TVRs are exempt from MOT emissions tests

[JonRB]

Just thought I would give TVR owners a heads-up on emissions at MOT time.

My Sagaris would have failed its MOT test on emissions today, until the tester and I both realised almost at the same time that as a "Passenger / Light Goods" vehicle it was exempt.

Yes, that's right. Not only do we benefit from £190 VED but we don't have to pass emissions either.

I just thought someone might benefit from this knowledge.

[Pupp]

Can anyone in the trade verify this; sounds too good to be true!

[ridds]

If it's got PLG on the V5 then yes I'm pretty sure that's correct.

It's not that it doesn't have to pass an emmission test but it is tested under some slightly less stringent rules.

[Tyre Smoke]

I don't know why exactly, but I say that is rubbish. All vehicles registered after a certain date have to pass an emissions test. Jan 1992 rings a bell. Before that it was a visual smoke test I think.

[S6 Devil]

You could ask here: http://www.motester.co.uk/forums/forum3/

or look here: http://www.motester.co.uk/mot-qanda.html

"To decide whether or not a vehicle should have a catalytic test the MOT garage will have an official booklet which clearly states not only which vehicles should be so tested but also what the limits should be for that specific vehicle."

Edited by S6 Devil on Saturday 11th July 18:55

[JonRB]

Tyre Smoke said:

I don't know why exactly, but I say that is rubbish. All vehicles registered after a certain date have to pass an emissions test.

Ok, well whatever. Once we'd established it was PL/G he told his junior to take the probe out and I got an MOT pass despite there being red numbers on lambda and CO2.

[Rollcage]

Im afraid I call Bullst on this - most cars are registered as PLG if you look on the log book .It should have met the emission test standards - prob CO of less than 0.2 ,lambda between .97 and 1.03 and HC's less than something I cant remember right now.

Anything pre 92 has to pass just CO of less than 3.5 ,and that gets more lenient with age of car,until it is just a visual smoke test.

All Tivs built after 1992 will (should!) have cats and thus be subject to the more stringent tests -I'm not aware of any loopholes!

[V8 GRF]

I'm sure TVRs have exemptions on some of the more stringent tests due to their low volume status but they certainly have to pass some form of emissions test.

[B19GRR]

I can remember taking my cerb in for an MOT at a small garage, I sat around for a while then the bloke came back in and said it had passed. I was intrigued about this as they clearly hadn't started the car at any point (generally most people in a mile radius knew about it when the car started ) but kept my trap shut. They clearly had done something though as when I drove off the fueling had gone all wrong and it stalled a couple of times before it sorted itself out again, God knows what they did to it but I was happy with the nice piece of paper in my hand anyway

Cheers,
Rob

[kevin63]

If this is all true then it might be a good idea to keep quiet about it.

They test mine but it always passes, or it has done for the last eight years.

[S6 Devil]

Would be good to know for sure, mine is an S spec engine with decats, a Power de-cat chip and CCC's, I don't know whether it will pass the emissions as is or whether I will need to get some cats for the MOT.

[jagracer]

JonRB said:

Just thought I would give TVR owners a heads-up on emissions at MOT time.

My Sagaris would have failed its MOT test on emissions today, until the tester and I both realised almost at the same time that as a "Passenger / Light Goods" vehicle it was exempt.

Yes, that's right. Not only do we benefit from £190 VED but we don't have to pass emissions either.

I just thought someone might benefit from this knowledge.

It's bullst I'm afraid but a nice wish anyway.
For his sake I hope VOSA don't check the paperwork at his test station or he'll be minus a licence.

MOT tester

Edited by jagracer on Saturday 11th July 20:08

[Byker28i]

I put my cats in, it flies through the emissions then the cats come out again.

[JonRB]

Rollcage said:

It should have met the emission test standards - prob CO of less than 0.2 ,lambda between .97 and 1.03 and HC's less than something I cant remember right now.

Best lambda we saw was 1.074

CO2 did drop below 0.2 at times though.

Edited by JonRB on Saturday 11th July 20:30

[jagracer]

JonRB said:

Rollcage said:

It should have met the emission test standards - prob CO of less than 0.2 ,lambda between .97 and 1.03 and HC's less than something I cant remember right now.

Best lambda we saw was 1.074

CO2 did drop below 0.2 at times though.

Edited by JonRB on Saturday 11th July 20:30

Was the engine really hot? Don't forget that if it failed the BET test you can go for a full cat test which could have more lenient standards for this car.

[Rollcage]

jagracer said:

JonRB said:

Rollcage said:

It should have met the emission test standards - prob CO of less than 0.2 ,lambda between .97 and 1.03 and HC's less than something I cant remember right now.

Best lambda we saw was 1.074

CO2 did drop below 0.2 at times though.

Edited by JonRB on Saturday 11th July 20:30

Was the engine really hot? Don't forget that if it failed the BET test you can go for a full cat test which could have more lenient standards for this car.

Sounds like its running a bit weak ,looking at the Lambda reading - sometimes you need to REALLY spank them to get the cats to light up properly - then the readings will drop like a stone!(I'm talking 4500rpm for a minute or so!)

[JonRB]

jagracer said:

Was the engine really hot? Don't forget that if it failed the BET test you can go for a full cat test which could have more lenient standards for this car.

Yup. I'd gone for a good drive and had 70C oil temp when I arrived.

[thainy77]

I see you live in London, does it not have anything to do with the low emmissions test or LEZ for PLG's? i'm not sure how that works but it could be something to do with it.

[jagracer]

thainy77 said:

I see you live in London, does it not have anything to do with the low emmissions test or LEZ for PLG's? i'm not sure how that works but it could be something to do with it.

That's nothing to do with petrol engines or the MOT test, it only affects diesels over a certain weight and part of it has now been canned or postponed.
As I said earlier the OP is having a nice fantasy plus the only vehicles that don't do the emissions test are hybrids or electrics.

[JonRB]

jagracer said:

As I said earlier the OP is having a nice fantasy

Well, fantasy or not, the tester was satisfied with the emissions of my Sagaris once we had established it was a PLG despite it having red figures for lambda and CO2. Perhaps the emissions for PLG are less stringent and I misunderstood.