I got smogged a week ago.
Have APS turbo back (catted) with cobb stage 2 OTS map and passed with no problems.
They did however seem to look over the car a little more than i remember but everything went smooth.
Idk if that helps you any.

 

Did they do the tail pipe test? I sold my 02 wrx a couple months back and I still got the tail pipe test

 

I Smogged a total of 4 times in this year alone.... All of course different cars... The normal process still has not changed yet, functional, visual and tailpipe... Supposedly the new procedure was a proposal as my friend who owns a star shop claims they haven't recieved any green light to change procedures..

 

So what's it matter then? Curiosity's sake? I heard from another member here that they are going to stop that portion of the test in September. The visual part of the inspection is the one every Subaru owner might have trouble passing, not the sniffer.

 

LOL at someone saying old.guy for president on the last page

 

They still do sniffer tests on everything other than diesels. Most techs/shops are taking longer to do them and check the vehicles better. Prices have also gone up for a lot of Star stations.

STAR Smog Check Welcome Page

Put in the tech or station number from your last smog report and then go under short term and long term. Those are all the things the tech has to meet (quota) for them to continue to smog. This is why most smog shops have tightened up.


Source: Im a smog tech

 

best info I have read as opposed to "I have a friend"

So question...I've went back to stock and have been lazy to re-activate my rear oxygen sensor (a friend disabled this while I was on a catless set up). Will this be a problem for me in the future?

Other info: When I got my car smogged, they hooked up the obd2 scanner, readiness monitors and no codes, then they did the sniffer test.

 

Will not be an issue if the code was disabled via the tune and your monitors are enabled to run. Gotta love that about Mitsu/Subarus.

So far there is nothing that checks your rom to see if its modified and I dont think there will be for atleast a few years, if ever. BAR still uses 56k to send information in before/after every smog lol.

 

excellent info and thank you

 

Best news in this whole thread.

 

NO! Best news from a legit source!

 

Only Star locations are doing the new test.

There are like less than 200 stations in the whole state right now.

This is also why prices are skyrocketed for the test. But soon enough, everyone will be Star, and the prices will fall.

Hopefully they never get to a point where they can compare roms though...

 

Thanks for taking the time to let us know. Great info.

 

Star stations have the ability to test Star Only directed vehicles and gross pollutors. Regular stations dont. There is no variance in tests done at a Star station and a regular station.

Prices will drop just in time for state to force brand new machines on us and then prices go right back up.

Id be surprised if even 50% of repair facilities get Star certified. I know I personally didnt have a passing FPR grade 2 quarters ago and thats completely out of my control. Say I pass a car after doing a tuneup and 2 years down the line, it fails its next smog check and needs a catalytic converter or something else. Boom I get a bad FPR hit.

System is too weird/complicated now with things out of your control. Hence keeping a passing star grade for a repair facility is too hard if you're not turning down business left and right and cherry picking cars.

 

This!! The whole CA emissions stuff is just waaaaaay out of hand.

Aftermarket catalytic converters that were OKed by CARB are now not OK because they changed the rules and you have to get them retested. Just complete BS in this state. How did we get here?