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Good article from Road &Track around the changes California is making to their smog testing. Given the number of RX's in CA and that other states seem to adopt some of our policies, thought I'd share this.
California Will Start Testing for ECU Tunes During Smog Checks Starting Next Week
If your car isn't running the factory software or a tune approved by the California Air Resources Board, you'll fail the test. Full Story
If you live in California and run an aftermarket tune on your car, you might want to think about flashing your ECU back to stock before heading out for your biennial Smog Check. Starting July 19, 2021, testing stations will begin to check whether cars are running OEM or California Air Resources Board (CARB)-approved tunes. If your car isn't, it'll fail the test.
The new policy, first highlighted by Car Bibles on Tuesday, is outlined in the California Bureau of Automotive Repair's Frequently Asked Questions section. From the webpage:
Beginning July 19, 2021, vehicles with software not provided by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) or approved through a California Air Resources Board (CARB) Executive Order (EO) will fail Smog Check.
Before your vehicle will pass a Smog Check, you must have the vehicle’s software restored to the OEM software version. Once the software is restored, have your vehicle reinspected by a licensed Smog Check station
If you believe the vehicle’s software is already OEM or CARB-approved and yet your vehicle failed Smog Check, schedule an inspection with the Smog Check Referee.
If you unknowingly purchased a vehicle with illegally-modified software, you may file a complaint with BAR.
Note that vehicles initially directed to a STAR or Referee station must return to the same station type to complete the inspection process.
California is among the strictest regions on the planet when it comes to emissions policies, so it's not surprising to see the BAR implement a rule that it thinks will curb emissions by preventing cars from using aftermarket tunes that could increase said emissions, no matter how negligible that increase may be.
Tuning your car is one of the easiest and most effective mods you can do to a car, one that often provides measurable results, especially if the car in question is turbocharged. Do you think car owners should be required to run OEM or state-approved tunes in their cars? Do you own a car with a tune? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
yikes, this is a big one for owners of modified cars in California.
When the tail pipe sniffer test went away and everything was being done by OBD, the tuners quickly realized you could still smog a car with an aftermarket tune so long as it was operating within a certain spec (which to some extent we could alter via tuning)
I know of several guys who smogged their RX-8's with COBB AccessPORT tunes still installed, no problem.
Part of me wants to try to test my car with my mazdaedit tune, however I dont have a OEM cat to install if I do fail and get sent to a BAR/State Ref.. not to mention my car is partially taken apart to get work done at the body shop
Part of me wants to try to test my car with my mazdaedit tune, however I dont have a OEM cat to install if I do fail and get sent to a BAR/State Ref.. not to mention my car is partially taken apart to get work done at the body shop
trust me, you don't want to have to go to the State Referee, I had to do that last year and getting the car ready for that Inspection was NOT fun.
isnt there a work around registering your car in montana or something
Montana is a popular option but mainly for people with multiple cars and they also need to be fully paid off.
requires lots of paperwork, most hire a law firm to file for them as you'll need an LLC, address, mailing address, etc.
Montana is a popular option but mainly for people with multiple cars and they also need to be fully paid off.
requires lots of paperwork, most hire a law firm to file for them as you'll need an LLC, address, mailing address, etc.
i would be shocked if most 8s arent paid off due to how cheap they are and most owners have more than one car due to reliability and gas prices
I personally welcome this and say it was about time accountability has come into the discussion. We all know that if your car is 'modified' it doesn't belong on the street.
In the end these policies will do much more good for law abiding citizens driving on public roads than the impact it will have on performance shops, enthusiasts, auto economy, etc.
Hate to be the adult in the room but there are plenty of other hobbies which require modification(s) that will satisfy that 'tinkering' itch.
I personally welcome this and say it was about time accountability has come into the discussion. We all know that if your car is 'modified' it doesn't belong on the street.
In the end these policies will do much more good for law abiding citizens driving on public roads than the impact it will have on performance shops, enthusiasts, auto economy, etc.
Hate to be the adult in the room but there are plenty of other hobbies which require modification(s) that will satisfy that 'tinkering' itch.
I personally welcome this and say it was about time accountability has come into the discussion. We all know that if your car is 'modified' it doesn't belong on the street.
In the end these policies will do much more good for law abiding citizens driving on public roads than the impact it will have on performance shops, enthusiasts, auto economy, etc.
Hate to be the adult in the room but there are plenty of other hobbies which require modification(s) that will satisfy that 'tinkering' itch.
Coming from someone who's cars are heavily modified...
The problem isn't modified cars. Most of the awful **** going on is with cars that either are A) not registered and owners are scum of the car scene ruining it for everyone or B) high HP off the lot cars that are owned also by scum of the car scene owners and ruining it for everyone.
Go after the problem, not the tool. Hmm sounds like the states stance on gun control they are attacking the tool and not the problem. Not trying to make things political lets be clear, just making the point that the state has a very flawed approach to the issue and they should be less focused on crap like this and more focused on going after the problems of illegal racing and more harsh penalties for those who are contributing.
I'd like to say this is all going to be moot in 50 years when the majority of cars on the road are electric, but if it takes the automotive world that long to change, it'll take twice as long for regulations to catch up.
I personally welcome this and say it was about time accountability has come into the discussion. We all know that if your car is 'modified' it doesn't belong on the street.
In the end these policies will do much more good for law abiding citizens driving on public roads than the impact it will have on performance shops, enthusiasts, auto economy, etc.
Hate to be the adult in the room but there are plenty of other hobbies which require modification(s) that will satisfy that 'tinkering' itch.
