Emissions requirements in Chapel Hill, NC?
 

A bit of an odd question, but I wonder if someone could tell me about the smog check requirements in Chapel Hill, NC (Orange County) as they relate to a '90-'93. Specifically, is it a rolling-road test, and what are the exact speeds and acceptable numbers?

just a guess, but yes:

In 2006, the Town of Chapel Hill became the first U.S. municipality to commit to a 60 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2050 through the Carbon Reduction Program. The Council authorized the pledge to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from Town municipal operations on a per capita basis, beginning with an initial goal of 5 percent reduction by 2010.

could have gone to USC and avoided emissions all together:rolleyes:

The NC DMV site itself is nearly worthless in this regard, but a bit of searching turned up this interesting tidbit: http://www.city-data.com/forum/north...mog-check.html

Can this be true, that '95 and earlier vehicles are now exempt?

To the best of my knowledge, only 96 and newer vehicles are required to pass a “smog check” and that test is OBD2 check. Pre 1996 vehicles are required to pass a “safety inspection” and that will include a visual inspection of the exhaust system. If no Cat is found, you fail.

You are 100 % correct. Pre-96 cars emission is a joke (in a good way) About the only issue with pre 95 cars is they may look for a cat. Some shops do and some don't. It is very inconsistent. If your exhaust is load, they may look under the car to see what you have for an exhaust and if you have a cat and a muffler. Addtiaonlly, get in with the car crowd around here and even if the car is not legal you can get it to pass. You will find that the emision and inspection process to be very "enthusiest friendly"

I think you will like the area. There are a few drag strips around here in fairly close driving distance. I'm not that big on drag racing but it is fun to go to the track and occasionally make a few passes. VIR is only about an 1 to 1 1/2 hours from from you. Charlotte speedway holds events also.

+1, 95 and older is just a safety inspection (turn signals, horn, light, brake lights, etc.)

i actually get mine done over the phone with my buddy

I might need your buddy's phone number ;)

Don't advertise that or you buddy could get in some deep shit.

you a cop?

God be praised!

Now, irony...

I'm currently running Bridgestone RE-01Rs. They are pure awesomeness on the warm, dry pavement, and not too bad in the wet. I am assuming however that they will be quite sucky in cold weather (assuming they don't crack) and downright lethal in the snow.

For the past four years I've been hauling around a set of stock daisies with brand-new (well... four years old, but full tread) all-seasons on them. Last month, in my "Let's get rid of all this old junk in the garage spree", I managed to sell or give away my old exhaust system, my whole A/C system, my old AGX shocks, two diffs, and I gave away those damn daisies (thinking at the time that UF was my best bet). Now that UNC came through, I'm *REALLY* wishing I'd kept those wheels and tires... :mad:

Anybody in either SoCal or NC got a set of daisies (or steelies) they want to get rid of?

I have stock 7 spoke (94+) 14's, i think two actually have tires...
They have been ghetto painted black, but nothing terrible looking, actually not so bad.

Honestly, I think you will be ok on the RE01R's here in NC, I DDd on Azenis for years.

To be honest,
I think what you have will be ok. But if you need them, I think I have 2 or 3 sets of stock 14"

No, not any more anyway. But I've been in the car busness for a while and still in the hobby. Guys that give "hook ups" can get stuck with big fines and loose their licence. The subject is almost as hush hush as selling drugs. If a guy finds out you spread the work he may not continue to give you hook ups.

You don't need all weather tires here. If it snows at all, it usually is only a few hours and does not stick. If it snows more than that it melts in a few days. I'm running sumito (sp) hipo tires and all you need be concerned with is wet weather traction. Hell, you'll see many a day in the winter when you can drive with the top down. It doesn't really get cold much. When it does, it doesn't last long. If you have a garage it is pretty much a non issue. I drove mine all winter. With the car in the garage overnite, the tires get plenty of heat in the first few miles of travel. If you have to park out side, the tires may flat spot a little over night, but if you drive a few miles they smooth out pretty quick. Both my miata and stang have performance tires. Unless it is your only car, you are good to go.

Are you buing a house? if so, a little FYI, there are communities outside of Chapel Hill where you can buy houses for a lot less money than in Chapel Hill. Example, hillsbourough, and towrds pittsbourough. These are small rural areas that would require a 20-40 minute commute.

He speaks truly.

For many years, smog test fraud was rife in So Cal. "Clean-piping" was the term used to describe the practice of placing a known-clean car on the rollers as a substitute for the vehicle actually being "tested." There was a time when, if you went to the guy who a friend of a friend knows, and slipped him $500, you'd pass even if raw, unrefined crude oil was pouring out of your tailpipe. A fellow here at work, in fact, managed to register his supercharged, non-EO'd, catalytic-converterless, rich as hell Mustang for several years by doing this.

Recently however, CA has put a serious smackdown on this activity. There was a very large push about a year or two ago where CARB investigated a huge number of shops that were doing this and proceeded to make life very unpleasant for the shop owners. Lots of enormous fines were levied ($100k+) and lots of licenses were revoked. There was even some jail time parsed out.

Didn't read the thread, but in NC, if the car is pre-96 you only have to pass visual safety inspection. No emissions...

And like he said, places just outside of CH will make life a lot cheaper.

