I wonder
 

If my VX would pass current emissions with the change in fuel that has been mandated lately, with 10% ethanol and reduced sulpher.

Not my strong topic, haven't studied it enough lately, no need to rant.

regards
gary

By "current" what do you mean, current for 2008 civics?

I was incensed a couple of months ago by an auto industry stool pigeon journo who penned an article saying "Let's force all cars older than 10 years off the road because they pollute 400x more than newer cars"... so I went digging for details.. now hereabouts they don't have to be tested until they're 2 or 3 years old, so there was no "drive clean" specs available for '08s but for an '05 civic, I found that my 21 year old van was only allowed about double the HC, CO, NOx etc that a '05 civic was. Last test I regarded as somewhat "bad" because I was up around 50% of allowed values, when I've seen it do as good as 20-25%... so it would seem that my voyager, well maintained, would be able to scrape through limits for newer vehicles, and at it's "legal" worst would only have double the emissions of a new vehicle at it's "legal" worst.... and this is comparing a "light truck" to a "compact car" which I think have different standards...

I'm a little bemused actually why they dropped the 3.0 from the range claiming it couldn't meet new emissions targets... maybe it doesn't do so well if treated like crap for 5 years or something.

Anyway, based on that, it seems that you probably could get a VX in good enough shape to pass recent model year emission specs.

have you ever been in a shop that does oil changes and seen the average calibre of vehicles going through?

Have you ever rode in a taxi cab in Baltimore with both the check engine and ABS warning lights on? There was a third one on also, I think it was low brake fluid warning ;).

LOL regards
gary

What I find strange is here in NC nothing pre '96 has to pass emissions testing only a safety inspection. The inspecton station has to do a visual check on the emissions equipment. As long as it is there and hooked up, it doesn't matter whether it works properly or not.

I think all they do on post '96 models is plug in the OBDII and see what it says. as long as the emissions stuff says it's good then you are good.

also, south carolina doesn't do inspections at all. had a friend that lived there for 4 years while he was in the military. he said it was nice not having to worry about it but there were way too many cars on the road that belonged in junk yards.

I had a customer with a 77 280Z in my shop. His car was soo rusty, one side of the engine crossmember had fallen away from the unibody. This also was the mounting point for the steering rack and the lower control arms for the front suspension. The other side was flexing badly and soon would also separate completely. This meant there was no fixed location for the steering rack or the lower control arms for the front wheels. The transmission mount would be the only thing keeping the engine and tranny in the car.

He asked me to test drive the car. I told him I wouldn't drive it 50 feet, he was risking immediate total loss of control and a catastrophic accident.

Something I think about almost every day when I see a piece of junk near me on a highway.

regards
gary

fascinating question... Would my '90 protege pass. Thank goodness Montana doesn't have tailpipe tests. And thank goodness MT has lifetime registration, I'll never have to worry even if I move.

Yeah, I'm bad. It's okay though, its a race car first, daily driver second.

How the air quality there?

in NC where I live, it isn't even noticeable. I have more problems with pollen and mold spores (allergies). I do live near greensboro WAY out in the county though. the congestion is very minimal. it may be different near charlotte or raleigh which are the big cities in NC.

I am sure there are some studies that tell it better than my cheesy description above.

also of note is that in the great state of NC they do the emissions by county and not state wide. I live in rockingham county (not to be confused with the city of rockingham where they have races) and all they do is the OBDII test. I used to live in caswell county where they pretty much honk the horn and you get a sticker. my old inspections were $9.10 now in rockingham it is around $30 or so. a lot of labor to plug in that connector.