Summary:
A "50 state legal *cat*" means SH*T!!!!!!!!
It's the
COMPLETE emission SYSTEM that Calf (and other States) care about.
So, you REQUIRE FOUR CATS IN THE SAME EXACT LOCATION WITH THE SAME (or tested to pass) EXHAUST PIPE DIAMETER.
ANYTHING ELSE EFFECTS SMOG, especially cold start - PERIOD!!!
This has been gone over a zillion times. Unfortunately, people that do not know the smog laws, or the real Calf smog laws keep posting incorrect info.
Now, does that mean that
every Calf inspection station, and every inspector, does things 100% to the State law and properly checks everything - DUH NO!! But, you can bet that ~99+% do it correctly.
So, some people get lucky in Calf with incorrect setups.
Some people also win the lottery.
You can empty your bank account and buy lottery tickets, and you can hope you pass Calf with an
obvious illegal mod (like a cat). IMHO, both are stupid.
So...