Shropshire-Guy

Ok here goes im going to do full decat on my legacy. I know i will have to change it back for MOT. But anyone tell me how you stand law wise with full decat system. I also know that cats dont work for the first 20 odd or so miles of journey but has anyone ever been stopped and had road side check done on emissions. Any help would be most great full.

Thanks in Advance

Steve

flat4

your ok, if like me your car was registered before sept. 1992


kev

Shropshire-Guy

Cheers kev but WHY mate. mines 97

fubar

Found this on another site ...

A word of warning though: driving your de-catted Cerbera on the public road is ILLEGAL. There have been anecdotal reports of £5000 fines for owners of M3s doing this. If a member of our beloved police force sticks an emissions testing **** probe up your car's jacksie, its going to go off the scale, and even the dumbest officer is likely to put two and two together. So do it at your own risk.

Note also that it'll miserably fail the MOT come its third (and subsequent) birthdays. However this is not such a problem - just bolt the cats back on for the MOT and then take them off again.

A quick mention regarding the morality of this as well: A catted car uses up around 10% more fuel then one without cats, and converts all its carbon monoxide emissions to carbon dioxide - the greenhouse gas. Many people are of the opinion that catalytic converters were only ever created to make politicians look like they're doing some good for the environment. Whatever your opinions, a few expensive sports cars driving around without cats is not going to cause the World to end.

Dark Blue Mark

I thought they could only call you in for a full test, if the roadside one was high? And it was at your convinience, within 7 days. What if your MOT was fine, but since then your cat had dissintegrated

I got checked a few years ago, not in a scoob and they said it was a bit high, but ok. Shat myself when I saw them hauling dozens of cars in

Anyone know the true law?

MB

iainalpine

the true law is, b4 september 1992 you could take your cats off, after this date you cant. if pulled over by plod you should be given 7 days to get your car tested. im an ex mot tester and now from time to time work along side the police when there carrying out road side checks. everyone with even newer cars that are fiited with OBD engine management systems be very careful, as this is what i check. the police have been giving out real big fines if the OBD engine warning light has been on for some time(you can count the number of days the light has been on and also look at what has brought it on). good luck guys, the cats are of on my car too.

carl

I think there's another cut-off date, some time in 1995 IIRC, for non-EU imports. Prior to this, if you have a Jap import it doesn't have to pass the strict (cat) emissions test.

vulnax999

iTrader: (7)

Any one confirm the 1995 cut off date - I had heard this too!

Lee uk300

If the post 92 car is not listed (eg import). It will have a non regulated cat test. which is still at the same % co limit as most.

Pete Croney

Ian

I don't know of any ECUs that have a real time clock function so am confused as to how the ECU could record how many days a CEL had been on for.

As ever, if you are stopped for a test, it is your right to ask for a "defered test" if you suspect that you vehicle may not be running correctly. You then get this done within 14 days at an MOT station, which should give you enough time to correct ant "faults"

*Sonic*

I suppose a good thing I got a magnex centre with resonator (cos from the outside it looks like a cat )

plead ignorance and say it must be playing up, and I'll get it looked at stick the OE centre back in, down to MOT station all fine

M0NEY

Mine is fully decatted and VERY loud (blitz nur spec R and scoobysport downpipe). Ive been stopped a few times by the cops for other reasons (bloody small number plate). The first lot didnt know the law on the db limit but said it may fail the emissions. They also said its not just that, by adding a system it can increase performance a bit and you need to tell the insurance.

Other cops (the second time) didnt say anything.

If you get stopped and they do test your exhaust, ask for a vehicle defect rectification form which basically says you have to go to the MOT in the next 7 days and sort it out

LB4

Pete, is there usually much of a waiting time for use of your "fault" clearing centre section?

Gary

Pete Croney

LB4

We normally fit such fault correction work in within a couple of days

AndrewC

The smart ones can tell by the smell of your car whether it's decatted or not - I've had that comment from a traffic officer in the past!

Andrew...

MorayMackenzie

LOL at image of traffic cop recruits lining up to sniff at exhausts as part of their training. I guess the smarter ones will be the ones who noticed the difference sooner and so didn't have to inhale carbon monoxide for hours on end. I just feel sorry for anyone with a cold/hayfever on that training day.

PS: This is just an image that sprung to mind, I don't believe for a minute that they would conduct such training.

Leslie

There is a "sports" free flow cat available for the centre pipe. It is flowed up to 400 BHP so won't cause much restriction. I have got a PE centre pipe with this cat and have no problems with MOT emission tests. Its a heck of a lot easier than having to change for MOT and is also legal. My down pipe is cat free.

Les

[Edited by Leslie - 7/21/2003 4:05:30 PM]

MorayMackenzie

I have one of those very same 3" PE "freeflowing" cat pipes, but the magnex 2.5" centre section flows better. When I slapped a magnex centre section with resonator on instead of the PE catted pipe the exhaust flow improved and the map needed to be richened up.

GTB Limited

Shropshire,

If your running a TT DON'T decat the primary turbo!
The primary cat is there to stall the primary turbo above 4k, if you let it spin higher, it's self destruct time

You can decat the secondary(sits in mid section), but you'll need to change the restrictor, or run a decent aftermarket boost controller.

If you want more info try the 'b4legacy' site on yahoo groups.


HTH

Mark

pappasmurf

Excuse my ignorance on this subject but i have a W reg Classic which i presume has two cats? Am i by law allowed to take one of the Cats off and will then still pass the MOT?
If i take the centre section Cat off will i improve my MPG?
Many thanks.

Lee uk300

Pappasmurf..
Yes you can remove one of your cats.
Yes you should still pass a mot test.
It's very unlikely you will notice a MPG increase.
You may get a slight performance increase.
....But it will sound faster

Leslie

All you have to do is to pass the emission test Pappasurf-however!

Moray, is the better flow due to no cat at all do you think, and how do you get through the MOT?

Les

[Edited by Leslie - 7/23/2003 5:02:38 PM]