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The aftermath of COE changes

The aftermath of COE changes

Regan_ong

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blogentry-133712-0-61854400-1390810474_thumb.jpgWeeks ago, the Government announced changes to the age-old COE system, in a bid to level the playing ground in the industry as well as to ensure a better division of COE allocation between premium and mass market cars.

 

Under the new implementation, banding for Category A will be tighten to cars with less than 130bhp only, on top of a 1.6-litre engine capacity. This means cars that were previously in Cat A but with more than 130bhp will be re-categorised into Cat B.

 

The revised banding will take effect from February next year, and will without doubt affect the local car industry. With the influx of Cat A cars that will be shifted into Cat B, the latter’s COE premium is expected to soar due to higher demand.

 

Assuming that premiums for Cat A take on a softer stance after the change, buyers may be attracted to model variants with lower power, and will turn to aftermarket kits to tune up the performance of their cars afterwards, as this route is more economically viable.

 

Models such as those from German marques Audi and Volkswagen have become the local's tuning favourites. The increasing availability of basic and fuss-free tuning options, such as ECU re-flash and chip tuning, can easily bring cars at the brim of Cat A banding, such as the base Volkswagen Golf (122bhp) and Audi A3 Sportback 1.4 (122bhp), to Cat B standards of over 130bhp.

 

This will likely spark new life into the aftermarket industry. But it will also make the situation unfavourable and unjust for Cat B car buyers.

 

As such, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) may seize the opportunity to further clamp down on illegal modifications, possibly conducting more random checks and increasing the number of enforcement officers on patrol.

 

Vehicle inspections would probably be more stringent as well, and in order to determine if the engine has been tuned, dyno tests could be conducted during inspections.




11 Comments


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I don't see how reflashing the ECU could possibly be unfair. It's a matter of whether people know how to make use of the system to their advantage. If you don't make use of it to your advantage, someone else will. Be smart don't be a retard!

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There's no doubt that the authorities will be aware of the entry level TCed cars that can be modified to over 130hp. Question is how stringent will they be? And how discreet will car owners be? There's always black sheeps amongst us.

When it comes to inspection, new cars will only be inspected after the first 3 years and dan subsequently bi-annually. Car owners can simply "re-flash" ECU to stock as and when before inspection or simply remove the "peggy back" ECU and after inspection revert back. IMO cat & mouse game. Look at the OPC scheme you will know what I mean. No system is perfect & w/o loopholes. But we will still get to see ppl get caught and fined.

Sometimes I think ppl just want to "show off" they do not know how to be discreet. Dan there will be "STOMPERS" posting videos of these speeding cars suspected of modifications.

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Hmm... Did the LTA state that under the new COE rules, upgrading the horsepower of vehicle will become illegal?

 

I do know that changing to a larger capacity engine is considered both illegal modification and tax fraud (road tax).

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dyno during inspection?

means we have to pay more for inspection? Is this even a solution to a problem in the first place?

 

And who is paying for the owners wear and tear after eact dyno?

 

if gov policies makers is stupid enough to come out with such policies, and keep implementing new regulations just to cover their stupidity, without first working towards the root cause, then this country will be going downwards very soon.

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How is this going to do *anything* to address congestion on the roads?

 

If anything, it will tend to lower the average bhp of the car on the road, leading to slower traffic on average and likely greater congestion.

 

What they *should* be doing is to make the driving tests more stringent (increase the skill level at high speed required to pass the test), and revise the speed limit in most places upward. Of course, road design changes are also required (it's idiotic to have two major expressways connected by a couple of narrow winding lanes, isn't it?).

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How is this going to do *anything* to address congestion on the roads?

 

If anything, it will tend to lower the average bhp of the car on the road, leading to slower traffic on average and likely greater congestion.

 

What they *should* be doing is to make the driving tests more stringent (increase the skill level at high speed required to pass the test), and revise the speed limit in most places upward. Of course, road design changes are also required (it's idiotic to have two major expressways connected by a couple of narrow winding lanes, isn't it?).

 

This is simply a populist policy.

Notice how the govt keeps coming up with policies who's sole objective is to please the anti-PAP crowd?

 

Once this policy kicks in, CAT A price will drop. And since most anti-PAP people belong to the CAT A car buying crowd, they be happier, and hopefully become less anti-PAP.

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I don't see how reflashing the ECU could possibly be unfair. It's a matter of whether people know how to make use of the system to their advantage. If you don't make use of it to your advantage, someone else will. Be smart don't be a retard!

I totally agree!

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There's no doubt that the authorities will be aware of the entry level TCed cars that can be modified to over 130hp. Question is how stringent will they be? And how discreet will car owners be? There's always black sheeps amongst us.

When it comes to inspection, new cars will only be inspected after the first 3 years and dan subsequently bi-annually. Car owners can simply "re-flash" ECU to stock as and when before inspection or simply remove the "peggy back" ECU and after inspection revert back. IMO cat & mouse game. Look at the OPC scheme you will know what I mean. No system is perfect & w/o loopholes. But we will still get to see ppl get caught and fined.

Sometimes I think ppl just want to "show off" they do not know how to be discreet. Dan there will be "STOMPERS" posting videos of these speeding cars suspected of modifications.

I think govt should add more on the road random check, once catch the offender, throw them in jail, revoke license,

but it's quite difficult for implementation, it's unfair for those law-abiding motorists, nobody will buy these kind of boundary cars

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How is this going to do *anything* to address congestion on the roads?

 

If anything, it will tend to lower the average bhp of the car on the road, leading to slower traffic on average and likely greater congestion.

 

What they *should* be doing is to make the driving tests more stringent (increase the skill level at high speed required to pass the test), and revise the speed limit in most places upward. Of course, road design changes are also required (it's idiotic to have two major expressways connected by a couple of narrow winding lanes, isn't it?).

actually the most "Slow" was caused by commerical and heavy vehicles, govt should ban commerical and heavy vehicles enter some particular road in certain period,

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Hmm... Did the LTA state that under the new COE rules, upgrading the horsepower of vehicle will become illegal?

 

I do know that changing to a larger capacity engine is considered both illegal modification and tax fraud (road tax).

 

This is another grey area where LTA have not covered i guess...

 

I think the new scheme is practically useless. They just want us make feel that they have been following up with the car prices issue and they have reinforce with some measures to keep the price "affordable".

 

If a car is small yet powerful means it is more fuel efficient and also result in fuel saving. Sooner or later toyota and honda will join the small turbo/super charger scene.

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It'll not be easy to monitor, esp ECU tuning, hardware mods like exhaust, intake still can see, but how to see if your car has been tuned?

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