I go to school at Ferrum College, when I go home for spring break i'm going to install a catless downpipe with cutout on my caliber srt4. Living back home at Williamsburg, I doubt i'll be able to drive with the cutout open too often. Being a lil more "rural" in western, how strict are the cops on exhaust loudness?

 

Depends on where you're at, and time of the month. I know for a fact Roanoke county and Salem are cock smokes about that shit and won't hesitate to pull you over. I don't know about Roanoke city unless you're car is obnoxiously loud.

 

They're just as strict if not more strict here. I know for a fact salem, LB, state and county cops will pull you over in a heartbeat. Roanoke city is hit or miss, depends on how there day has been. I've been pulled over in LB, salem and county for an apexi ws2 on a d series civic...

 

I take longer routes to avoid the county and anywhere state police might be. Avoid vinton at all costs. Salem and roanoke city have never given me a problem before, but some cars definitely do get picked on more than others.

 

Salem has changed in the past year or so....it seems they've gotten a lot more lenient on things. I used to get pulled over for exhaust, ride height, no front plate, tint everything. Now they don't even give you a look.

 

When I had my srt4 I was running a catless downpipe and the previous owner had a 3 inch pipe coming out under the rear driver side door. Damn thing sounded like a dumptruck. If I went through a drivethru I would literally have to turn the car off because the people inside couldn't hear me. I never had a problem out of any of the police except a state trooper buddy of mine that has given me at least 5 exhaust tickets on different cars.

 

You can install a boost operated cut out after the downpipe. That way it will be pretty quiet just driving around, assuming the exhaust after the cut out is pretty quiet, but "wake up" when you start beating on it.
That's what i'm planning on doing.

 

Ive seen those, I plan on getting the electronic opener on the cutout like this one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=dXXx1uK5pY4

 

These are nice.The vacuum "pulls" it closed,so it doesn't leak much/at all under normal driving.
Only disadvantage is they don't fully open until you start making a little boost,so if you've got a restrictive exhaust that may be contributing to lag,you still won't get the advantage of an open exhaust at initial tip-in.Probably not an issue in reality though.

I've installed several of these,and had one on my old turbo car.All of the various brands I have experience with will leak a little when closed,since the gear mechanism doesn't have anything to hold the valve closed.Vibration and exhaust pressure will cause it to open slightly and you'll have to bump the switch to close it tight periodically.If your exhaust is pretty quiet you can definitely hear annoying leak,similar to when you have a leaky flange gasket.

The Doug's Headers cutouts are kickass.They're a guillotine style,so the door slides in a track and completely covers the opening.When open,the cutout is completely unobstructed,without a butterfly valve in the way.
Only problem is last time I checked they were like $250+,and I'm not sure the company is even still in business,haha.

 

Not to mention every single one of the electric ones fails sooner or later, usually sooner!

The vac/boost ones I've seen are on ATP's website, but they're never in stock, almost like they quit making them.

My car personally has a massive Magnaflow muffler on it. It's pretty quiet, and painted black is still quite stealth. The exhaust on my car came from a car making over 650whp, so it still flows fine. If you can fit one under there that's the way to go.