Just went through the smog process for my S4 Turbo Vert. Out of curiosity, I pulled my smog report from July 2006 to compare to October, 2011. This is how the tolerances compared:

HC (PPM) 2006 --- 2011
15 mph >> 121 --- 85
25 mph >> 96 --- 67

CO (%)
15 mph >> .76 --- .54
25 mph >> .65 --- .45

NO (PPM)
15 mph >> 807 --- 565
25 mph >> 746 --- 522

So, emissions are supposed to IMPROVE with age? Pretty soon the test will require cars to be like trees and generate oxygen.

 

All i have to say is thank god for smog exemption on pre 75 vehicles

 

and nevada isn't too far off and the only county here that requires smog is las vegas, pahrump is about an hour away and does not require smog. although i don't bother with registering it out of county with my car as the smog standard here are basic.

you can also legally have side window tint in NV.

of course you may get hassled if you drive in cali much with out of state plates and have no NV driver's license.

 

Frigging smog *****.

 

Are you kidding?! Hahaha how are we supposed to pass with increasingly stricter smog tolerances on old cars?

 

you don't, that's the point.

the purpose is to fail your car, crush it and have you buy a new car off the showroom floor.

 

... how is that legal?

 

how are camera lights legal?

 

Good point. This is ridiculous.

 

^^ yup. wtf, what i want to know is how they determine the pass/fail values for the various exhaust gasses... why the hell would they get increasingly stricter over time? they should not change at all relative to when the car was new. this is total bullshit. f'n treehuggers. 3/4 of the priuses i see on the road are speeding or driving like a total douche, so much for "going green". ********.

 

It has very little to do with tree hugging and a lot more to do with the pressure to get them off roads so new cars can get off the show room floors and onto the streets.

 

^^ agreed but it's still total BS. most of the people who have older cars, are either enthusiasts (like most of us) or just try to maintain their old junker... the latter group probably can't afford a brand spankin new shitbox. what is it going to take for them to get a new car... take out a loan they really shouldn't, presumably b/c they don't have the cash (or just don't want to spend)? why not just spend a little here and there to keep the old car running... but "it won't pass smog". it seems to get harder every year. it's a total f'n nightmare. i can understand why they would be strict on new cars coming out to be greener/cleaner... but the older ones?

what i'm trying to say is that they are putting a lot of pressure on people with older cars to get a new one when they probably can't reasonably afford it. for the enthusiasts like most of us, we're a minority amongst the cars on the road, so it pisses me off to see the emissions standards change, when we all know the car was introduced to our market (california) with known emissions characteristics. those standards should not change as the car gets older.

anyway... i agree with you.

 

The fundamental point of smog checks to is deal with managing air polution. Has air polution in California gotten worst since 2006 that the tolerances needed to be lowered?

I think I'll call the CARB office tomorrow and see what the "official" line is. This should be good....................

 

they don't really care if you can't afford a new car either, those who can't will rideshare or ride public transportation. either way they have less cars populating the roads so less smog.

i don't necessarily 100% disagree with that mentality, if you look at how many vehicles are produced and run on roadways in the world each year the figures are startling. in another 10 years at the current rate of growth cities like LA, SF, new york, etc will all be gridlocked with cars, the majority of them being big hummers taking up the space of 2 prius'. at which point how do they fix the roadway situation? rip down your grandma's house to add another 2 lanes to the freeway at a cost of billions to the taxpayers?

but the fact that you lose your rights more and more every year without any say, something is going to give sooner or later.

point is you should not have to forcibly get rid of your car. if it fails the current standard then that is well enough and they are already doing a fine job in that respect getting real polluting vehicles off the road. how many 80's cars do you pass on a daily basis now? 1 in 1000? if yes then they have already filtered out the problem vehicles. clamping down on them tighter is virtually threatening you to react and california is notorious for that, unfortunately the majority of the population is also sheep and accepting of forcible change.

 

For the first 10 years the smog output of my V6 Isuzu was barely measurable and about 10% the average output of other V6 Isuzu's. 150,000 miles, driven hard and used for TOWING. So it can be done. Routine maintenance is key. Ever clean an EGR valve?

And I second WhiteRice_7, being smog exempt is the way to go.

 

Lol...these were lowered last summer in '10. We recived notice from the C.A.R.B that it would be a 30% reduction...just means more business for smog shops haha... not a real reason behind it...its just Cali beeing Cali

 

Actually, Smog-Guy, making the existing standards more restrictive means LESS business for smog shops (and other repair shops) in the long term.

Sure, you might get a little up-front bump in repeat business from people failing and having to re-test... but anything that causes people to junk an older smog-challenged car for a new car will lose you their business for at least 6 years, seeing as new cars are exempt from testing for the first 6 years post-registration. If they buy an electric instead, you'll never see them again.

Overly-tight smog restrictions have hurt, not helped, the auto-repair and parts industries, all but killed the DIY and Rodder markets compared to what they used to be, and smog test stations are going to start feeling the squeeze too.

 

I work at a gold shield... we are a repair shop as well...and have programs that help people who are in need financialy. Some pay upwards of 1300 if you meet some criteria... I say out of all the cars that fail...80% of them get repaired at our shop. Not saying we will be forever good...but have not hurt in business in a very long time.

I do undertsand what u are saying you have a point...

 

Out of curiosity, did CARB give justification to the 30% lowering? Point being, I passed by a 35% cushion in 2006. Now as you might guess, much closer pass with essentially same readings 5 years later. Unless there has been a degridation of air quality since then, I don't get it. The get old cars off the road argument just seems too arbitrary and certainly isn't the "official" word.

Doing the math against the numbers in my initial post, 30% reduction is pretty much it.

 

California is all about the quick fix. Thinking long term is too abstract for our brilliant governors up north.

I'm so down to split this state in half.

 

If you guys are interested.. all emissions limits for a vehicle can be found here:http://www.smogcheck.ca.gov/pubwebqu.../ShowMake.aspx

 

nice find Mike

 

Red light camera are voluntary
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jul...meras-20110727

 

My FD that I got last year has a smog check only after a year of owning it.

Now I have to return my car to stock after I just did all the work.

 

In Los Angeles County. I wouldn't count on simpy ignoring in all Counties.