Question:
I own a road going car and would like to have some information about what could I do to the engine (cams, throttle body, software, injectors, exhaust,…) and still meet the Euro6 emissions.
Answer:
We regularly get asked about upgrading of engines which have been originally built and passed Euro6 emissions. There is quite often a misunderstanding as to what Euro6 emissions and in fact any Euro emissions test involves, so before going into what could be upgraded on your engine, I will give a brief explanation of what the Euro emissions test are.
When a vehicle is produced to be sold within markets throughout the world or Europe, different emission tests have to be met before the vehicle can be sold. The current Euro6 test is the test that involves the complete vehicle as a finished item, which has to take and pass the test, this is quite a complex and expensive test and the build up to the test involves many months of work with teams of mechanical and electronic engineers that work on each specific vehicle model in preparation for the test. To give a very approximate cost I would expect this kind of work including the test to be in the region of £250,000 – £500,000 as a minimum, depending on vehicle design. The actual final test is in the region of £25,000.
Once the vehicle has passed this test, the manufacturer is then able to sell the car within a specific market. If the manufacturer wishes to make any changes to the vehicle such as a different exhaust system, camshaft or any components associated with the vehicle, before it can sell the upgraded model a lot of the preparation work will have to be carried out again and the same final tests retaken and passed.
But you as the new owner of the vehicle are normally only expected to take and pass an annual inspection for vehicle safety and emissions, the level of this test varies throughout Europe and the World but effectively the tests are much simpler and easier to pass, so when you as the owner wish to upgrade your vehicle provided it is able to pass your emissions tests, either annual or if the vehicle is checked on a spot random test, this will be sufficient. Unfortunately as the tests and emissions become ever tighter, this becomes harder to achieve, which means any components that are changed on your vehicle that enable you to release performance become ever more complex and harder to fit e.g. the more power you want the less likely the vehicle is to pass the emissions and the more complex the component combination would need to be fitted to produce performance and yet maintain emissions.
This is usually related to limited production cars such as Caterhams, when you get something like a Ford or BMW, they become even more complicated which is the reason we stick with motorsport.
Category:
Engine Build