Does anyone know about any legislation in California to go to sniffer only smog test? The visual is bs as long is it burns clean.

 

doubt that ever happens, even if it does they will for sure keep the ODB-II test. The visual test is not really bs if you understand the theory behind it. The max emission limits you are given are just a nice jesture. They want all cars to be as close to zero as possiable. So say you have a car that the max HC you have is 100ppm, and say with no AIR you still run 80ppm so you would "pass" but say you put the AIR back on and it runs 30ppm. It would be better emissions so the visual does have an effect..

 

Not to mention the time it takes to heat the catalytic convertors. It would be impratical to measure warm-up at a smog station, the only thing they can do is check that the catalytic convertors are the stock distance away from the block.

CARB (California Air Resource Board) generates legislation that is adopted by the EPA. Very unusual for state government to develop federal standards. I cant think of any other example where that happens. To make it even more extreme, many foreign countries adopt CARB and EPA standards. In a nut shell, the world watches what california (CARB) does.

OBDIII is around the corner. If my sources are correct, that means new cars will come standard with wideband O2 sensors. In other words, better mileage, better performance, and cleaner air. Who would complain? .... the major car manufactures that dont want to sink another $250 into the cost of each car.

CARB has made a significant improvement to the standard of living.

 

other places that I see starting smog programs that are not as strict as CA IMO are dumb, if your area is having air quality issues, why not attack it all out and squish it instead of letting it get worse with emission laws that are a joke.. The only way the tests can become easier is that the air quality has to go up. One thing to think about on an LS1 F-body there are no performance hindering emission parts except the Cats, and even that is probably minor.

 

It just seems odd that all of my aftermarket parts except the shorty headers will fail the visual. Also, no long tube headers allowed at all here.

 

Most of your speed parts will not affect your emmisions. The manufactures do not want to spend the $$$ to get the part CARB approved. Simple matter of economics. Long tube headers improve the scavaging effect and may pull unburned fuel (aka hyrdo carbons) out of the cylinder in greater quantities than what the OEM system was designed to handle. Furthermore, the LT's place the carb further away from the block. They take more time to heat up and will not function properly until then.

The ideal location to place a catalytic convertor to increase performance is at the very end of the exhaust, just before the tail pipes. The problem is that the cats would take way too long before they start working every time you start your car.

My only problem with the smog laws is when they try to retroactively change pre 1974 emissions requirements. Total BS.

 

If what i've read is correct, California OBDIII will be equipped with some sort of transmitter that can be picked up with recievers places along side highways, emissions vans, and possibly patrol cars. It would transmit vehicle data mostly containing obd codes I believe. This means you could be fined or required to visit a testing station over something is stupid as not putting the gas cap on and having it throw a code. What if you were working on your car and threw a code temporarly while changing sensors ect ect. and now you can't drive it for fear of the tree police IMOP, its an invasion of privacy. Then again where I live, my tuning passes the obdII test quite easily

 

I wonder if you took your shorties, removed the
EO plate, and had it tack-welded onto your new
long tube headers, if it would fool enough of the
people enough of the time.

 

Smoking-
Maybe someone stupid enough to leave the gas cap off should be fined. Do you really think the police have enough resources to do this?

They allready have road side test equipment to check for "gross poluters."

They rumored remote transmitting with OBDI and with OBDII. ... it wont happen with OBDIII. I value my right to privacy very much also. OBDIII is not a threat compared to Patriot Act II or even the info transmitted on your cell phone.

Some people have been bitching and moaning about emission controls since the '70s. What have these standards gotten us? Better air to breath. How can this upset anyone? I can still remember my eyes burning and having difficulty breathing during the summers in the mid 1970's. Go visit Mexico City and see how life would be without CARB. It sucks.

My '00 camaro would not pass visual or sniffer tests if checked today. I have ways around this. My '57 Pontiac with 3x2 carbs (aka tri-power) will never be checked for emission so I can do with it what I want. Get a pre 1974 and drive it rich with worn out rings... no problem.

Jimmy-
Yes, most smog check shops are not trying to fail customers. They just want to cover their asses against fines.

 

I heard going to the visual only missing passing by only one vote. Anyone know anything about that?