HELP! Moving to Georgia - what's the deal with emissions testing?

yeah thats all i hear too are stories, nothing recent, just people getting failures and then
having to get exemptions on a case by case basis

 

Is Columbus requiring emissions testing, now? As best I can tell it is only the Atlanta area that requires emissions testing. Heck, GA didn't even require safety inspections.

Emissions testing is typically limited to regions with smog concerns (typically metropolitan areas.)

 

searching some georgia sites and some non georgia sites, the short answer is yes. , the toyota prius is required to pass an emissions test. if the prius is newer then 3 model years then it is exempt from testing. they must of found a way to keep the engine on to test it, i bet

georgia links
georgia's smog check site
Georgia Clean Air Force: Motorists

some dmv related site
Untitled Page

(from dmv.org, not affliated with georgia)
If your vehicle operates on only natural gas, propane, battery electricity, or hydrogen, it does not require an emissions test.



If your vehicle is one of the following hybrid vehicles and you live in one of the emissions-testing counties, you WILL need to pass the emissions test:

• Toyota Prius

• Honda Insight

• Honda Civic

• Ford Escape

also from dmv.org




All gasoline-powered passenger cars and light trucks 1982 and newer in the following Georgia counties must pass an emission inspection before being issued license plates:

• Cherokee

• Clayton

• Cobb

• Coweta

• DeKalb

• Douglas

• Fayette

• Forsyth

• Fulton

• Gwinnett

• Henry

• Paulding

• Rockdale

 

No, Columbus is not in one of those counties. None of the adjacent counties are on the list either. So the OP appears to be home free.

 

rats,

we needed up to date information on prius smog testing methods

 

+1... on the NO emissions testing. Columbus is in Muscogee county. and that is not on the list. They may not let you in the county though... with that obama sticker and all...

 

I lived in Columbus for 9 years before returning to the Atlanta area. It is not included in the testing requirement. It's for the metro area only. I quess I'm going to have to ask about the testing method used although when we get our Prius we'll have 3 years before we have to get it tested.

I know their are some quirks to the testing. Ten years ago we had trouble getting our older Honda's to pass the testing. Our mechanic had to make several adjustments to get them to pass, then reset them after testing.

 

Hmm, this defeats the point of emissions testing... Most modern vehicles do not allow adjustment to spark timing, idle speed, or air/fuel mixture as those are all controlled by the engine ECU. Those likely were the parameters adjusted by your mechanic in the past.

Too bad we don't have any GA Prius owners who recently had their vehicles tested, to contribute to the string. I am wondering whether the state has discovered the Prius inspection mode yet.

 

Hobbit has a page where he describes how to keep the engine idling. Essentially, you shift into neutral while the engine is running; it will then stay running until you shift to park.

 

This is OK if your state's emissions testing does not require the vehicle to spin a dynamometer with the drive wheels.

If the testing protocol requires spinning a dynamometer (so that the drivetrain is under load), then inspection mode would be required. This is where you make the vehicle IG-ON, then fully depress the accelerator pedal 2x when in P, then 2x in N, then 2x in P, then make the vehicle READY.