One of those amazing decisions ****** up at the European Union, probably in a bored afternoon after one of the delegates had either been smoked by a modified car on a trip into Strasbourg.
Busy bodies making literally unenforceable rules.
- How do they intend to police it
- How do they determine what is a factory spec mod and what is aftermarket
- If they impound / tow away all modified cars, where will they store them all
- How can they determine that a panel filter from say ITG is worse / better / classifiable as a modification say in comparison to OEM
- What is their pure definition of modification? Can you add seat covers, air fresheners, deviate from manufacturer specced tyres; it basically means all aftermarket products (e.g. G&S supplied EBC brake pads would be modifications...)
Either the head of Ford has become an EU delegate and wants to keep servicing in house, or the EU were having a very bad day at the office (I guess that's what happens when you get a load of disconnected overpaid suits together with no real world view). Politicians meddling into the personal freedoms of those with hobbies rather than dealing with real world issues.
I might be able to shed a bit of light on it, based on what happens here. This is only what I've gathered in the last few years of living here:
1. If it's anything like Australia then they have a much more basic equivalent of an MOT every year called a "pink slip". It's really just lights, a brake test and a few other minor items from what I can gather from my visits. However, if you are pulled over, the police smell something fishy (you'd have to be a ****, or they're having a bad day I'd imagine) and your car is "defected" you may need to go and get the car inspected by the VOSA equivalent. In which case your modifications would come under scrutiny.
2. The inspectors have detailed photos and specs of an OEM car and will question anything out of the ordinary. My friend had a modified Skyline GTR and has run into all sorts of issues (they seem to hate the horribly modified japanese cars! Rightfully so).
3. What they do here is basically make you car unroadworthy and it's your responsibility to get it retested and back on the road.
4. Anything non OEM here is considered a grey area.
5. I believe here, it's anything mechanical but then sometimes bodywork can also come under scrutiny.
It's true though. Having lived in the UK for most of my life, I realised after leaving that modifying cars there is much easier than elsewhere. MOTs are more stringent though, that's for sure. The "pink slip" here, takes around 5 mins max.
Over here you can have a modified car but modifications are supposed to be "engineered" which means a certified inspector can "ok" the modifications and produce a certificate to say they are roadworthy. The engineers have cottoned onto this though and it's often $1000+ to get something engineered, meaning most people drive around with un-engineered modifications.