I e-mailed custommaxima 4 times asking him if his kit was smog legal/carb approved. No answer. I have always had good customer service from him until now. Anyway, I don't have any plans to take out my SC and put on a turbo but I was curious, are any of the turbo kits legal? Would I pass a visual smog test here in San Diego? Thanks guys.

Sorry if this has been adressed. I haven't been able to make it to the .org a lot in the last 12 months or so and I can't search.

 

None of the cars would possibly pass visual since most setups have the turbo sitting where the battery belongs. As of yet no one has bothered to make it CARB legal since it costs thousands and you can't move very many kits for the Maxima even if it was CARB legal.

That's not to say a turbo setup properly tuned with cat won't pass emissions. It's just it won't pass California's ultra strict guidelines for modifications to emissions equipment. Don't forget most Y-pipe's aren't legal either. Just figure if you have to worry about emissions legality, the best option is to stick w/ the supercharger.

 

I can't answer to San Diego but I passed here in AZ. Since my 97 is OBDII, they basically just do an idle test and scan the ECU. Pretty easy to pass here in Tucson.

Visually, still have the cat, still have the 02 sensors, still have everything you're supposed to have, just more stuff on top of it. I don't know what the rules are out there though. You can use my address to register your car if you want.

 

Luckily that's the same thing they do here in GA.

None of the turbo setups would pass CARB visual inspection since it's not stock and has no CARB number. CARB is very, very strict. I've heard of Hondas not passing CARB visual simply because they're running the head off of another Honda and the VIN's don't match.