MOT emissions query - R32GTR

[J-Tuner]

Hi All

Having sorn'd the car over winter to avoid driving on salted roads for the MOT i am now having the fun task of sorting its new MOT. Previously the car went through with no issues as it has a cat in place though i suspect they had to run it longer than they would have liked before the numbers dropped into compliance!

I am going to have to get the MOT at a garage away from home (car is coming out of storage 30 miles away) and is an unknown quantity so whilst i was looking at the V5 i noticed that the car has absolutely zero emissions stats listed. Online it says its 0g/km!

Unless the car is actually a tesla - whats the protocol here with the MOT - can it actually fail emissions? What do they base the emissions test on with such cases and is there wiggle room to ask for another test with a different reference model, for example?

For clarity i don't expect any issues but this is always good info to know should i encounter a bad garage!

Cheers

Steve

[paintman]

Why not make an appointment at the garage that MOT'd it before?

Nothing to say how far you are allowed to drive to a pre-booked MOT test.

[J-Tuner]

Therein is the issue as my usual place is MOT only (which i prefer on a car of this vintage) and do not take prebookings. It does feel like also that should i get a tug from the police despite the being no rule on distance i am aware of they could simply make my life very difficult as they could perceive it as me taking the piss!

[InitialDave]

First option, there's an excellent thread here that can help you:
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Also the MOT requirements are made available online:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mot-inspection-manual-...

[markjmd]

Most R32s would still be eligible for testing as cat-less, since they were made before cats became compulsory. Maybe that's why it's always been logged as 0.

[D_G]

All Japanese imports up to 1995 are tested on non-cat limits of carbon monoxide (CO) 3.5% and hydrocarbons (HC) 1,200ppm. The 0 CO figure on the V5 only means there's no emission data available at the time of import so it's tested by default to the above limits. Unless there's something wrong it'll pass that very easily, even if the cats aren't there.

[TommoAE86]

Although much younger never had an issue with the Crown (2006) and it's got the same as you with nothing listed in the emissions section.

[carte blanche]

J-Tuner said:

I am going to have to get the MOT at a garage away from home (car is coming out of storage 30 miles away) and is an unknown quantity so whilst i was looking at the V5 i noticed that the car has absolutely zero emissions stats listed. Online it says its 0g/km!

I think you're getting confused between carbon dioxide emissions (the figure for which will be on the V5, or not in your car's case) and carbon monoxide, which is what is tested during the MOT and IIRC is a standard figure for pre-1995 petrol cars.

Edited by carte blanche on Wednesday 18th May 10:02

[J-Tuner]

Thanks everyone for your input really helpful!

Its booked in for friday morning to what looks like a friendly family garage so if i can i will watch the test screen and see if i can glean some thoughts from the tester. Usually testers are massively enthusiastic about the car and love to talk about it.

Generally it sounds like it will either be tested as cat-less or will have a reasonably generous emissions test which unless something is completely shagged i.e O2 sensor or exhaust leak etc i should be ok and not having to 'scrape through' it.

Car does less than 2000 miles a year was serviced a year ago and has been flawless up until now - will just give it a bit of warm up and blow the cobwebs away on the 10 mile drive over!

Will let you know how it goes

Cheers

Steve

[grudas]

it'll be fine. It's a pre 95 and has a cat.

Give it a good run and get it really hot and you'll have 0 problems unless something is actually wrong with the car.

[J-Tuner]

So found a lovely little family garage with some mechanics who were super interested in the car, lots of questions etc.

I think the old boy who was in charge of the MOT (with the owner assisting) was particularly thorough checking play in bearings etc i think that was down to experience and appreciation of what state these can sometimes be in. All flew by without incident in fact i received some compliments on the standard of the underside which is great to hear.

Emissions test it flew though - as mentioned here when the owner came out to greet me he was already all over the topic of emissions and knew what it would need to run under to ensure it was a correct test for the year.

Best part of the test was having to take the tester out and speed up to 20 then perform a stop, with him gripping the dashboard with white knuckles haha. Thats a first for me - whilst their facilities aren't the most modern they were definitely on the ball.

So all good here. The car had been sat doing not much most of the year and went through with a warmup whilst checking bulbs and fluids and a 15 min run down revving out a bit a bit to clear the pipes.

All ready for camping at goodwood FOS and looking forward to the drive down!

Cheers


Steve

[rxe]

Driving up the road for a brake test is pretty standard on 4WD cars - the normal brake testers do one axle at a time, and a lot of centre diffs really don’t like the back wheels doing 30 and the fronts doing nothing.