[WOPALX]

In today's Sydney Telegraph;

Cost of Cool Cars

CAR hoons risk loosing loosing their registration if they raise or lower their vehicles by more than 5cm without approval.

The changes from August 1 mean all modifications will now require engineering approval.

"Hoons may think their car looks cool but as far as I'm concerned anything more than q 5cm change in a car's suspension is dangerous and doesn't belong on our roads," Roads Minister Michael Daley said.

What a bloody tosser! While I understand that some modifications are not safe making it a blanket policy is ludicrous. Especially given that the RTA changed the inspection policy for new vehicle from three to five years. How many 2 year old cars do you see being driven with dodgy tyres etc?

The RTA website does not indicate if it's retrospective but I think it's time to pull out the old tape measure so sufficient evidence is there for those running coil overs etc.

[mmmmQuattro]

they need to try and prove to the public that they care about road safety when all they really care about is revenue.
They blame the hoons, when really the problem is more complicated and often the reason for crashes is not speeding or bad cars but bad driving.

[MFKN3]

It was even in todays Mining News with headline "sick" cars...

I suppose it's still a 2" drop which will satisfy most people, but where does this crap end?! What's wrong with the min 10cm clearance rule!!

[VGR00]

If the government doesn't make this new rule retrospective then it can only really be applied to cars first sold after Aug 1. It's certainly going to also give insurance companies further power to void a claim on a car with non-approved suspension modification.


If the Road minister wants to target dangerous suspension than he should have a look at the 10 year old ex taxi's on our road that have done in excess of 500,000 KLM that have never has a shock absorber change in their life.

[Beejay]

I'd have liked to see a crack down on exhaust pipes that increase the noise of the car over a certain level. - Any hoon with a bit of self-respect attaches exhaust end bits the diameter of which is inverse to the size of their own appendage - and then terrorises the neighborhood with what they perceive to be a 'sporty' note. Incidentally, if they lower their suspension beyond the 5 cm now being legislated they also end up scraping over the tarmac with their pipe, so maybe the RTA just wants to protect them from damaging 'their' attachment?!

[samchuang33]

Originally Posted by Beejay

I'd have liked to see a crack down on exhaust pipes that increase the noise of the car over a certain level. - Any hoon with a bit of self-respect attaches exhaust end bits the diameter of which is inverse to the size of their own appendage - and then terrorises the neighborhood with what they perceive to be a 'sporty' note. Incidentally, if they lower their suspension beyond the 5 cm now being legislated they also end up scraping over the tarmac with their pipe, so maybe the RTA just wants to protect them from damaging 'their' attachment?!

Agree. Especially those ppl who take cat converters out. They stink and is really toxic to environment and ppl around the car.

[JamieA]

Originally Posted by vgr02

...
If the Road minister wants to target dangerous suspension than he should have a look at the 10 year old ex taxi's on our road that have done in excess of 500,000 KLM that have never has a shock absorber change in their life.

LOL, sad but I feel very true

In SA they are just passing legislation to crush cars of hoon drivers. Previously they could confiscate them. I don't see what crushing will do besides harm the environment as the investment in energy to make these cars is destroyed. If we want to get big brother and draconian about these things, sell them, but don't crush perfectly good cars just out of spite.

I think state governments are pandering to the arch conservatives rather than actually thinking about how to solve society's problems in a real and meaningful way.

[amberzombie]

Originally Posted by Beejay

I'd have liked to see a crack down on exhaust pipes that increase the noise of the car over a certain level. - Any hoon with a bit of self-respect attaches exhaust end bits the diameter of which is inverse to the size of their own appendage - and then terrorises the neighborhood with what they perceive to be a 'sporty' note. Incidentally, if they lower their suspension beyond the 5 cm now being legislated they also end up scraping over the tarmac with their pipe, so maybe the RTA just wants to protect them from damaging 'their' attachment?!

esp when the exhaust is larger than a can of baked beans

[JamieA]

I want a crack down on Hyundai Excel and Euro Holden Barina drivers who insist on using their read fog light and blinding traffic behind them.

[Beejay]

Originally Posted by JamieA

I want a crack down on Hyundai Excel and Euro Holden Barina drivers who insist on using their read fog light and blinding traffic behind them.

I am with you on that one. It is amazing how many people do not know what some of the buttons do in their cars, and hold the mistaken belief that the two light switches that they never used operate the front fog lamps (which they often perceive to be 'extra' driving lights). Maybe they think one button is for the left light and the other for the right? Instead they switch on the rear fog light which often out-competes their break lights. <sigh>

[JamieA]

If I were super-rich, I would run a national TV campaign to teach Hyundai drivers NOT to touch that switch.

I think that a new ADR should be instituted to have these switches disabled on Hyundais and other similar vehicles.

[Zen]

There is an update on this issue:

The Minister of Roads had put this issue on hold and is consulting this matter further with the industry and the 4WD community.

From the RTA Website, the press release is here:

http://163.189.7.150/newsevents/down...df?hhid=carmod