peterdouglas

https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a37022836/california-ecu-tune-during-smog-checks/?source=nl

dhirm5

well that sucks. i wonder how they'd implement this; how can they know that the software isn't stock?

detansinn

If your aftermarket tune is CARB approved, you’re fine. This doesn’t mean that you can’t tune your car, but it may restrict your options.

It’s California. No one should be surprised. The interesting part will be if the other states that follow their emissions standards follow suit.

ipse dixit

They should've done this a long time ago.

BIGWORM

This seems like its a little too late with the ICE going away sooner than later.

ipse dixit

But that starts in 2035 (for now anyway), and that's a good 14 year away.

dhirm5

curious why - you're anti tune?

ipse dixit

Not at all.

I am anti non-compliant tunes.

While we may all like to bag on CARB and CA's restrictive standards and nanny-state, I recall living here back in the 80s when we would have smog alerts and we were not allowed to play outside, and if you did, your lungs would hurt at night.

And those mountains we get to enjoy daily now? That we take for granted? Those were literally not visible on red flag smog alert days, which were more common than I cared to remember.

Some 20 years later (probably even before then, as the air improved significantly before Y2K), "smog alert" became as ancient a term as "dial up".

So, no, I am all about letting people tune their cars to their heart's content.

Just don't do it at the expense of the environment.

And, yes, I know that trucks, ships and airplanes pollute alot more,, but every bit counts.

phaser

Good grief, CA is a disaster with more problems than they can count, bad unemployment, insane pension commitments, ridiculous taxation, absurd home prices, collapsing power grids complete with 3rd world style rolling blackouts, dangerous drug addicted bums ruining their major cities,..............
Amazing that they would put any kind of a priority on finding the handful of guys who have tuned their car in a non-governmentally approved fashion. Simply amazing, very difficult to find rationality in that place.

You may want to have a sit down with India and China if you are on a mission to save the "enviornment".

Tupper

^ I agree. Total nonsense. The fraction of people who tune their cars is so miniscule compared to the general population that this is a complete waste.

Tompoodie

While I really like the idea of cheap horsepower from ECU tunes, I strongly agree with Ipse.
I went to grammar school very close to the intersection of the 405 and 10 freeways in Los Angeles in the 1960s. The skies were orange in summer and it looked like the end of days.
I remember every child on the playground had a deep aching pain in the lungs when taking a deep breath on those high smog days. It was awful.
I now have asthma and somewhat reduced exercise capacity as a result, and probably an increased risk of lung cancer.
Nixon was mostly negative, but to his credit, he founded the Environmental Protection Agency and started us onto the road to relatively clean air that we have now compared to what it would have been (or is now in China).
Smog controls reduce death from asthma, lung cancer, and heart disease, very well documented.
In my personal case as I intend to autocross my 991S which is on order, both with PCA and SCCA;
ECU tuning was never an option for me as I want to compete in stock classes.

phaser

Exactly. The "pollution" from guys who have non compliant ECU tunes is so incredibly small in the grand scheme of things that it is laughable. Maybe CA with all their environmental wisdom could figure out a way to curtail some of these massive wild fires that burn for weeks. These have been a problem there for many decades and would probably pollute more in 30 seconds than the total of all the "non compliant" tuned performance guys. Totally screwed up priorities but lets face it the state of CA is an enigma at this point.

Tompoodie

California management of fire hazard is nothing short of idiotic.
Our leadership kowtows to environmentalist who don't want to do controlled burns for the environment, only to have uncontrolled burns do much worse damage to the atmosphere.
I've only gone outside to exercise twice in the past two weeks because of continued moderate air quality from fires and emergency dirty power generation.

And while I'm on a rant, I'm all for clean energy adjunctively, it is premature to make it 100%. Ask Texans what they thought about it last winter when wind power froze literally and figuratively.
In California we are now activating coal burning plants and dirty diesel generators because of the deficit of clean power.
Another California oxymoron.
Granted, performance ECU tunes are a tiny fraction of the problem.

RRich

I’m all for sensible actions that have a real impact on the environment, but this has nothing to do with that. It was merely created to satisfy the itch of CARB zealots who have a disdain for car enthusiasts.

They should focus on the heavy hitters and not worry about insignificant issues.

detansinn

If the tune on your car has it generating the emissions equivalent to hundreds of cars, yes, you are having an impact on the environment.