IVA DayI was surprised to find when booking IVA that the 2 local IVA centres didn't do kit cars. I either hadn't paid attention to this when previously checking or they have reduced the number of centres doing kit cars?
Anyway the nearest center is 80 miles away. I knew that I could drive the Sonic7 to the test centre but not knowing if the brake bias was perfect or something rubbed/came loose etc, this seemed a little risky given the price/time for rebooking a test.
I was going to hire a trailer but this would have also needed a car with suitable towing capacity. This turned out to be inconvenient to hire as from different companies. Decided to book a recovery truck as a better option. This was not cheap (£200/day) an should be factored into your budget like collecting the kit. The annoying think was that the 24hr hire period was 08:00-08:00. Due to the length of the IVA test kit car tests start at 8am. This meant an early start was needed to get there on time allowing for delays/loading/unloading. Anyway the company offered a night before collection provided the truck has not been hired or returned early the day before. I took this gamble to avoid 2 days hire. This was quite stressful as they would not commit to it until lunch time the day before and still didn't phone. I took the plunge and went to pick it up. Luckily it was there ready for us.
We loaded the kit onto the bed the night before and covered it with a car cover overnight. Even in August at 5am we started the pitch black drive.
Not being able to see the kit was secure on the back was nerve racking, but once it started to get lighter we could see it was ok.
We arrived at the test centre 30 mins early so had 15 mins to spare once unloaded, battery connected and used the toilet.
The tester explained the process, but set early expectations saying there would be problems just from looking at the car.
This was quite demoralising and the start wasn't much better. First the chassis number and plate were checked to confirm the vehicle identity.
The font of the plate was not liked as the zero were too like 'o' however I explained that the engraver only had the same character for both. As there were no letters in the plate he was happy that it was ok as it was.
Next I was asked to remove the fuel cap. I unlocked it and removed the cap knowing that the key remained in the cap and bought as being IVA compliant. The tester asked where the tether was. I politely said that the manual says either a tether or requires the key to remove the lock. He promptly took it from me and turned the key in the lock and removed it and said it didn't really comply. I commented that I didn't feel that this was what the spec was trying to achieve as some production cars you can lock/unlock on the car and then remove the cap without the key. I was starting to panic as I knew trying to tether the cap to the filler would not be possible. Anyway he said that there was a noted grey area on fuel caps for IVA, so wouldn't be a problem.
Asked to open the bonnet. He saw that it had a split pedal box. He really didn't like these and argued that production cars don't use them so road kit cars shouldn't either. I think he has a valid point as you can't adjust them once setup. Anyway was asked where the warning message was. I'm sure he had already seen it but wanted to point out he didn't like where it was, but it was there so ok. Couple of comments about a missing cable tie on the brake fluid reservoir hoses and the coolant hoses being able to be moved.
At this point we were feeling quite down, thinking it was going to be a long difficult morning. Lots more checks and questions why have you done it like this etc. I realised that really it was us that were being tested in addition to the car to see how well we knew the manual as nothing was actually an issue. After this the tester seemed much more relaxed and further checks going without comment. The external edges were no problem at all including the big rear wing.
He did a rough visibility test of the lights and thought there was a problem with headlight 80 deg at floor level due to the wheels/cycle wings. This required an accurate measurement on the workshop floor for where to check from. This actually was luckily ok. I caused this close call by angling back the headlight brackets to ensure that they cleared the cycle wings on full lock/compression. What I hadn't appreciated though was that from all horizontal angles it must be visible at all vertical angles.
Checked the visibility of the flyscreen which he agreed that it was not a windscreen requiring wipers/demisters as it did not impair driver visibility. However this is where we had a bigger problem. He said it would fail with it due to not being safety marked. I said that I didn't think this applied but he showed me RS4 in the safety glazing.
I was sure it was ok, but couldn't argue as he had said that I should just remove it before getting to that part of the test. He did suggest that if the flyscreen was painted opaque that it would just be classed as a body panel but because it was transparent its a window.
For the emissions they are subject to the relevant donor MOT emission check. This was something I had been confident about despite not testing as I was using the original engine/fuel/ecu setup. However it failed the basic test so had to have the full test, putting a lot of heat/stress into the engine. This still failed as the lambda was not showing a valid reading.