I run Azenis in Boone, where it snows...rarely is a problem...however this winter I ran some all seasons cause my ass is broke.

It is my only car. Given the parking situation on campus (first-years can't get a permit, period) my primary mode of transport will probably be my Suzuki SV650, however that's no better in the snow. :D

I haven't decided yet. Given the constraints on my vehicular situation, I do need to stay close to public transportation. Even when I was back in Gainesville using a Honda Nighthawk as my DD (I never had an on-campus sticker for the car, finding parking for the MC was just soooooo much easier) there were some days when you just had to take the bus.


edit: A quick search on realtor.com for properties within a 5mi radius of 27599 turns up a tremendous number of hits in the <$75k range, and many <$50k. Having lived for the past few years in an area where $500,000 buys you a one bedroom condo, I have no concept on whether those prices will get you something structurally sound in a non-gangland neighborhood... A lot of these places were built in the '30s and '40s. Back then, they were still having gunfights and hanging horse thieves out here...

Are you going to go to school there? What year? most people aren't on campus so student high rises, apartments etc have parking.

Most UNC campuses (like where I am at) have free motorcycle parking all over campus.

Right now it's looking like UNC School of Law for me, beginning this Fall. I believe they're in the vicinity of Ridge Road just east of Fetzer Field and north of the astro-turf field, though perhaps you'd know better than I. There's an MC lot indicated right in that area here: http://www.dps.unc.edu/maps/motorcycle/0708mcmap4.gif

I didn't realize M/C parking was free- the UNC traffic & parking website indicates that a permit is necessary:http://www.dps.unc.edu/Parking/stude...mitpricing.cfm

I really don't want to have to put a sticker on my beautiful SV... ;)

Ideally, I'd like to find something with a garage or carport, or at least some land next to it where I can erect a temporary structure. My tinkering days are not an an end, and I really don't want to operate the lathe and bandsaw in the living room.

50-70K gets you a dump if you are buying. Livable, but maybe not in the best parts of town. As your only ride, I live very close to Chapel Hill, I have driven my car all winter for the last two years I've owned it. My mustang with a lot of torque was my DD before that. One thing to note. If it does snow, you won't have to drive in it. When they "think" it will snow here, classes are cancelled, businesses shut down, schools close etc. If you are at work or school and a few sprinkles fall, they send everyone home....I'm not kidding. I can recall days waking up and turning on the news to see if I have to go to work because they predicted snow or bad weather, and see the base where I work is shut down, just to go out side and not see any snow. One day it snowed a little, and I mean very little. I looked outside and the roads were clear, just a little snow on the grass. When I got to work no one was here, and the base was damn near empty. I found out after I was already here that they close everything down due to weather. These are not stories, it is the truth...I laugh my ass off at it all the time.

Not that bad here. Places that do "hook ups" you can usually give vern or bocephus a extra $20 or buy him a sixpack. But, they are very carfull who they will do it for. But, you won't need it. 30 buck and you will pass legally unless your car is catless. Once you are local, there are plenty of car meets and car enthusiest that hook up often enough that you will find you own "hookup" if you needed one. Be prepared to assosiate with the domestic crowd if you want to meet other car guys. Most of the import enthusiest are you ricer types and you don't sound like you would fit in that group.

Wow, they might have to pay or MC parking then...weird. I know here it is...and at UNCG (I'm almost positive)...and my friend said he never had problems at Charlotte...weird.

My friend just runs a permit on his front fork/shock.

I'm not big on Chapel Hill though, only been there a few times.

my friend would never do it for someone he didnt know, that's why im not telling anyone who/where he is, but if you go there with me he won't care, he'll help you out...but i have known him for years

When you said "first year" I was scratching my head since I can tell by your posts that you're smarter than the average undergrad LOL. I went to UNC, class of '99. However, the campus has changed so much that any parking tricks I knew would probably be useless now. They just started building the adjacent school of government when I was leaving. The law school is indeed on the east side of campus, around the bend from the baseball stadium. That nearby astroturf field is used mainly for lacrosse & field hockey, and Fetzer field with the blue track around it is where the soccer games are played. IOW, various sporting events make that side of campus a bit crowded at times, and there are fewer parking spots over there anyway. It's close enough to the edge of campus that you might be able to scam some parking in the adjacent neighborhoods, but if you can get a motorcycle permit without much hassle then just do that while you're on the waiting list for a car permit. IIRC there's also a park & ride lot just a bit east on 54, so there would probably be a shuttle stop close to the law school.

As an undergrad, Chapel Hill was a fun college town, but if you're like me you'll want to live a bit outside town anyway to get away from the kiddies. The undergrad chicks are hot though, so that is a mitigating factor to consider. :naughty: But I wouldn't buy a house in town. Overpriced for the size, and undergrads are noisy. There are condos close to campus but they are geared towards undergrads and will lack certain amenities, like garages. If you want some land, you'll have to go a few miles out, but by CA standards your commute won't be too bad. Traffic is thicker to the east (54 and 15/501 towards Durham) than towards the west. The center of Carrboro can be kind of dumpy but there are some decent houses with garages & land just west of town.

I'm in CH and know where to get an inspection if you think you're gonna fail - but if you're not OBD2 then you pass (not even sniffers these days) and yeah in NC it's a felony charge to the inspector if caught helping someone pass. +1 on the above for housing.