I'm in Victoria, so understand that my experience is based on vic.
I'll start by saying that not all engineers are experts in all areas. Some are all over horsepower, some happy with chassis work, some are super picky about seatbelts, or glass, or lighting or whatever.
Please understand what an engineer actually does.
He/She personally signs off that even though your car may no longer meet all the relevant ADR's, it is still safe.
That means safe if you sell it and someone buys it and puts their kids in it.
That means safe if your kid runs out in front of it in the rain. Not safe "if you know that it does that" or safe if it's empty, or whatever.
Basically, the car must adhere to the same basic minimum standard as any other car on the road, or every other car from its year.
That's a heavy responsibility, and I can't think of many cars I'd want do it for. (Even some stock cars - like a sierra!)
I understand that NIK, you have had a bad experience, but the ground is shifting all the time.
I know of a Sierra that was certed on sierra diffs with 33's and SPOA with a Z link in Vic. There's no way that's possible now. However, when that car was certed, ABS, and airbags were uncommon and stability control was unheard of- and in NSW an 80 series was certed with non speed rated 44's (yep, 44" tyres), but stock brakes and diffs.
The simple point is that as new cars get safer, the engineering rules will get tighter and builders will have to either A) move to older cars or B) get smarter.
50mm over the largest stock tyre for that axle is going to be the future I'm afraid, (or whatever you have already have certed) Is that a problem? Well, It's limiting, and it will make building a big car harder and more expensive, but also much safer.
Into the future, NSW probably has the most to loose as it seems to have had the most liberal engineering rules to date.
It's easy to say that's a bad thing, but that's only a narrow point of view. Can anyone seriously argue they want
less safe cars on the roads?
NIK, I'm surprised you can get 35's certed under ANY curcumstances any more. I'd spend the money (because you might never be able to do it again) or shave your diffs and stick to 33's.
anyway, that's my 2C.
My sierra isn't certed but my next car will be (... or build a flatfender and I won't have to deal with any ADR's
) and I've done a couple of certed builds
Steve.
[quote="greg"] some say he is a man without happy dreams, or that he sees silver linings on clouds and wonders why they are not platinum... all we know, is he's called the stevie.[/quote]
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