ESC mandatory

[spookypt]

My 2 cents worth... This issue was raised some time ago in QLD with initial discussion and meetings held.... I believe if my memory serves me true that we had representations from DRB (Pete R), RCR (Craig W), Venom (Scott H), Snakebite (Don P) plus a fair few others who met to discuss. Sorry can;t remeber them all. By the end of the meeting we had more ?'s than answers and no clear outline going forward and I don't believe another meeting was held.

Having said that recently in QLD a 32 Roadster (I think) with a reverse sprung beam axle and a blown 460 Big Block passed rego!

Go figure....

[Rebel1]

Originally Posted by spookypt

Having said that recently in QLD a 32 Roadster (I think) with a reverse sprung beam axle and a blown 460 Big Block passed rego!

Go figure....

And that thing is not classed as an ICV. We are more "conventional" and "alike" in our builds yet get more grief to register.

Originally Posted by Baz

I do have the time to persue this and I think that I have the experience and expertise to have things changed for the better. We have to think of those who are coming after us and to make things easier for them. That's how I think anyrate.

Baz

Good stuff Baz, go get 'em.

Les

[mcdonald]

The pro,s and con,s on SR rego which my cobra is on and has been for 10 years ask your self when are you going to won,t to drive your car for example to and from the Natianals or other car events to club meeting and club events you can maintain the car by road testing you can drive it to work so you can work on it but .you cann,t take your wife shopping .and a good thing is it is only $100 a year and no Engineers report just a brake test and a noise test and your on the road .

[Baz]

This afternoon, I sent a comprehensive email to Robert Jacobs, Editor of Kustom Kit Car magazine in South Australia. I have asked him to run an article in his great little publication so that ALL Kit Car Manufacturers, not only Cobra people, become aware of this ridiculous ESC Amendment ADR 31/02.

Baz

[Zedn]

Good stuff Baz,

There was actually a comment in the most recent magazine, but from memory it was very little. That is what sparked me to search the net and then start this thread.

Kit Car mag would be a good avenue to use. Any idea of how many readers they have?

I am going to write a letter to the minister in the next couple of days as per Ian's post. I just dont know if it will get read though.

Liam

[Baz]

I received an email back from Robert Jacobs, Editor of Kustom Kit car Magazine and he is running an article on this topic in the next Issue No. 8. Thanks Robert.

Tonight I sent an email to John Staszynski in S.A. requesting information from him in relation to a similar campaign he ran a while back.

I am mid way through drafting Representations to the NSW Shadow Transport Minister, Gladys Berejiklian. We have a State Election coming up shortly and it would appear that she will be our new Transport Minister, so the time is right.

I will also be writing to the Federal Transport Minister, Anthony Albanese in Canberra requesting an urgent amendment to the ESC ADR 31/02, exempting ICV's, Replica's and Kit Cars.

I urge each reader of this Thread to write to their respective State Transport Ministers requesting the introduction of the new 'Replica Category' for Registration purposes, along with all the exemptions afforded to the Street Rod fraternity. A further letter of Representations should also be sent to the Federal Minister for Transport, Anthony Albabese at the address shown by Ian from Classic Revival in Thread No. 82.

In order to keep us motivated and to provide some measure of participation, please indicate on this thread or send me a PM when you made those Representations and to whom on what date?

Cobra Club Presidents in each State should also organise their Committees to make similar Representations. A record should also be made either on this Thread or by PM to me as to who was contacted and when.

Thanks for your support.

Baz

[Merv and Sharon]

Very interesting Ian. If fully implemented, this will further remove the Cobra from its classic car roots and 'Cobra-like" will be the only description that could be used for many of cars in the not too distant future. Even more worrying is that this is likely to be only the beginning of such regulations.

This is a fight that we cannot afford not to be engaged in.

Merv

[boxhead]

Ian, thank you as a supplier of a kit for putting your hand up and acknowledging that the suppliers do know of the concerns of current and possable future owners.

