Hi,

My '02 STI Prodrive failed its MOT the other day due to excessive exhaust emmissions As far as I know the car has a Hayward & Scott 2 piece up-pipe and de-cat and a full Nur Spec-R system. The MOT guy said the whole lot will need to be replaced because there's nowhere to put a cat. Is there anything else I can do? as a full exhaust from the turbo back seems a bit extreme, not to mention expensive.

Thanks,
Karen

 

The Nur Spec R is a cat back system so unless someone has modded it you should be able to just replace the downpipe for one with a cat in it. Depend on whether you want a normal or a sports cat, but remember if you do fit a cat you'll need a remap to account for the additional restrictions in the system. You might get away with a good sports cat and no remap, but personally I wouldn't chance it.

Plan B, ask in the Scottish section for anyone who no's a decat friendly MOT tester

 

as above, you should be able to fit a catted downpipe even if its just to get through the mot

 

Find a subaru friendly garage

 

I just need something to get the car through its MOT with acceptable emissions, then everything that's on it now will be going straight back once I have the certificate. Will the car need remapped just for that? And will any catted downpipe go on a Nur Spec-R, as long as it's not been modded?

Thanks for the replies

 

Drive it off-boost and you'll have no problems without a remap. As long as the Nur Spec is standard any downpipe will do, but some will be one piece and some 2-piece. Just avoid classic and JDM downpipes as they are shorter

 

This would do the trick...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SUBARU-IMP...#ht_500wt_1156

 

second that! get friendly with an mot tester always very handy.

 

does these actually exist though or is it internet rumour, as the test is now computerised!

 

yes it could be done the tester in question could put the exhaust probe up the catted car next to it, print off the result and keep the copy as evidence.

 

Thanks for the link Jon. Is this part just for a standard Nur Spec then? Sorry, I'm blonde

Thanks everybody

 

Test is computerised yes, but not actual linked to anything....They can just not do the test, and you simply wouldnt get the extra printout with the green pass cert lol

 

Justtake it to a freindly mot tester as mentioned above ...always work for me !!

 

im no expert on this matter but having watched my car being mot they simply cant just miss parts out, say
"oh my headlights dont work"
tester "dont worry ill just miss that bit out"

i think your car has to pass EVERY section of the test, agreed you could probably test another cars gasses but how many people really know someone who would do this???
i cant imagine turning up to a mot tester you dont know and asking him to do this as its illegal,
maybe if you know the tester but otherwise i'd imagine its a near impossible task.

 

They do indeed exist.Its always handy knowing one, as cant stand silly things like blown bulbs and worn bushes that cause a fail, a good mot tester will always bend the rules if its not putting lives at risk it helps guys like us and keeps business for the garage in question.

 

well put my man ..........

 

Its all about getting to know your mechanic / mot tester! Some places ask you to put the cat in the boot and may charge you for fitting it for the test but it never actually leaves the boot

 

I`m due an MOT soon but as my V5 does not list an emmision`s target with it being an import that should be fun, Saying that he passed my last scoob for 4 years so i should`nt have a problem, Just got the same advisory for 4 years......Noisy Exhaust, lol.

You can also change the model of the car on the testing machine to get different result, pass/fail as some have a higher co2 output than others

 

im not saying its not possible just not easy unless you know the tester,
i would love to get my car de catted but this is the only concern i have with it.

 

Take it to an independent garage and have a chat with the tester most of these guys are in the trade because they love cars and 99% of the time will be willing to let it go, ive never had a car fail yet when ive explained the situation

 

good advice ill try that, i was always intending to keep the cat anyway, but i thought every year it was going to be a pain to refit and possibly remap for the mot.

 

believe it or not the bugeye i used to have passed the emmisions test with a turbo back decat exhaust, we tried it at work just to see what it was reading and it was bang on the 0.20 pass so we ran the test there and then

 

hi incase you are worried the co2 category on the v5 is for (carbon dioxide)
we only check carbon monoxide,hydrocarbons and lambda on a cat test
,co2 reading is shown on the analyser but dont matter what it is ,our machine checks the level of co2 initially to ensure the probe is collecting gases and wont display until 9%.

 

Thanks for that,

My car does not exist as far as i know on the UK Mot data base being a Spec-C so i was curious as to what would make it pass/fail seeing as though there are no targets for the model as my V5 states

Make= Subaru
Type=
Varient=
Model=
CO2=

All the above are blank and this is a recent V5 that does not differ from the last one apart from a number plate change

 

Gaz, they revert to the old table for pre 95 cars, just as an example mine passed with amazingly low levels of CO2, something like .08% on fast idle, well below the limit (note the nice sticker under your bonnet, near side with the CO2 emissions on it

Tony

 

Kaz, is your car not mapped for that decat?

Tony

 

I have no idea Tony. I've only had the car a year and everything was already done. I was told the decat was legal and nothing to worry about. Don't know who to trust these days

 

Come to think of it, Er no, Its` the 1st I`ve heard of it

Thanks for the info and i`ll have to have a look for that sticker

 

Over here in NI, MOTs are not done by local garages but national centres with multiple test lanes.
Emissions was an interesting one for me this year, I have a 3" Cobra turbo back system with the two main cats removed.
Uppipe still has the small cat in the uppipe.
The CO emissions were 0.0040% max permissible is 3.5% HC showed as 180ppm max permissible 1200 so passed easily, now there is still a small cat on the uppipe but the gases are moving through it at idle fairly quickly so cant see removing it as being a problem, plus remap time will probably sort it even more so. Did you happen to get a printout with the emissions listed?

 

dont worry so much, as people have said there are friendly MOT stations out there, ask around as suggested in the scottish section and ask to be PMd with the details. as for being legal (or road legal) if you did get a pull you would need to be really unlucky to get collared with a decat, and if you did, you would more than likely be issued with one of those tickets telling you to get it sorted and passed by an MOT station and then return the form to the police within 14 days or pay a £60 fine! i had one of these once for the wrong font on the reg. i sellotaped the original plates over the show ones, the bloke came out the garage, signed me off, i drove around the corner and took them off again. its not an ideal situation you have found yourself in but not one to lose sleep over