Joe Longworth

Bar 97 or Smog Check 2 should hit the Bay Area in October should memory serve correctly.

Cars with non-disengageable Four Wheel Drive, All Wheel Drive, and Traction Control will be exempt from testing on the Dyno. HOWEVER, your car will be subjected to a functional EGR test should you be dyno exempt.

As it stands TODAY there is nothing on the horizon requiring a change to four wheel dynomometers. And I would be highly surprised if this changed in the next year or three - primarily because the smog stations that just shelled out for a 45,000 dollar piece of equipment will not be willing to buy a NEW piece of equipment until their dyno is paid off.

So worry not about needing to find a four wheel dyno to have you car smogged, or chasing down the referee or anything.

Now, regarding curbside smog checks? I highly doubt it. Police Officers are just that - they're not smog technicians. However, someone clued most PD's into the fact that Honda's EGR system is positive backpressure driven. Which means that all those Hondas driving around with big open exhaust are most likely not using their EGR. Which counts as a tamper in the eyes of the BAR (the smog cops). So most PD's are attending 3 day training courses and going out and pulling over ever import car with modified exhaust, demanding to see EO #'s, failing to see them clearly, writing citations which require a trip to the smog referee, and waiting for the money to roll in when these citations become Failure To Appears at the court level.


So what's that mean. If your car looks modified, expect to be pulled over. Even if you have EO #'s, expect to be sent to a smog referee. And if you do get a citation, make sure you appear in court before your date or else your 10 dollar ticket becomes a 350 FTA fine...