I'm sure this has been brought up before and infact I'm sure I asked for some views when I had the previous Hawkeye.

On an MOT should the garage take your car out for a short journey - at the time a few had mentioned that due to 4wd the garage were right to do this to conduct some test.

If this is so are you within your right to ask to be present on this drive rather than an unknown person taking out your car or would you be refused attendance?

Appreciate some feedback from guys that know how this MOT scenario works.

Thanks in advance.

 

They need to do this to check the brakes, sticking a 4WD car on the brake rollers can damage the transfer box. shouldn't need to go that far though

 

Agree with Jonmc they take out with you driving they have a G sensor which they put on the floor/footwell they then ask you to brake at a certain speed to check your brakes are ok.

 

Yes the car should be taken on a little journey as a AWD Subaru must NEVER be tested on 2 wheel rollers, as it can cause transmission damage.

It is in the MOT tester manual that any four wheel drive vehicle or vehicle with a limited slip diff (a Impreza Turbo has both) should not be tested on brake rollers and will need to be road tested (either on the public highway or in a private area).

The test is usually only performed at 20-25mph, and yes you can sit in the passenger seat and stop the Tapley metre from falling over, as there is no reason why a responsible tester wouldn't let you be a passenger in your own car, unless you talk him to death.

 

I didn't know that! Cheers!

 

Thanks guys - great to know this info.

Appreciated

 

As above, pretty sure you should be able to go on the brake test - they have the MOT viewing areas because at MOT time, it is the only time in the cars life that you HAVE to hand your keys over to someone.

 

The speedo is now a testable item, if the car park isn't big enough for the tester to determine if it works correctly, there entitled to a road test. No reason why the owner can't be present.

 

I've noticed that in this country we're made to feel like we don't own our posessions sometimes. What I mean is that, people don't treat our property with due respect.

In my native country, you'd be amazed at how much care is taken when you bring your custom to a store, be it for a car or anything else.

 

My subaru main dealer always MOT my car and use a brake roller. Should I be worried now?

 

A few years back I took my classic turbo for the MOT, the numpty tester put it on the brake roller, after that when accelerating hard it used to stick in fith gear, it would not come out no mater how hard I pulled the lever, it would only come out of gear when stopped

To say I was p..... was an under statement, I felt like strangling the guy. The guy I use now has a bug sti, so knows the score, he just drives across the car park and straight back to test the brakes.

 

Cardiff CVC always used to test vehicles on their 2 wheel brake rollers!

My MOT garage 'tester' sat in the passenger seat & operated the Tapley meter & I drove

 

the deceleraometter thing can be quite chunking and heavy

it sits in passenger footwell,

so you probably have to sit in the back imo.

its a total lame test imo - a token test, if you will.

any kind of balance issue is unlikley to be picked up, - compared to a test on the rollers anyway

 

My MOT testers are really good and just around the corner - they pick the car up from my drive! Usually do the brake test on the way back to the garage.

 

Good information - I didn't know this and have my MOT at 9am this morning

 

my mot guy said its ok to test a type r on a 2 wheel brake tester because of the dccd

is this true?

 

Nope, you are still in 4WD mode albeit with a different split and you'll still strain the transfer box. Also when they do the left/right comparison it will put strain on the LSD. I get my MOTs done by a pokey little garage with a couple of the most unassuming mechanics going because they know the basics like this and always look after my car

 

i did wonder why the tester drove my car out of the testing station and then back in lol now i know

 

http://www.boston-ge.com/brake-testing.php

 

My MOT tester is brilliant. I drive and he holds the brake test G meter firmly in his hand. Each year I try to beat the previous years score and launch his head through the windscreen.

This year I again won with the highest ever score he'd recorded. It culminated with 'holy ****, i've never seen it go that high before'

 

On it's way mate

 

Roller tests aren't much better. As barring balance, the minimum brake efficiency criteria still has to accomodate the brakes on cars from the 1950's.

I can vouch for this as my old scoob had defective front brakes but still passed with flying colours. Well, defective as in poor/misguided choice of pad compounds but always passed the MOT test with ease.

Which leaves me to say MOT is the bare MINMUM standard your car must meet to be on the road. Passing it doesn't make the car 100% AOK, but just barely OK.

 

i was lead to belive they dont use them any more , all mot centres should have upgraded their rollers now , so any fwd vehice can be checked in rollers with no damage ,
chris.

 

Unless it puts all 4 wheels in the rollers at once it's no good!!
I don't know of any testing station that has 4 wd brake rollers, every 4wd vehicle I test gets a decelarometer test for efficiency, and it's testers job to check for pull to either side and decide whether it constitutes as a fail.
Every test centre will still have some sort of decelarometer, what happens if the rollers break? They wouldn't be able to test!

 

FWD is no problem, it's the permanent AWD that needs to be road tested with the Tapley meter.

The first time I used the garage (the whole family now uses) the guy offered for me to accompany him. I said "it's ok, I'll know exactly what revs, boost, speed and throttle opening you've used, plus, I'll be able to hear you" The blessing of remembering to re-set the PSi3 meter before the MOT! Needless to say, it was driven with due consideration!

JohnD

 

If the rollers operate in opposite directions then your fine are you not ???