put him out of compliance. Still strange to sell cars new that have any way to be out of compliance with any state's laws but I love our country, we can choose which state to live in!
digging a bit deeper, from SAE J1492 ...
"If a vehicle has a single operating mode, the results obtained by using this standard shall be reported. If a vehicle has two or more modes of operation that change the sound emission of the vehicle when tested according to this SAE Standard, the manufacturer may identify to the customer the modes which are used for compliance assessment. Any mode that can remain enabled through a power on/off cycle shall be included in the modes identified for compliance assessment."
Technically, any mode that the OEM designates as being applicable to the test shall be included in the test. That list of "approved" modes MUST INCLUDE any mode that stays engaged after a power on/off cycle. But it does NOT mandate that all modes be tested, so the OEM has the ability to choose which are included and which are not. That way, they are not accountable for modes which they do not intend to be complaint. What this means is that as long as Hyundai doesn't include the noisy "N" sport mode in the modes which are retained through a power on/off cycle, they do not have to be included in the sound assessment test. BUT, that also means they are not certifying that particularly noisy mode as being street legal.

The driver admitted he was in the sport/track mode on the street (can clearly be heard saying so in the video). When this owner was driving in "N" mode (the sport/tract mode), he was likely in violation of the law because Hyundai did not include that mode in the on/off retention modes as far as I can tell. Hence, Hyundai is not at fault; the driver is.

The officer was not in error here. The driver admitted he was driving in the noisy mode. I've researched the owner's manual and supplement and as far as I see, the noisy mode is NOT certified for street use; I can find no mention of the "N" mode noise being certified as street legal. IF someone can find a direct reference to the "N" mode being part of the street legal scheme, then that would make things different. But given the text of the owner's manual, and statements from the linked article, I suspect the "N" (sport/track) mode is NOT included in the power on/off retention on purpose, and therefore is NOT required to be certified. But that also means it's not legal to operate in that mode on the street.


Here's the reality of what needs to happen:
- the cop needs some counseling; it's not his job to be the judge and jury here; enforce the law and the it play out in the legal process
- the car does not need to be modified as the cop claimed; it only needs to be tested and operated in the certified modes for compliance
- the driver admitted he was operating the vehicle in a mode which is not certified for street use; he earned the citation and should have to pay for the ticket
- the CA code needs updated to more clearly define what is and is not acceptable

Only thing I'd add is that while the "N mode" is non compliant it is not eligible for being cited as such because the feature meets the requirements of the law (i.e. disengages via on/off cycle).

Fault lies with the application of the regulation.

On an aside there is more to "sport mode" than just sound. Sure sound is part of it, but it can includes changes in engine/transmission behavior (higher shift points, sharper shifts), steering, and suspension settings.
 
just what is the problem up to this point??????
Nothing to that point - but everything goes sideways afterwards.

But I respectfully disagree with the some of your other analysis.

The OEM is not at fault. - I agree

The cop is not at fault. Not for the ticket, but he clearly surpassed protect and serve with his vitriol and threats. He needs a new profession.

The driver is partially at fault. I sort of agree, to the point of play stupid games win stupid prizes. He should have been given a fine and sent to bed without supper - not had his registration revoked.

The inspection referee is mostly at fault. Yes, but the state as well. They put a human in charge, and given all humans make mistakes, they need an appeals or elevation process that doesn't require a court order. Its a poorly implemented system.
 
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