The legality of "performance" mufflers from various car manufacturers

In this article, I will talk about a problem often encountered by motorists who have chosen to have their car dealer install a performance muffler (e.g. SRT for Dodge and Chrysler, STI for Subaru, etc.), and who are stopped by the police for a "non-conforming muffler", and are given a statement of offence for having contravened section 258 of the Highway Safety Code.

1- First of all, what are the legal criteria regarding the legality of a silencer?
In Ville de Blainville v. Moreau of January 18, 2017, Mr. Moreau was stopped because the police officer claimed that the sound of the exhaust system of his Subaru WRX STI stood out from the others, being louder. The police officer stopped Mr. Moreau and inserted a pin in the muffler to check if it had all the components of the original muffler. According to the officer, the pin went in without a problem. The officer then gave him a ticket.

2- Mr. Moreau contests for the following reasons:

• His car was bought new, from Subaru, and Mr. Moreau had the "STI" option installed on his car. A high performance muffler is installed. This muffler has a deeper sound than the original muffler and increases performance.
• This muffler is a Subaru part and was installed by Subaru.
• The part is sold as meeting federal noise standards.
• Mr. Moreau said he relied on Subaru's claims that the part was legal and that it was certified.

3- Expertise at trial:
The prosecution called a police expert to testify that the pin went completely unobstructed into Moreau's ITS muffler. He said that Mr. Moreau's car caught his attention because it was louder than the others on the road at the time.

The defense had a Subaru foreman testify that for both the original and "STI" models, a pin will enter without obstruction. Subaru mufflers have been patented in this way. In addition, the witness conducted a sound test to determine that the sound of the "STI" muffler was several decibels below federal standards.

Defense claims:
In addition, the defence argued that the muffler on Mr. Moreau's vehicle should be considered an original muffler, in that it is a certified Subaru part and that it was on the vehicle when Mr. Moreau took possession of it. The defence also argued that the officer never asked Mr. Moreau to "give gas" to confirm that the muffler in question was indeed louder than the others on the road that morning. Finally, the defense argued that, since the part was sold as being up to standard, if Mr. Moreau cannot rely on Subaru's certification, then who can he rely on?

The applicable noise standards are 83 decibels by federal decree, but be aware that there is no legal requirement for the police officer to measure the noise before issuing a ticket.

3- Court decision:
First of all, the court concluded that the muffler, being a certified Subaru part and being on the vehicle when Mr. Moreau took possession of it, must be considered as an original muffler. It should be noted that it was also proven that Mr. Moreau's muffler was never altered in any way, between the time he took possession of the vehicle and the time of the interception.

Moreover, Subaru attests that its mufflers meet the standards, and they have demonstrated this by conducting conclusive sound tests (result of 71 decibels). The Subaru witness came to question the pin test so often applied by the various police forces by claiming that the pin passes as much on the basic silencers as on the performance ones and the court took note of it.

The Subaru ITS muffler is therefore a legal muffler within the meaning of the law. Finally, regardless of this fact, the court found, as the defense contended, that Mr. Moreau exercised due diligence in believing the ITS muffler to be legal, as he was informed by persons in authority at Subaru that the muffler in question met Canadian noise standards.

4- Conclusion :
We must conclude from this case that a performance muffler certified by the car manufacturer, installed by the car dealer and not subsequently altered, is considered an original muffler, even if it is taken as an option and is not the muffler that originally came with the vehicle in question. It can have a different sound, and even be louder than the base model, while still meeting the established standards.