De-catted exhaust question.

[anniesdad]

Was discussing de-catted cars with a friend the other day. He had a tubi on his F40 for trackwork, but put the original exhaust back on the car when he put it back to road spec. He says that de-catting the car makes the car uninsurable for the road, as basically to meet road regulations the car required the cats. I wasn't sure about this myself as I understand a few Ferrari owners have de-catted their cars. Is it not simply a modification that should be declared to the insurers and the insurers decide?

Cheers.

[murph7355]

I'm not 100% sure, but I think cats only became mandatory on cars in the UK in the mid 90s (think it's around 95/96, though could be a year or two earlier as my recollection is from Caterham requirements).

If the car never came with a cat from the factory, then no problem. And I'm sure that even if it did, if roadgoing legalities are fine then it should be insurable.

However, if you change the car from factory spec, you do have to declare any changes. And I suspect insurers may get very itchy with a modified F40 (for even the smallest mods - a few seem to have been knocked recently...).

[Andrew Richmond]

92 was the year for cats.

The main issue with de-cat is that the car would fail an MOT or roadside emissions check (if reg >92).

Ask the question on the Lotus section as loads of Elises run without cats. Indeed I seem to remember that the 190PS upgrade for the K series engine includes the cat removal.

[anniesdad]

Thanks for the replies guys. Hadn't thought about the MOT and whether it would pass the emissions test. Obviously if it will not pass the test of course the car is not roadlegal and subsequently uninsureable.

Thanks.