Legal Question in Traffic Law in Pennsylvania

Re: car engines

"Higher" than a V8??? The question does not even make sense. V8 is a configuration, not a displacement, and there have been V10 and V12 engines for most of the past 100 years in the US, though they are rare. There has even been V16's, though they are even rarer. NO, there is no restriction on engine size or configuration. If there was, Jay Leno would be in jail. Please learn to write proper questions, and realize that there ARE stupid questions, despite the saying to the contrary.

Re: car engines

This is an interesting question. I once had a friend who wanted to take a Mustang to 800 HP, and was told that he would have to make all sorts of body rigidity welds so that the frame didn't disintegrate when he hit the gas. He never got it that high--only to around 440 or so--but it was a beast. This was 20 years ago.

I am swamped with a few things right now so I can't look at the statutes, but I suspect that there are some guidelines to making supercharged cars street legal--not from how many valves they have, but from other parameters. Most of them would likely do with the tires (since you would want to add more rubber to contact the floor in order to transfer the added torque) the depth of the tread, etc.

One place to start would be to look up Steve Dinan's website, who does the mods for high performance BMWs. Shelby would also have some info on any general rules of thumb. However, consult a local attorney before you pull the trigger, since PA law is almost guaranteed to be different from that of other states, to a degree. Good luck on building your dream machine, and remember to drive it safely. Remember: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Once you get a citation for "reckless driving" (which, if you are convicted, carries a $283 fine and loss of license for 6 months), you will give anything to go back in time so that you can ease up on the gas a bit, use your signal, etc. Plus, you will need an attorney for the trial or the appeal (or both). Ok--speech over. I just defended a reckless this morning (successfully) so I am trying to save you what my client had to go through!

Good luck!

Doug