I am looking for a 2004 Z06 and was wondering what difference does the CA emissions (YF5) option have different on the car vs. one without? Thanks

 

I have been laboring under the belief that it is not a real "option," but that all of the 04 Z06s come standard as California emissions certified. Anyone, am I wrong about that?

 

All are the same--even exports--only difference is decal under the hood

 

I guess GM just never got around to removing the code from the list since they went to a 50 state legal emission car.

 

All of the cars are manufactured 50 states emissions legal, but to bring the car into CA from another state the sticker under the front hood needs to specifically say California somewhere in the language or they will not allow it to be registered. The good news is that I think all of the new cars say California on the sticker. I bought mine in NC and drove it home to CA and had to pass the visual inspection to get it registered.

 

Scott047,

You are correct but, that doesn't explain why GM still has the CA emission code option. It's not needed if all the cars are stamped as passing Federal and California emissions.

 

i heard that there was something like a extra cataletic converter or something to make it a little more enviromently friendly?

 

I don't think there is anything different, they are all the same now. The extra was back when CA YF5 cars were actually different, before the 50 state emission rating.

 

Shylor's statement is accurate. All of the cars have the same equipment no matter what state they are delivered to. This really makes sense to me. I think it is silly to have to make cars with different emissions equipment for different states. The issues that California has faced in the pollution problem illustrates the fact that we need to have vehicles with the lowest possible emissions. CA does go overboard in many of its environmental policies where cars are concerned. The latest smog check now includes a dyno run which if done incorrectly can cause the car to fail. I had this happen on a car I sold recently. The tech was following some cookie cutter intructions on how to perform the test but my car didn't fit the profile because of gearing. Once the tech did the test with the car in the proper gear for that rpm level the car passed with no problems. I also had this issue with the Z when I had it smogged because of buying it out of state. This concerns me. Cars run differently and are geared differently so some room needs to be given to a tech to figure this out for each car. Any other CA folks seen this problem?

 

It all boils down to the statement that you can either work the system or the system can work you.

California had at one time (prior to 2001) required all out of state cars to have at least 7500 miles on the ticker. This regulation was said to prevent owners from avoiding sales taxes (California) but, in reality it was there to protect California dealers from having to endure competition from less expensive real estate states. If you brought a non California car (with 7500 miles) into California, you were forced to pass an emissions test and pay a fee as a gross polluter. Those fees have since been reversed and those fees were returned to the owners.

Then in 2001 GM released the 2001 C5 as the first "federal" car capable from the factory of meeting all 50 states emissions standards. The poor DMV clerks were befuddled with how to mitigate the new wrinkle. The result now has been that if you bought your new C5 out of state and drove it back to California, then the California DMV would make you pass an emissions test to get registration. However, if you bought your new C5 out of state and allowed the car to be delivered to a Chevrolet dealer in California (via the Chevrolet Courtesy Dealer Delivery Program) you WOULD NOT have to pass an emissions test as the California Chevrolet Dealer would be interfacing with the California DMV.

So, for a paltry fee of $150 to $300, you can bypass the treacherous slope of interfacing with the California DMV and avoid the hassle of having to pass an emissions test...