The new “what did you do to your Z today” (with off topic replies) XXXVIII

FL 4Motion

So, not sure if yalll were already aware and discussed and I missed it or not but the epa, under current admin just came down like the wrath of god on the aftermarket tuning industry recently.

It all started with those douchbag diesel bros show, the physicians association of Utah bought a truck from them suspecting rightly so that it wasn’t emissions legal and got it smoged, it was polluting 30 times hat was the legal limit for that model. I mean if you’ve ever watched an episode, it’s like brodozers meet rolling coal wilth a side of steroids. Fvcking embarrassing.

So, they just got hit with an $850k fine and are also possibly on the hook for the prosecution’s legal fees, $1.2 million iirc.

Driven brands, the Corp that is Holley, flow master, dinan, apr, accell, msd, etc just got nailed hard as well for $800k iirc.

Apr immediately dropped stage two everything for vw, Audi, etc.

The epa has said that the “for off-road use only”. Wink wink disclaimer will no longer be any kind of legal shield and it’s $37,500 fine per vehicle that tampers with or removes emissions equipment. They say they’re only going after the companies not individual car owners, at least for now.

This has been a huge damper on the Audi/German tuning market since everything is turbo and now you’re limited to stage 1 and getting stage two or three + parts will most likely get harder and harder.

It was only a matter of time before this was going to happen but you can thank the rolling coal diesel truck idiot crowd for getting the most loo the other way epa in history to be the one to crash the party.

Apparently modding any car @fter 1968 could be an issue since that’s when the epa emissions laws were created. This last part had me a bit confused since muscle cars didn’t get cats till 1971, but who the Fvck knows.

Carb approved blower for my jk doesn’t sound so bad now I suppose,, and electric conversion in about 15 years, most likely bc no more gas.

TTRS at stage one makes over 500 hp so I’m not too mad, basic weight savings gets my;wet weight to around 3180lbs, not to shabby. Still sucks tho.

FL 4Motion

So, to piggyback on this topic, apparently there are hfc out there that can meet carb/epa emissions like GESi 400 cel hfc, but I suppose the cost to get carb approval makes it impossible for any smaller company and even the one with deep pockets seem reluctant as well. Carb also doesn’t make it easy to get approval when you say remove factory cats etc, they don’t even want to hear you out it seems. Getting carb on a filter on a stick is expensive but doable and even then most companies can’t pass even that mod thru carb board.

Eventually we’ll probably see more carb approved stuff, but it will raise the cost to cover companies r&d costs, carb certification.

This makes things harder for the working and middle class car folks. Rich people aren’t affected by this, their gt3s and Ferraris, lambos, etc are fast as hell stock and emissions legal. No way for the regular joe to have access legallly to fast cars anymore/choices are more limited. I hope we can all learn to love zl1s and vettes.

If normal folks truly would be treated as well as big corporations, then we should be able to buy a form of carbon tax credits so we could mod our cars legally.

Something along the lines of a $100-200 per cat annual fee that you pay with your registration so that you get a sticker and now you can run hfcs and turbos etc without fear and the aftermarket could keep selling cool stuff. The annual fees could go to your state’s environmental protection/repair funds, that would help with combatting sea level rise here in south Florida as well as Everglades restoration. It’s a win win and the % of gear heads modding vehicles is a miniscule polllution issue compared to cow farts, big rigs, and power plants.

jchammond

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MazWorx built long block | FI-TT-100 Stage 2.75 | IPT built 7A/T

http://www.the370z.com/members-370z-...s-musings.html

FL 4Motion

Aren’t you doing a big turbo build? I’d be ******** myself right now if that was me, tuning, parts availablity, $37,500 epa fine (that one’s unlikely tho).

I almost didn’t post anything about this, but I figured to be forewarned is to be forarmed or however that saying goes.

I’ve been waiting for something like this to happen, honestly surprised it’s taken this long and was this particular admin, would’ve bet it was gonna be the last one.

Electric swap is the new ls swap, mark my words.

Ps, not trying to be a **** about your build or Fvck with you, I’m honestly worried about this anD what it means for folks like you, spooler etc going forward.

jchammond

I live in the country, SC farmland area ... and planning to mostly burn corn
Hopefully it’s more environmentally friendly @ 8/9:1 AFR

__________________
MazWorx built long block | FI-TT-100 Stage 2.75 | IPT built 7A/T

http://www.the370z.com/members-370z-...s-musings.html

FL 4Motion

I read the epa regs, court ruling synopsis. They were painfully clear, any removal or tampering or tuning that alters or disables factory emissions systems equals big trouble, first targeted to the manufacturers and sellers but applicable to individuals at the epas discretion.

You’ll most likely be fine where you are personally but what I’m worried about is what happens if mazworks gets shutdown, or fast intentions. There are no more “for off highway use only” loopholes. Imagine a $37500 per set of lth and tt kits sold by FI for example combined with having to cover the state’s legal fees plus Cali’s state level penalties on top of that.

The epa “graciously” said they aren’t going to retroactively go after anyone yet assuming they get immediate compliance. The little companies and tuning markets have flown under the radar so far historically but I fear that’s changing now.

BettyZ

Here's the thing:

F.I.'s products have been illegal in CA for some years. Says on their website that their products aren't legal in the People's Republic. They're an interstate manufacturer/seller; CA's azz-pump regs can't stop them. The diesel EPA issue is far removed from our gasoline builds - for now. Who knows what the next administration will bring?

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

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'14 MB Nismo | Boost Lab 6870 1.32 AR 553 HP / 471 ft.-lbs.
Betty Mods