Road legal track cars maybe a thing of the past... new mot rules

[1985michael182]

So the on going argument of moting a modified vehicle to be used on track.

Rules now state that a "boy racer" modified car to be used on track days must comply with all normal car mot rules.

If airbags, pre tentioners, collision sensors are fitted from factory they must be present and in correct working order. Same with standard seat belts.

Only a rally car which must use the public high way between stages is exempt from these normal rules and a tester can challenge the customer to prove that it is a competitive vehicle.

So... basically there is no such thing as a road legal track car anymore unless you fit all the standard safety equipment back to the vehicle for the mot test and if your on a public high way have it fitted then remove it again at the track.

Found this out on Tuesday when I tried to get my car mot'd at work by the techies (I'm in the bodyshop) at bmw where I work and they failed me for......

No standard safety equipment fitted
Sunstrip encroaching into zone A
3rd brake light not working
No Cat fitted

Yes I should have a Cat fitted but the very limited milage to a track and back its More effort than its worth swapping cat for decat.

Secondly I do hill climbs and sprints so the vehicle gets scrutinised by fia safety officials and I'm pretty sure I'd rather have cage and 6point harnesses than a bloody airbag if I was to crash.

I think its a bit of a joke really

Any thoughts???

 

[1985michael182]

This is copied from the DVSA website...

We are often asked what level of modification is necessary before a vehicle can be classed as a rally car and therefore qualify as a ‘modified vehicle’ as defined in the Introduction section of the MOT inspection manual.

Put simply, the vehicle must be a competition rally car that needs an MOT to be used on the road between stages. Track day cars or vehicles with ‘boy racer’ modifications are not competition rally cars and do not therefore qualify as a ‘modified vehicle’. So if a vehicle like this is not fitted with original equipment items such as a brake servo, airbags or any other SRS (Supplemental Restraint System) equipment, it must fail the MOT test.

Unfortunately, identifying a genuine rally car is not always straightforward due to the variety of classifications. The most obvious evidence will be the mandatory fitment of a steel safety roll-over cage. The rear seats are likely to be removed and there may be longitudinal door bars and substantial underbody protection covering any area of fuel tank exposed to running damage.

The vehicle is also likely to have modified seats with full harness seat belts; a fire extinguisher in the passenger compartment; competition number boxes on the body (not displaying a number) and the emergency towing eyes painted a distinctive colour.

When there is doubt about whether a vehicle is a competition rally car, the presenter is responsible for providing proof to convince the tester that it is a genuine competition vehicle. This could be in the form of a competition certificate from the rally’s governing body.

 

[STEVE.M]

This is copied from the DVSA website...

We are often asked what level of modification is necessary before a vehicle can be classed as a rally car and therefore qualify as a ‘modified vehicle’ as defined in the Introduction section of the MOT inspection manual.

Put simply, the vehicle must be a competition rally car that needs an MOT to be used on the road between stages. Track day cars or vehicles with ‘boy racer’ modifications are not competition rally cars and do not therefore qualify as a ‘modified vehicle’. So if a vehicle like this is not fitted with original equipment items such as a brake servo, airbags or any other SRS (Supplemental Restraint System) equipment, it must fail the MOT test.

Unfortunately, identifying a genuine rally car is not always straightforward due to the variety of classifications. The most obvious evidence will be the mandatory fitment of a steel safety roll-over cage. The rear seats are likely to be removed and there may be longitudinal door bars and substantial underbody protection covering any area of fuel tank exposed to running damage.

The vehicle is also likely to have modified seats with full harness seat belts; a fire extinguisher in the passenger compartment; competition number boxes on the body (not displaying a number) and the emergency towing eyes painted a distinctive colour.

When there is doubt about whether a vehicle is a competition rally car, the presenter is responsible for providing proof to convince the tester that it is a genuine competition vehicle. This could be in the form of a competition certificate from the rally’s governing body.

Reading this works better than counting sheep.