This was something I've never had issues with on previous cars. I had thought the check was just HC and CO levels, however the lambda is also checked on EFI cars as unless this is correct the other readings can't be trusted. Instead of being 1.0 it was 1.9. The tester suggested this could be a leak or a faulty O2 sensors and would need to be sorted before the end of the test to pass. I had a nasty feeling that the aftermarket CAT may had not been as described!
The next check was the brake performance/bias tests. At this point the tested said that his equipment was faulty and it might not work. He tried but it would not work. This meant that he would have to suspend the test and we would have to come back when it had been repaired. This was the low point of the day, as additional recovery truck hire/fuel and day off and delays was running through my head.
Any way in hindsight it was probably just as well as it would mean more time to resolve the other issues before completing the test.
It was also pointed before coming back that on the interior that the edge of the panel under the dash (red arrow) was not radius-ed like the dash. I disagreed about this referring to this diagram in the manual, where it clearly states that the edge under the dash is just normal radius requirements. Ours was slightly further forward though.
He agreed to check it with head office who agreed with the tester so this would something to address. Also I had taken care to radius the steering wheel and use a dished wheel to avoid padding. However he didn't like the holes in the spokes as they could cause cuff links to get caught. I would just need to cover the holes.
Despondent, we loaded the Sonic back onto the truck and made the trip home.
I looked at the IVA manual in detail about the safety glass issue and found this.
I'm sure the tester is wrong on this issue.
To avoid pressure decided to try to address the 5 noted issues before rebooking the continuation test.
1) lower dash edge
Bought some expensive industrial edge protector to resolve this.
Covering the offending edge.
2) Steering wheel.
Spoke holes covered with velcro secured padding.
3) Cable tie to secure the brake reserviour hose.
4) Removed the flyscreen. Decided not to challenge the tester and take the easy route.
5) Emissions
Started by checking the bolts and clamps all secure. Used a large loom grommet over the tail pipe and used the compressor to test for leaks. Was surprised and relieved to find that both pipe joints were leaking despite no noise or evidence of soot etc. It seems that the short exhaust had such a good flow that air was being sucked in through the joints weakening the tailpipe mixture that the tester uses. Sealed both joints with a £3 tube of exhaust sealant.
Also addressed the comments about the coolant hoses and bias labelling to show willing to keep the tester happy.
Called DVSA to rebook and told that nearest date was over 1 month from the original test. More delays.
I booked the Sonic7 into the local MOT centre to check the emissions and brake performance. This was fine which was great news. I really should have done this before but hadn't realised until the IVA tester pointed out that this would have been ok to drive to without plates etc.
Eventually the date arrived. Having driven the car round the test centre and the tester also testing the steering and brakes by driving decided to drive back to the test centre. As just a short appointment for the brake test and other checks it would be a daylight journey with more time to allow for any hickups etc.
The drive there was uneventful and great to finally find out how the Sonic drove on the roads having never actually driven one before. The handling and ride were very good dealing with potholes etc much better than I expected.
First the emissions were tested as the engine was hot. Passed the basic emissions test no problem. Brakes tested and bias split calculated. This was fine which was great news seeing as we setup by feel.
Other items checked and we were issued our IVA certificate within the hour.
A much happier drive home and tried out the car a bit more, its just like a large go kart and great fun in the twisties. The 1.6 making sprightly but safe performance.
Filled out the V55/4 & V727/1 forms and sent off all paperwork for the final step of registration. Was slightly annoyed that all kits are taxed PLG which is the old pre 2001 as this meant that tax was £295 rather than the £220 that the focus was. Considering half the weight has been shed and half the frontal area its clear that the Sonic will be lower emissions than the Focus but without the CO2 test results it can't be done.
, I could tell that the fronts indeed locked up before the rears (check), however the rear discs were not getting warm or showing much wear on the discs. Tried to adjust the bias to the rear several times until it was near the end but still not too much improvement.
. Anyway the upshot was I'd wasted 4 weeks. The earliest date they could provide was late August. Booked and the long wait (through a long summer heat wave)
