37 replies to this topic

[Andrewv]

Heres a link to the DOTARs website for the new draft they are working on to bring all the states into alignment for an Australia wide standard on what you can or cant do to your car when modifying
http://www.dotars.go...ownloads.aspx#3

Looks like modified cars will be a thing of the past unless we are all prepared to have cars tested for ADR compliance.

[Entaran]

After reading that from end to end, there's nothing in there that really affects us except most of us will have to strip our window tints.

Sum it up:

Window tinting 35% no darker on any window. Windscreen can be tinted in upper 10% or above windscreen wiper sweep. Bodykits must be made from an ADR Compliant material. Most body/chassis mods don't require certification, that said your hardcore ones like limo conversions, convertible/ute/etc conversions, kit cars do.

They took out emissions requirements on modified engines for some reason or didn't make mention of it.

[Andrewv]

You have all missed the major point. All modifications MUST comply with ADR's.
For any import engine to comply it must be tested against Australian regulations.This test costs $3000. JDM emissions are not the same as ADR's. Using import engines with JDM looms and ecu's is NOT a pass for ADR's .
Even fitting a turbo or supercharger affects ADR's. To be allowed you will have to prove that the mod has not affected emissions. It will have to be tested ($3000)

[runuts]

I wouldnt be too concerned about any of this. We have always been supposed to comply with ADR's. Nothing new there. The compliance with these is truly not as hard, nor as expensive as it first appears. Dont be mislead into thinking its the end of the modified car scene. Its designed specifically to have an equal playing field across the nation. As the end goal is to have national road rules and regulations. This is just one of the steps.

(Believe me, the government is fully aware of how much money is in the modified car industry, to them through taxs and to the community via employment etc. They arent about to kill it off, thats for sure.)

[Entaran]

*yawns*

4G63 ADR compliance emissions testing has already been done and taken care of for all vr4/e1/e2/e3. Ask Phillip Messer here in Ballarat. He has the paperwork.

Therefore it'll be a more or less nonissue for us with older cars.

[matress]

as said above, we are supposed to comply with the ADR requirements with any engine, that is what EPA tests are meant to make us do. (as far as emissions is concerned)
It doesnt seem all that different from what is going on now except it would be more fair to everyone instead of having diffferent rules for each state.

[GSRSOL]

dont care really........

just dont get busted 8)

[WRCVR4]

HaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHa

All you that live in states, none of thiss will effect the NT
See's everyone with a modified car moving to Darwin :shock:


hmm tell me again why im moving to Melbourne :shock:

[jase]

hmm tell me again why im moving to Melbourne :shock:

less abradigitals?

[WRCVR4]

for the shit ill have to go through if i bring the VR4 :shock:

i can put up with a few extra non-reflective's :?

[Evo-00x]

PLEASE READ

I've gotten straight onto one of the RTA boyz in the committee responsible for the DRAFT release. He's going to advise me if and when the DRAFT will be available for public comment as the DOTARS website is titled 'public comment' but there is no indication of when? and for how long? :roll: I'm not going to let this pass us by like a ship in the night without anyone knowing about it as I didnt even know it was released and they were seeking comment already and I work in the RTA!!! :shock:

I believe there has got to be a far greater input from the public into this document. The previous LVM material was so grey and didnt cover a lot of current issues. What the public wants to read is an easy to understand document describing 'yes you can do this, no you cant do that, if you wanna do that then you need to ensure this or get this approved... plus I would like to see the addition of a list of DEFECTABLE offences so the public has a friggen point of reference! It seems that the Police are just making them up willy nilly and when you take your car to the RTA they laugh, you pay the $$ to get the defect cleared, and you're gone again :evil:

When the draft does become available for public comment I will advise on this forum. Then I hope and wish for the sake of motor vehicle enthusiasts, that we all put our 2 cents worth in for the greater good. We have got to play this smart... perhaps even put our heads together and develop a thread of a list of issues we know to be grey, or rediculous, or defectable, and just reason as to why we think so.

Our commulative effort in this will be drawn up into a report (I can do this if you want) and is to be submitted to the RTA during the time period that public comment is sought.

So, to start this off I am requesting that Admins make this post a 'Sticky' and we can get down to business. To start it off, does anyone have any points of view they would like to express or see in the documentation? We can discuss them on here and develop a list before time for feedback has ceased

[Entaran]

Wish granted. I'll go through it when I have some more time.

[Liberoz]

You have all missed the major point. All modifications MUST comply with ADR's.
For any import engine to comply it must be tested against Australian regulations.This test costs $3000. JDM emissions are not the same as ADR's. Using import engines with JDM looms and ecu's is NOT a pass for ADR's .
Even fitting a turbo or supercharger affects ADR's. To be allowed you will have to prove that the mod has not affected emissions. It will have to be tested ($3000)

Emissions EPA testing is free in NSW be it all but hard to get it tested when all these mofo's boys in blue make it their mission to defect any car they can find when doing any traffic road stop.

For the record my car passed emissions testing at Botany RTA with flying colours and dare I say its so far from being stock

[Liberoz]

also ive had this result after opening the link up in another tab
Redirection Page


The page you are looking for cannot be found.
You may be able to find the information you are after from the homepage, or by using the Search Engine.
If you have difficulty finding the information you are trying to locate, please contact the Information Management Section.
The department is committed to continually reviewing and improving the site and looks forward to receiving your feedback.


?

