GOLFMK8
GOLFMK7
GOLFMK6
GOLFMKV

Shocker: California to Start Checking for ECU Tunes During Smog.

Jovian

Drag Racing Champion
Location
Denver, CO
Car(s)
2016 VW GTI
This is a non-issue for me. Have purposefully never done downpipe or upgrades that require a tune. It will be simply flashing back to soft with the AP and making sure readiness is available

I expected something like this to happen at some point, figured electric cars with more communication and over the air updates like Tesla is doing will be the end.
 

odessa.filez

Autocross Newbie
Location
Roswell, GA
Car(s)
2016 GSW 1.8tsi auto
This is a non-issue for me. Have purposefully never done downpipe or upgrades that require a tune. It will be simply flashing back to soft with the AP and making sure readiness is available

I expected something like this to happen at some point, figured electric cars with more communication and over the air updates like Tesla is doing will be the end.
well, maybe in CA.

Average age of cars on the road is 12 years, which suggests many are paid for.

Government will need to dangle a whole lot of other people's money to convince folks to buy electric and endure the inconvenience of EV.
 

Sparky589

Drag Racing Champion
Good luck getting any of those companies to spend the money for CARB approval. If they were going to do that it would have happened years ago not when the days are numbered. And isn't the 2035 date the one that California stated?
The point I'm making is that every company I listed already has at least one CARB approved tune already on the market. I think we're kind of talking over each other here.

Also yes, 2035 is California's stated date. But given how it's the single largest car market in the U.S and sets the emission standards for a huge swath of the East Coast as well we'll likely see market trends follow suit.
 

odessa.filez

Autocross Newbie
Location
Roswell, GA
Car(s)
2016 GSW 1.8tsi auto

imthanick_a

Autocross Champion
Location
Ohio

Attachments

  • 1626786425929.png
    1626786425929.png
    707.9 KB · Views: 129

Chogokin

Autocross Champion
Location
So Cal
Car(s)
GTI Sport | Audi A3
Based on this, CARB and CBAR can access your car's ECU through its OBDII port during an emissions test and see if there are any unapproved vehicle tunes. A statement provided to The Drive via email by a CARB official goes into the reasoning behind the new push for enforcement. "We have had enforcement cases against manufacturers and distributors of aftermarket parts based on this issue. And the best examples of all are the alterations of vehicles such as VW did. So it's always been illegal and vehicles failed when discovered. It's just been something that typically was only found if the vehicle failed an OBD check or the smog technician noticed physical tampering with the computer or an add-on box. Or in some extreme cases, a police officer cited a grossly smoking vehicle, for example, a diesel truck 'Rolling Coal'."



The official added, "Since the beginning of computer-controlled vehicles, software has always been an important part of the emissions control system. So we have always been very clear with the industry as to their responsibility to obtain an EO (Executive Order) to ensure their modifications are legal for their customers. Once OEMs broke our trust with their software cheating, there was ample notice that we would be using all tools available to ensure everybody was following the rules, including the aftermarket."


https://www.thedrive.com/cars-101/41603/california-ecu-tune-flash-faq

Blame VW and the coal guys. :LOL:
 

loopless

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
San Diego
Does anyone know what the process will be even with a CARB approved tune like APR+? My impression was that you would be failed then have to appeal and it will be a big hassle. Ideally you could just show the CARB approved documentation when being tested but I guess that is open to abuse.
 

Dog Dad Wagon

Autocross Champion
Location
Go Birds
Car(s)
16 Touareg TDI
Does anyone know what the process will be even with a CARB approved tune like APR+? My impression was that you would be failed then have to appeal and it will be a big hassle. Ideally you could just show the CARB approved documentation when being tested but I guess that is open to abuse.

Im sure it will be something approved between APR and CARB, and loaded in CARB’s database of whitelisted ECU Profiles
 

nineknives

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
Miracle Mile, CA
Car(s)
2015 GTI S
Oh man this freaked me out for a second but Apr Stage 1 and my air intake are both CARB compliant. Whew.
 

nineknives

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
Miracle Mile, CA
Car(s)
2015 GTI S
Does anyone know what the process will be even with a CARB approved tune like APR+? My impression was that you would be failed then have to appeal and it will be a big hassle. Ideally you could just show the CARB approved documentation when being tested but I guess that is open to abuse.
In order to get a CARB EO the manufacturer has to submit the end product for review, testing, and certification, so in theory any combination of CARB EO items should still result in a pass.

If your car fails and they tell you it's because of your stage one tune you could appeal/refer to the EO, but the whole point of CARB compliant upgrades is that they shouldn't make your car fail a smog test in the first place because they still meet CA emissions standards.
 

TCdaosithui

Ready to race!
Location
SoCal
f*ck up my plan to upgrade mine :(
 
Top