Quote:
Originally Posted by JSH
Everything you plan to do is illegal under federal law and has been since the Clean Air Act passed in 1973. The Clean Air Act made it illegal to modify your car in any way that changes the emissions. That rules out all engine modifications. If it isn't factory spec it is illegal unless the tuning company has tested and certified that the car still meets emission standards after the new parts are installed. OEMs and large tuning companies like Hennessey and Roush offer legal modification packages. The last time I had a product certified the testing was $250,000 so you can see why most companies just sell parts that are illegal for road use and pretend the are for "Competition Use Only".
Now that New York has adopted CARB the emissions requirements in NY are identical to those in CA. However, they are not retroactive and your 1997 car is only required to meet 1997 standards.
Running Iso-Butanol is your car it illegal. Not just because you plan to dodge road taxes but also because your car has not been certified to use that fuel. You can only legally use fuels that your car has been tested and certified to use. In your case that is gasoline and ethanol blends up to E10.
Yes, Ethanol is taxed. The subsidies are for corn production and ethanol production and go to those producers. It is taxed the same as gasoline at point of use.
If you truly want to reduce emissions you need to park the Firebird and start driving a modern car with current emission controls at least for the majority of your miles. Even if your car was like new running perfectly, your car is producing much more pollution than a modern car. Car have become MUCH cleaner in the past 20 years.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JSH
That is up to each individual. However, the OP expressed the desire to make legal modifications. I though he might want to know what is and is not legal.
The stakes are also a bit higher for emission violations than traffic infractions. The fine for illegally modifying a vehicle is $10,000 per violation. The risk of an individual getting caught is tiny as the Feds don't enforce the clean air act at an individual level and States don't enforce Federal laws.
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Now I am going to start getting testy.
Well, there are cars being driven around in New York that run on recycled restaurant cooking oil or some bio-diesel. These vehicles clearly are not certified to run on this fuel source but they do. Some cars have been converted to propane or maybe even compressed natural gas. These cars
CERTAINLY did not come from the factory this way but they are driving around! Why the hell should anyone ***** about me using Iso-Butanol when the fuel is much cleaner to burn than gasoline and I can have my car properly tuned for proper air-fuel ratio and to meet emissions standards, which the Engine builder/tuner also performs!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoichiometry
Then of course if New York state is encouraging drivers to drive green with better cars or alternative fuel sources, why the hell would they give me a hard time about "illegally" modifying my car to be
GREEN?! The contradictory b.s.!
https://www.dmv.org/ny-new-york/gree...incentives.php