You are completely out of touch with the demographics of California. The "greenies" are an extremely vocal but well financed minority. Most Californians aren't in favor of current emissions laws. Truth be told only the major metropolitan areas are required to do biannual emissions testing. If you live in the sticks, you don't have to... which coincidentally is were most of the nut-job "greenies" live.

 

So why is it if only a minority does this, that you still have the politicians in office that allow it? It's cause the MAJORITY of yall vote 'em in there!

 

Because that minority is funded partially by Hollywood. Its also trendy in California to appear "green". That's one reason why hybrids are so damn popular here. Meanwhile, the rest of the country tends to forget that the aftermarket car industry basically began in Southern California and there are plenty more of us that maintain their performance cars and hot rods, yet we are the ones who are most impacted by biannual smog tests and required CARB approved add-ons. Heck our republican governor, who himself is considered "green", got blasted for owning a Hummer. Heck how often did he drive it anyway and how big really was it's carbon footprint? As for the politicians... its a popularity contest at best... he who pisses off the fewest and has the biggest bank account gets elected.

 

I'll bet if you took a poll, the majority of Californians would be in favor of CARB. Now if you restricted the poll to those who know a bit about what CARB actually does, and how much that bureaucracy really helps reduce smog, it would probably go the other way.

But for the majority who know little to nothing about the subject, if you're for CARB, you're for clean air, and if you're against CARB, you're a shill for industry who doesn't care smog.

 

Well, if you are thinking about a diesel powered car or truck, now might be the time to buy........

I have an '07 Sierra 2500 with a Duramax and got the last of the "old" design along with the LBZ.......let me tell you, I've got scads of power without all the diesel particulate filtering crap on it....yea, it pollutes, but its simple to maintain and is a rock solid engine........even though the new ones do have DPF exhausts, these can easily be removed with aftermarket parts..........I say get 'em while they are still around....................

 

That's one reason diesels will now be part of the biennial inspection program in California.

 

More like its more money for the state. how many people in california do you think will remove that stuff? Not many and really how much more power do you need? These trucks put out tons of power from the factory.

 

The state doesn't make money from these inspections, as they are carried out at private facilities.

Modifications are not the only reason -- they'll also want to find malfunctioning emission controls. Also, the particulate trap system is a maintenance item, and owners can save money by removing them if they malfunction. They're not passive like the catalytic converter on the car, which needs minimal maintenance.

The SCR system, which is used for NOx reduction, requires periodic refill of the urea tank, so that's another thing to inspect.

 

If I remember correct evreytime you smog your vehicle you pay a fee to the state. They also collect taxes from the business's that do the inspections. Its just a pain in the *** and is most likely not needed. The new cars these days tell you when its time to fix emmission controlls and most people will do just that. i own 4 vehicles and 3 of them I register out of state because I am so sick of all this crap. Funny thing is they are all stock motors and will pass emisions without any issues.

 

Something like a $6 certificate fee. Hardly something the state gets rich off of.

I agree that it is a nuisance.

 

I have always wondered how much polution are we preventing with smog checks. 99% of the people will never modify their car. Most will have it repaired when the check engine light comes on and even then it doesnt mean your car is polluting. All the time wasted driving down there, running your car on the dyno and what we pay for these things adds up. i think all that money and time could be spent on better things to clean up the air.

 

Probably around ZERO. I see this as more a government jobs program rather than a realistic pollution control measure.
And those dynos....
In Illinois plenty of people have filed damage claims with the state when their wheels (or other parts) were damaged by those morons driving them on the dyno rollers.

Quick story: Someone I know took his mint 3rd gen to get emissions tested. The nimrod driving it was fishtailing the rearend on the rollers with a large fan positioned inches away. The owner found the supervisor of the facility and stood next to him. The supervisor asked what he wanted, the owner said: " See that Camaro over there, that's my car. When that A-hole hits it, I'm gonna hit you" The supervisor promptly ended the test and passed him.


Back to the point though - I hope California goes BK without a fed bailout. That's the only way I can ever see it going through any meaningful change, CARB included.

 

If politics were as honest and as simple as voting someone in and voting someone else out...

 

doesn't the fuel cell power an electric powertrain.

I bet Toyota could do it. Not every market is as huge as the USA, yet they all have cars.

 

Any manufacturer could do it. You'll get just as much opposition from any of them though.

For gasoline, the extent of changes is usually limited to software or maybe a different cat & exhaust system. The system still occupies the same space though, so the design work and validation costs are minimal. The issues are post engineering.

Honestly, I hate the stigma California gets. Most of California is just fine and reasonable. Ah well. CARB still needs to go.