EBC & Legalities for Road...

[Gizmo73]

Hey Guys..

Have heard that by installing an Electronic Boost Controller, it is illegal for the roads - true or false ??

If true, does anyone know the reason ??

And would a bleeder also fit into this category ??

Im sure insurance would have a field day with this legality..

:nowigetit

[nmcmahon83]

Well with just car i'm pretty sure it is an option u can tick as a modification... But I know what insurance co's are like, would like to know the answer to this also.

[BenA31]

well i think it goes for all boost controllers, that they are illegal, well i know they are in VIC.....

Reason being is that your emmisions change as you change ur boost and the CPU and other stuff don't compensate for it to therefore ->richer the car, the more the exhaust and shit that comes out i guess. This reasoning is only from what i believe is the reason, just a guess. And the laws go nuts when it comes to emmisions just like aftermarket CPU's..

[fooey]

It's a little grey and may be 50/50 depending on the circumstances of your claim.

Insurance will "cover" you when you tell them of your a/m modifications (adding to your premium of course)... but technically speaking (vic) your car does not pass EPA, hence is not roadworthy... and if you have a look at the fine print of your insurance policy, it does not cover non road-worthy cars.

You're damned if you do and damned if you don't

[Merli]

Technically, ANY modification is illegal except for wheels that are 1 inch or less wider than stock...

Why? Because they change the car to the way that it passed ADR certification.

[the phantom]

It looks as though the lawmakers will soon kill modern car modification, or make it so difficult, expensive and beurocratic that noone will have the resources to do it legally...damn shame.

[R31Nismoid]

Technically, ANY modification is illegal except for wheels that are 1 inch or less wider than stock...

Why? Because they change the car to the way that it passed ADR certification.

You can make most mods legal... and it can be cheap or expensive depending.

[Merli]

You can make most mods legal... and it can be cheap or expensive depending.

Yeah, you can get the car inspected and granted an engineer's certificate, but that's not concrete proof to any inspecting police officers. You may have done modifications after the engineer's certificate was issued. Hence they can still defect you, and you will have to take it to court and prove otherwise.

i.e. If they want to screw you over, they'll find a way.

[Guest INASNT]

A friends wrx went to get epa test done, and the epa guys now know what a ebc boost solenoid looks like so u need to hide those some where out of sight in the engine bay now 2.

[predator]

Yes, boost controllers are illegal. But i'm sure there are people out their having accidents and get their insurance claim accepted even with them on.

Depending on the state some modifications are legal.. in fact quite a few actually are as long as you follow the set guidelines. Different exhaust system, tinted windows, different ride height, different rims, different steering wheels, different intercooler, etc can all be perfectly legal -- at least speaking from VIC and QLD where I've lived. All seem to be fine based upon both what the local transport registration office says and even the EPA *without* an engineers, but I know plenty of cops that don't think that way. But the cops aren't the law, even though they often think they are. They're just the enforcers of the rules laid down by others. Pity they can't get them right half the time.

The QLD approach is reasonable -- least they have a brochure that actually says what is legal and what isn't. What is a "minor" modification, and what is a major (e.g. requiring engineers). See here:

http://www.transport.qld.gov.au/qt/driver....difications.pdf

Now if all states could follow this lead by simply producing a simple brochure, the understanding on the issue would be a damn site better. But considering VIC and NSW which rely on defect revenue, having the issue grey of course helps their agenda

[Cubes]

My insurance company allows lots of modifications hence aftermarket turbo's, exhaust, boost controllers providing they are street legal.

Quite a stupid statement. Setting your self up for an instant denile if you claim and state you have a big turbo, ebc etc.

Oh well slap a heavy duty wastegate actuator on her and no one will know. Maybe even a bleeder to fine tune. In the case of an accident take the day off work and slap on the stock bits.

Its quite stupid really as people tend not to drive as stupid when they have a powerful car where as all these d*cks in there little buzz box's and commodores flyaround and hit things, kill people going fast around corners to try and make there car feel fast.

There should also be an age limit of say 25 where you are allowed to mod the car to your hearts content, providing it follows the epa laws. Make the test cheapish and there will be a high turn over.. more revenue. At least with the age limit we 'should' have a little more maturity not to fly around dangerously but rather to just enjoy having the huge amounts of power on tap to fry the wheels in third on demand.

I'm a dreamer..

[Merli]

Its quite stupid really as people tend not to drive as stupid when they have a powerful car where as all these d*cks in there little buzz box's and commodores flyaround and hit things, kill people going fast around corners to try and make there car feel fast.

I realised I was doing that exact thing after I got my first Skyline!!

Before that, I owned all these "pocket rocket" cars and "pseudo performance" cars, which in actual fact were just light, economy cars that were able to be thrashed around with no real power behind them.

I used to wring the living daylights out of those things and nail it off every traffic light like I was Michael Schumacher.

As soon as I stepped into the Skyline, my first real performance car, I slowed right down and stopped speeding almost completely on public roads (besides a few late night Old Pacific Hwy runs )

I think it was a combination of maturity and respect for what I had under my right foot. I couldn't go around flooring the crap out of this car like I did the other cars because I'd almost certaintly wrap it around a telegraph pole...

In hindsight, I think power restrictions (and modification restrictions) for younger drivers is DEFINITELY a good thing.

[Steve]

Anyone heard of the buffalo theory?

[meshmesh]

Having owned a MY00 WRX some years ago, and receiving the quarterly letters from the EPA for a noise inspection... I remember having a conversation with the boys at McLeod & the old Laverton office's about my exhaust. They mentioned the fact that my cat was not in its original location "up close toward the dump pipe extension" and my new exhaust system had the cat located towards the centre of the car, meant it did not comply with ADR Rules, regardless of noise dB. He said if I wanted to keep it in that location I had to get a "ADR or Engineer test thing-a-ma-bobby" which would cost approx $3K, and if it passed then I could keep it. <---EDIT: This also applies to any mod other than factory.

All in all, the laws "especially in VIC" THE PLACE TO BE defected, are ridiculous & none of the involved authorities have a consistant view on these issues. Oh... EPA & alike have nothing to do with Road Worthy Certificates, so although your car passes a RW doesn't mean it passes EPA/ADR.

All I can say is either get out of VIC and live somewhere esle or keep your mods as inconspicuous as possible & hope you dont get caught.....On that note, if your car was registered in a more leanant state other the Brax heaven, could you get away with this sort of crap? What about insurance cover... etc?

[Cubes]

Hehe This one Steve?

A herd of buffalo can move only as fast as the slowest buffalo. When the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first. This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members.

In much the same way the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Excessive intake of alcohol, we all know, kills brain cells, but naturally it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first. In this way regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine. That's why you always feel smarter after a few beers.

Sounds good to me..

[knore]

Hehe This one Steve?

 

 

Sounds good to me..

hahaha love it

[Steve]

meshmesh, I think you will find that the EPA accept an IM240 test which can be done in VIC for around $600.

Qld will let you do just about anything to a car, short of strap rockets to the side, NSW have free EPA testing so you can get mods approved as complying with local regs.

On a side, you can drive to NSW and get a free IM240 test done, as testing there is free.

Joel, exactly, it would apply to drivers too, so if you make it compulsary for young guys to own twin turboed old holden V8s (which predate emission ADRs and therefore are quite legal without having to go through the nause of testing and compliance,) it will make the roads safer very quickly:p - kill em off before they have a chance to breed