I just got orders to move to California Lompoc area! I am wondering will my car pass the smog test with a vararam and Borla stingers. Also, what kind of vechicle taxes do you guys pay?

 

From my research on the Vararam it is not CARB legal. I don't know if they actually check or how they would know it was different than stock, however.

 

You'll be fine - just ask for a pre-test first.

 

As log as you'll pass the emissions test you'll be fine.

 

You did nothing to affect emissions...all they do is stick a sniffer up your tailpipe...you'll be fine.

 

Visual inspection in CA, if the tech knows what to look for, he could fail you. Maybe pick up a stock airbox just for the test. Cat back exhaust is ok.

 

and replace a vararam system every year. if you are out of state i dont think you have to smog test

 

There are some stipulations that kick in. Check on the age of vehicle, and mileage. You will may get hit with a higher registration tax becuase the car is not a California car... however, I thought the Z and other Vettes are 50 state... which means same as Cali emission. Which is a good thing.

My '02 passed with efi remap and a Breathless Vortex Rammer with the AIR tube stuffed along side the rad shroud. Worse case you have to put a stock box on to pass...

bob

 

If you look on the www.dmv.ca.gov site there are two different tiers of smog check in CA. IM 240 which consists of three parts and the more relaxed test that only has two. I used to live in Vandenburg Village near Lompoc and unless it has grown hugely it probably only has the Tier two test. Tier two is Visual and Tailpipe only. Tailpipe is pretty cut and dried, you either pass or you don't. Visual is a total crapshoot. My 87 got by with siamesed runners no precats and a few other obvious non stock parts, the guy was pretty cool. I had a old Taurus SHO work car that the smog tech went over like he was on freaking CSI, and it was stock. So I would call up one of the tuners that swaps out stock air box's for CAI all the time and buy one of their take offs for a quick swap for the test. Anything cat back exhaust wise is fine.

The three part test or the IM240 is the chassis dyno added to the other two tests where they actually load the motor to check for oxides of nitrogen. This is usually no big deal unless the car has been tuned. If its its tuned it usually is leaned out a bit, that means higher cylinder temps, and that leads to higher NOx. It's a real pita. If you haven't messed with the tune. No worries, if you have, flash the stock one back in for the day. Hopefully this helps answer your question.

P.S. The DMV website will list which smog area you are in, and you only need the check once every two years. Also, if anyone gives you the "don't worry about smog, it's no biggee" line, don't listen. It can be easy if you are prepared, but I have had a car fail for being 1 degree off on it's timing setting, and had a friend fail for not having the rubber flap that folds down from the gas tank filler pipe on his old Blazer that keeps gas off the paint. It had nothing to do with smog but it was on the emissions list so when it wasn't there, it failed. Best to avoid gas stations and find a normal shop, not a smog only place, just a normal mechanic. They tend to be the most forgiving, the gas station guys are like people working at big chain stores, they really don't care what happens to you or your car. Get the pretest, you don't want to end up on the gross polluter list for any reason, it adds hassles you don't want. Plus the pretests are usually free at non gas station smog places.

 

The guys who have not had to smog a car in Kalifornia are not doing you any favors by saying don't sweat it.

If you fail & have to go to a "referee" it's major PITA. You may get some break for being military & not have to change your tags, but I know nothing about that.

Good Luck!

If there is a local Vette Club, drop in a meeting & talk to the guys.

 

Well I am military and I DID smog in San Diego when I was stationed there so I'm not feeding him a load of crap. It does depend on the shop but I really don't see how a CAI could fail you. As for getting out of it from being out of state...you technically don't have to do it unless you want a base sticker. They will NOT give you a base sticker without that smog receipt.

 

The vararam and stingers CAN fail you. It is ILLEGAL in Cali to modify ANY part of the engine intake, engine, engine control system, or exhaust UNLESS the parts/mods have a CARB "sticker" (Executive Order) issued for them. If you can't produce the sticker, you can fail right there ..... so don't be giving the OP bad information.

Borla has CARB certified two of their exhaust systems ... Borla Part #17206 and #17214 (don't know if those are the Stingers) under EO D-276-12 .... you can look up and see if a part is certified by going here .....

http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/aftermk...es/amquery.php

As Jaxian points out, some stations are **** about the visual, others are more relaxed. The last smog check I went through, the tech told me after the visual that if the car ran "clean" he'd ignore my CAI .... but if it failed the smog, he would have to report the intake ... fortunately I passed easily as the engine is otherwise stock.

For ACCURATE information on fees, and military people assigned to Cali ... go here (includes a fee calculator) ...

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/vr/newvehicle.htm

Welcome to the granola state (If you get rid of all the fruits and nuts ... you're still left with a pile of flakes) .....

 

you're going to love it there. great roads. just be careful with the LOE's. real over overabundance in the area. seems like every 5-6 miles on the 101. -bmb

 

Well I guess California is more strict/stupid than I remembered. I don't understand how they think getting a CAI does anything to affect their precious environment...I sure am glad I don't live there anymore

 

The latest Kali test 11/07 in the heavy smog area has the tester PRESSURIZE the evap control hoses. Pretty high pressure as I recall like 15-20 psi. This is pretty much a garantee fail for older vehicles where the old compound rubber hoses are brittle & cracked, even if still functional.

Oh and often to replace the hose, you need to drop the gas tank. Fun.

It is getting tougher every year.

 

as said before - you must pass visual in CA. I have the stingers and passed CA SMOG

 

The CARB doesn't believe that a CAI neccesarily affects smog, all they care is if a vendor wants to legally sell a modification of ANY kind to the intake system (CAI, MAF, TB, whatever) in Cali all they have to do is demonstrate that the system does not affect the smog output of the engine and the CARB issues an EO for the device.

It makes it easy for the CARB to ensure that some moron doesn't modify his intake (or anything else) in some way that affects the smog output .... by controlling modifications, the CARB doesn't have to write a million "exceptions" in the rules ... it is cut and dry .... NO MODS WITHOUT AN EO.

 

Yeah, the CARB EO really doesn't have much to do with actual impact on smog. On my 87 going from batch fire to sequential with the XFI actually improved emissions but still a fail visually. One thing to remember also, they don't just give out CARB EO#'s if you show up and ask for one and do a little test. I talked to Jim Hall about whether my old Halltech CAI was legal and he said they want test cars and like min 25,000 dollars per part number. It gets brutal expensive very quickly, another revenue generator that gets passed on to us the consumer. He was hoping the one he was going to finally get for his new unit would be retroactive but CA is rarely that nice. I am praying though.

 

What about if i keep my Wyoming plates? Will i still have to do the smog tests? The air force bases dont require the stickers anymore. Waste of money.

So if i put the stock air box back on i should be fine?

What is the job market in the Vandenberg area (wife).

 

I've been in the military 6 years and lived in 4 different states and kept my KS tags the whole time. The only reason you have to get it smogged is if you try to get a base decal in California. If you already have one that doesn't expire for a long time or like you said and you don't need one then you're good to go. So the AF doesn't require base decals anymore? That's pretty weird.