Recent law change meant exhaust noise had to be similar to a standard vehicle, Senior Sergeant Steve Aitken, of Dunedin, said.
Drivers of cars with modified exhausts were issued $50 tickets and received 25 demerit points.
The most offences were detected by police in in Christchurch, where 39 drivers received offence notices.
Operations manager for road policing support at Police National Headquarters, Inspector Carey Griffiths, said the operation was extremely successful.
"Despite poor weather across the country keeping many inside, this operation also resulted in over 60 vehicles being ordered off the road for a variety of faults, including cut-down suspension, highly tinted windows, worn tyres and other faults affecting the safety and driveability of the car," he said.
"Upper Hutt police even reported stopping one vehicle with no exhaust system at all."
Working in conjunction with police, court bailiffs seized at least eight vehicles for unpaid fines, and in Whangarei entered into arrangements with 10 fines defaulters with fines totalling more than $100,000.
The recent law change reduced the fine for operating a vehicle in a noisy manner from $250 to $50, but it now carries 25 demerit points.
Vehicles will also have to comply with noise tests as part of warrant of fitness checks, or be ordered to undergo objective noise testing.
"Continued offending will mean a loss of licence, rather than high levels of accumulated fines, which means we get these drivers off the road before they amass fines they cannot or will not pay," Insp Griffiths said.
Drivers of modified vehicles should have their noise levels checked at a testing station if they were in doubt as to whether their exhaust noise was legal, Mr Griffiths said.