[andy's-galant]

yeh same

[Evo-00x]

Did you guys notice that as of 1st September 2008 the new EPA laws have given the Police power to issue infringements for vehicle exhaust noise pollution! That's right, it originally came into effect in February but they have been lenient and letting it settle in up until the 1st September 2008 to give people time to change their exhausts [gee, was this advertised anywhere?]. Anyhow, now you can get a fine for having a noisy exhaust, not a defect! And get this, it doesnt even have to be noise tested for db levels either! If the police deem that your exhuast is too loud they now have the power to issue you an on the spot fine!

The EPA law also was amended to include a clause basically stating that no device shall be utilised where it can effect the noise levels of your exhaust system. .i.e. you can now get a fine for having adjustable noise regulators fitted to your car / adjustable or removabale baffles and even removable packing inside your muffler. This is a real sh!t because even if you are within legal noise limits, and say you have a Varex muffler for example, technically its able to adjust the noise level of the car (for the better!) but it will fall under this ruling because it can adjust the noise levels of your exhaust system. Therefore you will be issued with an on the spot infringement... provided they stick their head up your zorst to notice the butterfly.

Its not the Police who came up with this legislation in this case, it was the EPA! and the EPA have given power to the police to issue infringements on behalf of the EPA. I can see the police taking full advantage of this power as I bet we'll be seeing a lot more guys issued with fines for noisy mufflers once the police get the memo and figure out its an easy way to make $$ and meet their quotas

As for the emissions testing you have to book it in with the RTA in NSW. This test is just for exhaust emission gases and pollutants coming out the back of your car. I believe they take the vehicle to 2/3rd of its factory redline level when testing.

Induction modifiactions - if you have an aftermarket cold air induction box or pod filter (covered) you will be subjected to a 'drive by noise test' which is a requirement of the EPA and the damn thing costs $500!!! The same goes for Blow Off Valves. Its their way of regulating the amount of people making induction modifications including BOV's. This test is done by driving by the test equipment at 3000rpm. Now this is where it gets interesting. Both RTA engineering signatories I have been dealing with have said the exact same thing about this, but blow off valves are illegal on cars with Air Flow Meters due to emissions, but not illegal on cars with MAP sensors! So if you have a BOV on an AFM vehicle then give up on getting the external BOV passed. However, if you have an external venting BOV on a car with a MAP sensor (ie most aftermaket ECU's) you meet emissions and are only subjected to comply to the drive by noise test! In fact you can do the 3000rpm drive by noise test above and pass with a external venting BOV and custom CAI as your bov will not go off at this rpm level and your big turbo will be quiet as it hasnt even begun to spool.... test passed!

Another thing to note if you have to remove and ditch your stock airbox, then you are OK to use an airbox from another vehicle that complies to the same emissions ADR's as your vehicle. i.e. If you use a stock V8 or 4WD airbox or something falling under the ADR's as your vehicle then its deemed compliant and the drive by noise test is not required as it is not deemed an 'intake mod'. But if you also have a BOV then you will need to do the $500 test.

Some rules work for us, some rules work against us.

Edited by EVO-00X, 11 October 2008 - 08:30 AM.

[CLuTZ]

Looks like Varex are going to make some serious cash

[Liberoz]

say you have a Varex muffler for example, technically its able to adjust the noise level of the car (for the better!) but it will fall under this ruling because it can adjust the noise levels of your exhaust system. Therefore you will be issued with an on the spot infringement... provided they stick their head up your zorst to notice the butterfly.

Time for you and your brother to sell your Bling Varex mufflers

[Evo-00x]

Na, still gonna hang onto it Wicky. I figure that if the exhaust is in quiet mode with the Varex butterfly closed making it a quiet 2" system then they wont have any reason to get down on their knees and pop their head under to have a look lol

The Varex is a great muffler and gives a nice note when the butterfly is fully open. However a lot of cars with a 3" system from the turbo back will be over the legal db limit for sure when it is open. But when you press the remote control you can adjust how much the butterfly closes. At fully closed position it redirects the exhaust gases twice around the muffler and through a 2" hole making it a 2" system and the sound drops significantly! It is actually so quiet that you think you are driving a stock everyday car.

Obviously you should consider the environment you will be driving in and around town you should drive with it closed. If you get pulled over for any reason you just gotta make sure the butterfly is closed and it will be quiet running through the 2" hole so hopefully they have no reason to check ;D But out on the open road or on the track you can open it up fully and get the full benefit of the exhaust system in 2 seconds without having to change to a different muffler


Link to it used on a V8 Commodore (full feature): http://au.youtube.co...feature=related
Link to Varex site for pics and videos: http://www.xforce.com.au/cars/view_car/29

Edited by EVO-00X, 11 October 2008 - 11:27 PM.

[JiMi]

Induction modifiactions - if you have an aftermarket cold air induction box or pod filter (covered) you will be subjected to a 'drive by noise test' which is a requirement of the EPA and the damn thing costs $500!!! The same goes for Blow Off Valves. Its their way of regulating the amount of people making induction modifications including BOV's. This test is done by driving by the test equipment at 3000rpm. Now this is where it gets interesting. Both RTA engineering signatories I have been dealing with have said the exact same thing about this, but blow off valves are illegal on cars with Air Flow Meters due to emissions, but not illegal on cars with MAP sensors! So if you have a BOV on an AFM vehicle then give up on getting the external BOV passed. However, if you have an external venting BOV on a car with a MAP sensor (ie most aftermaket ECU's) you meet emissions and are only subjected to comply to the drive by noise test! In fact you can do the 3000rpm drive by noise test above and pass with a external venting BOV and custom CAI as your bov will not go off at this rpm level and your big turbo will be quiet as it hasnt even begun to spool.... test passed!

i thought aftermarket ecu's were illegal for road use anyway??