I do appologise if my last statement does not make sence as I have had a couple of drinks whilst watching the AFL grand final.

[Baz]

Great to hear from you Ian. I am glad that I may have aroused a little interest and my involvement only goes back to the commencement of this thread, so I must thank Liam (Zedn) also for starting it off.

It is not something that any of us can take lightly and each States Cobra Club should be raising it as an urgent Agenda item ASAP and working on strategies to oppose it.

Kit Car Manufacturers like Ian have an even bigger stake in the situation. They should be lobbying together as a combined unit to place pressure on the decision makers and not only relying on the Cobra enthusiasts to do the hard yards.

The Clubman and non Cobra - GT40 - Daytona manufacturers also have to be advised of the situation and become involved.

Maybe the message could be spread right throughout the Kit Car / ICV Industry by Robert Jacobs and his Australian Kit Car Magazine. I will speak to him on this issue at the Nationals next Sunday.

If we all work together, singing from the same Hymn Book we will get results.

Baz

[Merv and Sharon]

Agreed and yet these are registered! And we worry about wheel arch protrusion. Nice colour though - would look good on a Cobra.

Merv

[Zedn]

Good to see what is becomming of this thread, thanks everyone for getting involved. Especially Classic Revivials.

Do you think it would be worth while organising a partition to be on one of the stands at the nationals next weekend?

I have completely changes my whole build strategy and i am know planning to register a cobra with no bling, in primer with the bare minimum interior. Hopefully i can get it through before the ADR takes effect. I dont want to be the first to fit ESC to jag suspension!

Liam

[Classic Revival]

I must admit that I have not read through ALL the replies on here, so "boxhead" I am not aware of that comment.
The big issue with the ESC is that you will not be able to retrofit an existing system from some donar vehicle like you can with other systems.
If for instance you fitted a Falcon system, it would not function correctly because of the wieght & weight balance being different on the Cobra to the donar Falcon. This would almost be certain on even the 540 with the early Falcon running gear. Under testing of the system ( and it is to be thoughly tested to comply to the ADR ) it would fail.
So, every type of Cobra would need it's own unique system developed fo it. Bosch Aust have quoted an estimate of between 1 & 1.3 mil to develop a system for these vehicles!!! Now that is gong to increase your build cost slightly!
This is why ALL manufacturers & kit builders need to right to the minister to gain an exception. This regulation will effect everone no matter what vehicle they are building, Cobra, GT40, 450, Clubmans etc.

I notice that tere has been some 1800 views on this post - so lets get 1800 letters off to the minister.

Ian

[strida]

Great thread Liam,

Like you I am in the early stage of my build so ADR changes are of a similar concern to me.

Baz gave the NSW club members an insight into some of the problems we face as ICV constructors at a recent club meeting (July I believe).

Although I am enjoying the build process there have been times when I have wondered if I would have been better off buying a completed/NSW registered cobra.

It's a shame this thread didn't pop up a few months earlier, as the Nationals would have been a good time to involve Canberra in the weekend when we will have so many national cars in the one place at that time so that the Federali's could see how much money these cars contribute to the national economy.

Regards,
Dennis

[strida]

Baz,

you have PM.

Dennis

[NASSTY]

Liam, Baz, Les,

Could I suggest that if you guys post a standardised letter on CC, with which all we needed to do was change address details then forward to our state and federal representativies, then I think the takeup of the cause on CC as well as other cobra club members would be greatly increased. Keep up the good work.

[Zedn]

NASSTY,

Thats a great idea. I had thought about that but wasnt sure if it would be good for everyone to send the same letter. But then again it is numbers that matter and not so much content.

1000 letters with the same objective is much better than 1000 names on a partition.

I have a draft letter that i tried to upload but it just say upload failed. Can anyone offer any suggestions as to why? Its only 15kb .doc file.