 

[1985michael182]

Haha night then

 

[Coops Mk1]

thankfully mine didn't have any of that safety crap fitted anyway as its old as hell!lol!

 

[1985michael182]

Old skool stuff is probably the only way to get around it. Pre Cat pre airbags

 

[1985michael182]

Or to logbook your car as a rally car but thats alot of hoops to jump through just for a track you

 

[1985michael182]

Toy*

 

[JamesBryan]

Are you sure that's all true.

Surely if you have bucket seat with harnesses then you don't require airbags and if they are not there then they can't be tested.

 

[bloke]

It's pretty much always been like that.

 

[1985michael182]

That great big essay I posted was cut and paste from the mot section on gov.uk

 

[charltjr]

I don't think the guidelines have radically changed TBH, they've just re-clarified them. A friendly/sensible MoT tester should be fine with a track car as long as it's clearly modified as such, it's just finding one

 

[Sonic Boom]

If you used it for Hillclimbing mate just get it MSA logged booked then you'll be fine, I have my Clio log booked and I run it in the Road Going Production Class.
Rich

 

[1985michael182]

Are you stripped out? Cage buckets harnesses ? Airbags out?

 

[KitsonRis]

My old Clio failed its MoT test back in July for this - no air bag, drivers seat not moving and being "exhaust being louder than a standard car of similar age and condition" (this annoyed me as there are other standard cars that are a lot louder, mine was 92dB at 4.5k rpm). I was always under the impression if it isn't broken/working correctly or not there to be tested then it is fine. The same garage has been testing it for two years without problem. The car was "obviously" a track car too, with a handheld fire extinguisher in the passenger foot well and a different coloured tow strap on the front. One reason why I sold it and bought a car from 1989 which didn't have any of this fitted as standard.
The same garage tested my step dad's E36 track car, which does have bucket seats on runners and the original steering wheel, but has a 6 point cage and it passed.

 

[Inequality Street]

Gotta get mine MOT’d soon. No airbags, fixed buckets, cage etc... Wonder how this will go.

 

[BoatNonce]

Doesn’t necessarily have to be a rally car either, just competitive motorsport.

MX5 was MOTed today actually, although the new rules aren’t in place yet.

 

[flebay]

Should be the same as before until 20 May 2018

 

[1985michael182]

Do we have any Mot testers as members who can help with the subject?
Ive emailed Vosa/DVSA to ask for the correct ruling and received on back today saying my message has been passed To The relevant people and should hear a reply with in 5days

 

[1985michael182]

And the worst thing is the lad who failed mine said mechanically its mint not a problem but now he's logged those failure items on Vosa it' going to make it hard to get an mot now

 

[bloke]

but now he's logged those failure items on Vosa it' going to make it hard to get an mot now

talking out of his arse!!!!

 

[bloke]

also 3rd brake light isn't a fail if it's not working at all.

 

[1985michael182]

I've already checked mot history on dvla website and all my failure items are there.
Check yourself ST52 DDE

 

[1985michael182]

They told me if it' present it has to work. If I took it out it would pass lol!
Fitted a new one tonight anyway

 

[bloke]

Vehicles first used on or after 1 January 1971 must be fitted with two obligatory stop lamps.

Additional stop lamps fitted and connected must be tested. Where extra lamps are fitted and there is doubt as to whether they are connected, the benefit of this doubt should be given to the presenter.

 

[bashracing]

Do we have any Mot testers as members who can help with the subject?

I've got a bit of experience with MoT's.

Nothing has changed with regards to the air bags, cats missing etc since eu directive 48/2010 came into force in 2012

Fixed bucket seats don't fail as the fail criteria is "a drivers seat adjustment mechanism not functioning as intended"
so if the mechanism has purposely been removed there is no mechanism to test.

 

[KitsonRis]

Fixed bucket seats don't fail as the fail criteria is "a drivers seat adjustment mechanism not functioning as intended"
so if the mechanism has purposely been removed there is no mechanism to test.

