Hi everyone- I have a 2002 Z06, it's currently stock. With the new emissions laws here in the state of CA, things are now even more ridiculous than in the past. As many of you likely have heard, they are now checking for tunes. The presence of a non-authorized tune is apparently an automatic fail.

This is probably an easy question. Would it be possible to have a mild street cam run with the stock tune well enough to drive enough miles to reset all the readiness codes and pass emissions here in CA? I'd love to run a street cam in my car (2002 Z06) with a corresponding custom tune, but be able to revert back to stock tune for emissions. This is probably wishful thinking though. I'm assuming that even a mild cam won't run well enough on a stock tune as to not throw codes etc. Anyone have any insight into this? Ideally I'd love to do a nice street cam such as the BTR stage 2, get a matching custom tune, and keep the rest of the motor pretty much stock for emissions purposes. If the car would run reasonably well on the stock tune with the cam, it could pass emissions every 2 years.

I am assuming the answer will be that the LS6 will not run well enough with a cam on the stock tune to be drivable enough to pass. Thanks in advance for any thoughts or input.

 

My gut feeling is with you that you won't make it on a stock tune.

Time to move!

 

I agree that it's probably not a good idea to run a custom cam without a tune. Be thankful that you don't already have a cam with a custom tune. I pray every day that Virginia doesn't end up like Commiefornia.

 

Thanks guys. Probably best for me to leave the car alone and keep it stock. I'd have said that I could always go with a CARB approved A&A blower set up for more power, but now we are seeing threads on this forum about people having issues getting those to pass here too. We won't be left alone until every bloody car is electric, then we can all sit around while our power grids go out due to insufficient capacity while we breath in polluted air from countless lithium mines that are required to support EV battery production. Good job California, great progress.

Indeed I hope the rest of you all don't end up like CA. It's absurd in so many ways. As soon as I'm no longer working, I'm out of this state. For the rest of you- I implore you all to do what you can to prevent your own states from turning into this.

 

there are six cou ties in california which do not require a smog check every two years. If you want a modified car you can move to one of those counties or move to a free state.

 

This new tune law you folks are having rammed down your throat smacks of out-of-control Government!! That said, I'm thinking this new law will force many to either run Nitrous Oxide or a centrifugal blower. I'm not certain, but if the smog tests do not measure emissions in open loop (i.e.=WOT), it seems as though the stock tune in closed loop would stay stock. I'm not a tuner, so I'm not 100% certain, but if you run Nitrous or a centrifugal blower, with a stock cam, you don't need a tune anywhere EXCEPT in open loop at WOT. Is this correct? I'm wondering if the tune test can detect any open loop tune changes.......

 

Kinda, Sorta but with any blower you need bigger injectors and for that you have to modify your tune

 

So your car fails, what are they going to do follow you around until you get it fixed? I read were that law has been in place since 2013. They just figured out how to check. Its like the loud exhaust rules in most states. They don't have the time or resources to enforce.

 

Keep you from renewing your registration?

 

The countries in CA which do not require smog check are El Dorado, Riverside, Placer, San Diego, San Bernardino, and Sonoma... for now

What Happens If You Fail the Smog Test in California?

If your vehicle fails the smog test, your car will not be allowed to drive on the streets. (nanny state at its finest).

 

Ya you cant register it, the DMV just doesn't send your tags. Course if we defund all our police dept's our problem solved since no one will be out checking lol.

 

I thought that, perhaps, some Vettes have the 'headroom' to keep the stock injectors. As an example, I believe the C6 GS has the same size injectors (42lb?) as the C6 Z06, which means the GS has quite a lot of fuel availability left on the table. What I mean is, my LS7 made 617hp with stock injectors. Wouldn't this mean the GS has at least 150 to maybe 200hp still available with the stock injector size? IDK.... This is obviously going to require a LOT of thought to overcome/circumvent this new law/testing procedures.......

 

The CARB-legal supercharger kits come with injectors and custom ECM tuning. It's probably the way we'll have to go for power in the future. HOWEVER the stock hypereutectic pistons do not take well to boost.

IMHO there's little to gain from a cam swap that will run on the factory tune. The 2002 Z06 cam was groundbreaking when introduced (204/218@050 551/547 lift 117.5 LSA) , I'm not sure it can be improved upon for a smog legal streetcar.

 

Moved to C5 Tech.

 

Whoever is selling the cam, before you buy, should provide the information about legality and function.

The federal law prohibits any non legal modification of anything to do with emissions. the law that pulled the illegal tune chips from the market was federal, not state.,

If you live in a state unconcerned about modifications to anything related to smog controls , you might consider the federal laws that are on the books., unenforced.

only when a group filed a lawsuit requiring the feds to take action did the illegal tune chips get busted. So what passes your state inspection might still violate federal law. And who can predict the future. If enough death and economic damage makes climate change a voting issue, federal highway funds would be threatened to be withheld, and inspections would tighten up to conform to federal law. when funds were threatened before, every state went to 55Mph during the fuel crisis, forming , in effect, a national policy.

I am not up to speed on the latest Ca smog law, but it used to be if you failed , there was a modest dollar limit on repairs to exceed ,before you could apply for an exemption, with financial support available for the poor Any car registered continuously for two years to the same owner can be turned in and get $1200 to get the car off the road, regardless of smog status.

If you don't care for California, fine with me. A lot of people like the place, and the revenue it sends to the feds helps the economically low performing states pay the bills.

Just herd of two babies getting swept from their fathers arms during one of the latest extreme weather events in the state, I thin it was in Kentucky, the report was on the radio and a lot of States had climate problems in the report, I was only half listening until they mentioned babies being torn from a fathers arms. .

I have no desire to live others lives. If you don't care to about climate damage, and how cars fit into the picture, that is your decision to answer for., wither it be to your god or grandchildren asking the question.

 

I'm in the same situation. When it's time to change the harmonic balancer, it will be tempting to put a small cam in. For something to run on the stock tune with no error codes, it will have to be very mild with negative overlap. Btr stage 1 is too large. A well spec'd "tiny" cam will still gain 30+ hp, but there is really no guarantee something won't need the tune tweeked to prevent error codes. I'm still working on other areas of the car, but I may reach out to cam motion or pat g over the winter

 

If you do more research, please let me know. It's probably not worth doing a cam swap for just a few HP gain. But if you are in there anyways for other things, it would be tempting. Thanks for your reply.