I know that there are probably a lot of people out there that care but couldnt be bothered to write a letter so hopefully this will help.

Liam

[Baz]

Originally Posted by Zedn

NASSTY,

Thats a great idea. I had thought about that but wasnt sure if it would be good for everyone to send the same letter. But then again it is numbers that matter and not so much content.

1000 letters with the same objective is much better than 1000 names on a partition.

I have a draft letter that i tried to upload but it just say upload failed. Can anyone offer any suggestions as to why? Its only 15kb .doc file.

I know that there are probably a lot of people out there that care but couldnt be bothered to write a letter so hopefully this will help.

Liam

Brent Mills is the Administrator of this site. He is based in the good ole US of A. I will send him a PM and see if he can set up something along the lines that 'Nassty" suggested. Thanks fellas

Baz

[Merv and Sharon]

Baz I am sure there is a way to put up a letter. If not then type in the text and we can copy and paste.

Merv

[Zedn]

I should be able to just click the paper clip and attach as a .doc file but it wont work.

Here is the text:

Hon. Anthony Albanese MP
Minister for Infrastructure,
Transport, Regional Development
and Local Government
PO Box 6022
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600


Dear Mr Albanese,

RE: Impact of ADR 31/02 on Kit Car and ICV industry

I am writing to express my concern with the introduction of the new ADR 31/02 that requires mandatory Electronic Stability Control to be fitted to all new vehicles from November 2011, and how it will affect the ICV and low volume car industry. I am also writing to request that provision be made to allow exclusion to this new requirement for individually constructed vehicles (ICV) in all states of Australia.

The kit car, hot rod and ICV industry provides hundreds of jobs within Australia for manufacturers, mechanics, suppliers, and associated automotive trades. The introduction of the new ADR requirement of Electronic Stability Control to be fitted to all new vehicles puts the future of this industry in serious jeopardy.

CUSTOMISE THIS PART <I myself am an enthusiast part way through the build of an ICV that could in fact become un-registrable if not completed before 2011 and no exclusion is provided to the new ADR. This will not be due to the vehicle being unsafe, but due to the extremely high cost of installing such technology in an individually constructed vehicle. One kit car manufacturer has received an estimate from Bosch Aust for $1.3M to design a system for one vehicle. As no two ICV’s are the same, there is no one size fits all system that can be adopted. Hence a system would need to be specifically designed for every individual car at the cost of $1.3M (currently ICV’s are built for $30k-$100k). >

Whilst I understand that you have a responsibility to improve road safety, I hope that you will consider the impact that this ADR has on the ICV industry as a whole. I am requesting that you make a provision for individually constructed vehicles to be excluded from the requirement of ADR 31/02 as is the case for other selected ADR’s (such as those listed on Vehicle Standards Admin circular 0-2-13).

Thankyou for considering this concerning issue, and I hope to be able to register the vehicle that I have put so much hard work into building.

Regards,




Name

Obviously the formating is lost, but you get the gist. This is a draft and i welcome comments and edits. I am half the age and experience of a lot of others on here so i am sure it can be improved.

[NASSTY]

Sent via email

A.Albanese.MP@aph.gov.au


I wrote this where Liam suggested to "customise this part":

I have finished building my ICV, an AC Cobra replica in 2007 which is now registered. It concerns me that others currently building ICVs or who are contemplating to build an ICV will find it impossible to register their vehicle in their State due to this new ADR. This will not be due to the vehicle being unsafe, but due to the extremely high cost of installing such technology in an individually constructed vehicle. One kit car manufacturer has received an estimate from Bosch Aust for $1.3M to design a system for one vehicle. As no two ICV’s are the same, there is no one size fits all system that can be adopted. Hence a system would need to be specifically designed for every individual car at the cost of $1.3M (currently ICV’s are built for $30k-$100k). It will also add to the complexity of testing the vehicle for VASS engineers as they assertain if the ESC program is suitible for the ICV been tested.

Cheers
Al