A&A and SMOG in California
#1
Racer
Thread Starter
A&A and SMOG in California
Andy supercharged my high mileage c6 A6 last year (over 140k). It was a conservative tune per my request. I need to get it smogged in the next couple months. Do I need to worry about passing? Anyone in California have any issues passing?
Larry
Larry
#2
Instructor
The A & A kit received CARB certification last year. It should not be a problem to pass smog, unless there are other emissions issues like headers on your Vette. Get the CARB number from Andy and present it at the time you get to the facility. I have an A & A kit that was installed by A & A also. Mine past last year based solely on the the Vortech CARB number that was stamped on the V-2 head unit.
#4
Melting Slicks
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CARB certified means it's good to go in California. Technically, you're supposed to only be running the supplied CARB-approved tune for it to be legal. Not that anyone would likely know if you did otherwise.
#6
Melting Slicks
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We just got our new equipment, though it's not being used yet. I'm not a smog tech, so I don't pay much attention. But the sniffer should be gone soon enough -- at least for newer cars. I'm sure it won't be long before it's required to have that new system up and running.
#7
Safety Car
How about two tuning files, one for emissions check and the other for a little better performance, however in Cali we are limited with our crappy 91 octane fuel. Just need the hand held programmer to swap.
#8
Burning Brakes
#9
Melting Slicks
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If the new equipment is somehow able to read calibration numbers out of our PCMs -- and determine if it's an OEM or CARB-approved aftermarket tune -- then we might be in trouble. I highly doubt that's the case, though. I don't see how the government would be able to keep a master list on file like that.
#10
Safety Car
The truth is that it probably doesn't matter one bit for testing purposes. As long as you have CARB certification numbers on aftermarket parts, and your OBD2 monitors are all set (with no CEL on), then you should be good to go.
If the new equipment is somehow able to read calibration numbers out of our PCMs -- and determine if it's an OEM or CARB-approved aftermarket tune -- then we might be in trouble. I highly doubt that's the case, though. I don't see how the government would be able to keep a master list on file like that.
If the new equipment is somehow able to read calibration numbers out of our PCMs -- and determine if it's an OEM or CARB-approved aftermarket tune -- then we might be in trouble. I highly doubt that's the case, though. I don't see how the government would be able to keep a master list on file like that.
For those who are running A&A V3 Si CARB CERTIFIED S/C - I understand that a 4" pulley is used vs. 3.8" achieving about 520 rwhp. Is that what people are experiencing?
#12
Melting Slicks
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I don't have the answer to that, but I don't think there would be any problem with you changing the pulley to whatever you want and having the tune modified as needed. No smog guy is going to have a clue on the pulley size or the tune.
#13
Drifting
They looked at the CARB sticker on the SC, did the test, no problems.
Everything else on mine is stock, as well.
Don
#14
Burning Brakes
Does anyone know if CARB documentation is available for the older A&A kits in order to pass CA emissions visual inspection? I have a A&A Vortech V-2 Si-Trim supercharger kit that was installed in Sept. '09 but there is no CARB number on the head unit.
#16
Former Vendor
i still do not see them actually keeping track of all OEM calibrations, and the aftermarket calibration that goes with the aftermarket part . In addition all the different calibrations for various different factory strategies files. just doesn't make sense to me. the OBDII they do now is just checking vehicle emissions readiness tests.
#17
Burning Brakes
The problem is that my car failed the "visual" portion of the inspection because I didn't have a CARB number for the supercharger kit. Can A&A provide any documentation that I can show the inspector that my kit is CARB certified in California?
#18
Safety Car
i still do not see them actually keeping track of all OEM calibrations, and the aftermarket calibration that goes with the aftermarket part . In addition all the different calibrations for various different factory strategies files. just doesn't make sense to me. the OBDII they do now is just checking vehicle emissions readiness tests.
#19
Melting Slicks
That's shocking because all S and T head units should have the CARB EO stamped on them. You may need to call Vortech, and send the head unit back to them.
#20
Drifting
Like many regulations, the CARB approval process is absurd and expensive. All centris have the same tech (most have the same head units), so the smog output should be identical. But of course they have to do it for each model of supercharger on each model of car. So the CARB number A&A earned is useless for Camaros, even the ones with LS3's. And C7's.
Pointless government regulations are pointless.