This is what I thought. Mine were bolted to a frame that had no mechanism. It’s function was not to move and it did that perfectly, seats didn’t move! Still failed.

What’s the airbag/cat directive? If fitted as standard they need to be fitted?

 

[bashracing]

pretty much yeah
anything after aug 92 requires a cat ( barring some grey imports )
airbags fitted as standard equipment must remain

the new regs that come in on the 20th of may are more to hammer diesels than anything else

 

[1985michael182]

And the only cars exempt from the airbags one is competition rally cars. Even they have to have a Cat if fitted from factory

 

[JB21]

Mine passed a few weeks ago with no airbags, rear cage, 1 x seat and harness, decat etc. Just find a friendly MOT place and throw them a score.

I just have an agreement that if i got pulled on it from the fuzz that I'd say i fitted/removed said items after the MOT.

 

[bashracing]

If you're really bored you could have a look at this, it's the ''Cat of D's''

http://www.transportoffice.gov.uk/crt/repository/Cat of Defects April 08_rev_200608-cjd.pdf

Basically you CAN'T be given a defect notice by VOSA or Fuzz at the roadside if it doesn't appear in this literature, they are not allowed to inspect your vehicle to a MoT standard at the roadside, Only what it says in here.
Cars are section 2, half way through the pages

Key =
I = Immediate ( you're getting towed on a flat bed )
D = Delayed ( you can drive away with a defect notice but must present it at a mot station for inspection to have it removed)
IN = Inspection notice ( same as an advisory on the current mot system )

 

[bloke]

IN = Inspection notice ( same as an advisory on the current mot system )

Wonder how the new minor fail will be regulated when that changes, sure I read a minor fail has to be rectified within 3 months?

 

[flebay]

Even they have to have a Cat if fitted from factory

 

[alistairolsen]

It's simple really, you either maintain the complete manufacturers safety system, or you replace it in its entirety with a cage, buckets and harnesses compliant with the MSA rules.

 

[bloke]

It's simple really, you either maintain the complete manufacturers safety system, or you replace it in its entirety with a cage, buckets and harnesses compliant with the MSA rules.

not quite that straight forward, you can remove abs from any car and as long as everything is removed it's not a fail. can be a bit of a minefield especially if you have a tester who doesn't know what can and can't fail :wink:

 

[massiveCoRbyn]

Baffles me that people still get upset about the catalyst thing. It's been very clear for a long time.

The other stuff is interesting. I can see a lot of people having to argue their case. Road rally cars can be all over the place in terms of spec for example.

I'm not surprised that this sort of thing is coming though. We've had it so easy for so long in the UK.

 

[1985michael182]

Whose bloody side are you lol?

 

[1985michael182]

On*

 

[massiveCoRbyn]

Not really taking sides I don't think. Just find it odd that people still fall foul of the cat thing when it's been the law since basically forever. People may not like it, but it's something we just have to put up with.

They are going to crack down on this stuff more and more. Like I said, we have it so easy compared to some other countries. With the obsession with eco-mentalism, it was only a matter of time sadly.

Just use a testing station that are familiar with competition cars, buy an old car or use it as an excuse to go all out and build a monster lol

 

[alistairolsen]

not quite that straight forward, you can remove abs from any car and as long as everything is removed it's not a fail. can be a bit of a minefield especially if you have a tester who doesn't know what can and can't fail :wink:

NOt nowadays, if it was fitted from the factory it must be present and working correctly, unless its a competition car.

Decats are total b****cks, people removed them because Max Power said it was worth 5bhp. The average OEM cat is not significantly restrictive at standard power. I refitted one to my track car when I bought it and left it there, it made no difference apart from the fact it's actually legal now.

As for specs for rally cars, having a competition logbook sorts most queries. Serious trackday cars with a cage will be fine in most cases and it prevents the road cars with buckets, half a set of airbags and diabled ABS being on the road, which can only be a good thing IMHO.