I'm convinced you just think you're better than everyone else and more mature than everyone else because reasons. Your opinions on the way people modify cars are gatekeeping and obnoxiously rude. Maybe take a chill pill and realize your poop stinks too. I tried to ignore it when you called me out, but your nonsense in the Gridlife thread and other threads and now here spurred me into commenting.
As stated by other folks in this thread, the typical modded car person isn't the problem and unfortunately this hurts the general car guy a lot more than it hurts the people that are actually problems because it's easy to overreact like they are.
I personally welcome this and say it was about time accountability has come into the discussion. We all know that if your car is 'modified' it doesn't belong on the street.
In the end these policies will do much more good for law abiding citizens driving on public roads than the impact it will have on performance shops, enthusiasts, auto economy, etc.
Hate to be the adult in the room but there are plenty of other hobbies which require modification(s) that will satisfy that 'tinkering' itch.
Not sure if this is an attempt to troll or not. Your posts have been leaning that way for a while.
Please re-read the rules so there doesn't become a priblem
I don't see how will this make a difference regarding emissions... after all, all what people need to do is flash the ECU back to stock, take the smog check and then flash their tune back afterwards.
Doesn't seem to be effective and it's just an extra nuisance.
Having said that, now I hope my AccessPort still works and can do the flashing back and forth - haven't used it since MazdaManiac did the tune many years ago.
Yeah I’m not a fan.. and I don’t even tune my ECU. It feels like a money grab tbh. The people who “tune” their cars will tune it back to oem a month prior to smog. So only the complete newb will be sidelined. If they are trying to go after the take over / sideshow crowd, this is the wrong approach. I think CARB has a complete disconnect as to what people actually do with their cars. And on top of this I am still waiting for my roads to be fixed up from the gas tax… I’ve seen nothing done in regards to road repairs. Which I actually find to be a huge safety concern. I’m looking down for poor holes rather than up for pedestrians or cyclists.
California is still a great state.. but for some reason even with all of the perceived BS people think we deal with. This one actually did irk me way more than it should have. No moving out of state isn’t the solution… what is… I dunno.. perhaps getting more involved with politics. Hell we have 30 year olds flapping their mouths in congress. That is way too young to know wth is going on and start petitioning laws that mold our society. I’m not an old man but I know when I was 30, I was career and power hungry. And with age you actually make better use of your free time with issues that matter. This ECU check is a someone literally making work for themselves to make their department seem relevant.
Very much like the non technical project manager calling all all hands on deck to manually audit something. When a 2 second query in a database will do. This is simply busy work so someone could check a box… yet we have to deal with it.
the reasons I got irked and what led me down this rabbit hole. First I imported a Canadian rx8. But the only way to do it was to swap in another ECU from a US car. From a use standpoint nothing changes except the communication between the BCU and the cluster for the TPMS sensors. Now what’s going to stop them from flagging my car because the VIN in the ECU doesn’t match the VIN of the registration. Mind you my car is 100% legal. But I had to swap out the entire computer assembly from a junked Rx8.
2nd, another issue that cames to mind. The young adult who bought a second or third or fourth hand rx8. It’s a series 1, very customizable, and has changed hands a few times. Perhaps a previous owner went in and modified the fan conteoller so it kicked in at a lower temp, allowing the car to run cooler. The current owner knows nothing about this. But when they go to smog their car it’s flagged as tampered.. this is the scenario that irks me… not the guy coding out his CEL.. the innocent owner who inherits a modified tune which isn’t even a tune for performance but reliability. That affects smog in no way.
But then we see on the other hand, Porsche cant legally sell the 911 GT3 manual because of exhaust laws… then magically 2 weeks later. “Don’t worry, Porsche and CHP talked and it’s ok now.”
”we” as car enthusiasts need to do better / more. The online petitions of “sign this so you’re heard” isn’t enough. Personally I’d setup a rule in my inbox to put them in a folder and forgot about them. We need to do something else..
How will CA know that you're not running the stock tune - is it based on a serial #, specal code, etc? Are they really going to go back and look at 10+ year old cars?
Dont worry guys ... it wont be too bad. We have these kinda Rules here in Germany for years. You can still have your modified car and have fun ... the only thing is you have to do it right with emissions and safety in mind too.
In the end .. noone should drive a modified car that is dangerous (to others or the environment) and thats just a puzzle piece to make that happen. Good Tuners will still be able to produce sick builds while getting their software approved and checksums deposited at some regulatory body.
Dont worry guys ... it wont be too bad. We have these kinda Rules here in Germany for years. You can still have your modified car and have fun ... the only thing is you have to do it right with emissions and safety in mind too.
In the end .. noone should drive a modified car that is dangerous (to others or the environment) and thats just a puzzle piece to make that happen. Good Tuners will still be able to produce sick builds while getting their software approved and checksums deposited at some regulatory body.
Greetings from Germany
Thomas
A bit rich coming the country who invented how to bypass emissions with their "clean" diesel technology.
A bit rich coming the country who invented how to bypass emissions with their "clean" diesel technology.
Well ... not all people are honest in what they do .. especially not car manufacturers. What i meant is that it is a good thing that the government takes control of cars without catalysators or badly modified software. There will still be room for car guys and modified cars tho even if its heavily regulated (as it is here in Germany).
Does California have exempt rules for mileage like other states? Here in PA if you drive the car less than 5K miles a year they dont care about emissions. I would imagine many 8's at this point are weekend or second cars.
Does California have exempt rules for mileage like other states? Here in PA if you drive the car less than 5K miles a year they dont care about emissions. I would imagine many 8's at this point are weekend or second cars.
07-15-2021, 01:11 PM
best of luck to those in cali.. that will suck...
- haven't used it since MazdaManiac did the tune many years ago.
