NBC News New York: I-Team Investigation: ‘Insane’ Car Modification Mimics Gunfire, Induces Panic

Tinted windows and hydraulic lowriders are so … 1990s.

One of the latest trends in custom car modifications goes way beyond style —and some say it could cause a dangerous panic among pedestrians.

The modification usually involves removing portions of a car’s exhaust system and “tuning” the computer that regulates a car’s fuel combustion to produce loud pops and flashes that fire like gunshots out of the vehicle’s tailpipe. On social media sites like Instagram, the I-Team found dozens of videos demonstrating straight pipe exhaust systems that have been altered using techniques called “straight piping” and “two-step” modifications.

Pedestrians said they could imagine a dangerous mass panic if one of the customized cars rolled past a crowded street.

“I’d freak out,” said Linda Marullo, a New Yorker walking through Times Square.

Teresa Leung, a Canadian visiting New York, watched the Instagram videos in disbelief…