Street Legal
JLT Performance’s no-tune CAI systems were deemed 50-state legal
By Steve Turner
Photos by Steve Turner and courtesy of JLT Performance
The times they are a changing. It has become crucial for aftermarket companies to have their products tested and approved for emissions compliance. One company on the cutting edge of this movement is JLT Performance, which recently received an Executive Order number from the California Air Resources Board for its no-tune-required cold-air intake systems.
According to the Specialty Equipment Market Association, “Emissions compliance applies to almost all performance and engine products. Generally, any product that affects airflow into or out of the engine, impacts the containment or delivery of fuel or affects the functionality of an emissions control system or device requires an E.O. from CARB for that product to be legal for street use. This includes, but is not limited to, intake systems, exhaust components, tuning products, turbos and superchargers.”
Jay Tucker of JLT Performance saw the writing on the wall. He already wasn’t selling product in California so he began the process of getting JLT’s products certified for use in all 50 states.
“…It’s the right thing to do. We know it’s the future. It is going to happen across the board, and we know our products don’t pollute. So, it was kind of no-brainer,” he said. “We saw the potential that a lot of states other than California are going to adopt these laws. It’s happening more and more from New York City to Washington, D.C. There are 20-something states that are adapting California emissions standards.”
To ensure his products were up to snuff for use across the land, Jay reached out the SEMA Garage to take advantage of its SEMA Emissions Compliance Center, which is a certification-ready automotive emissions testing laboratory.
“It’s the most high-tech equipment that you could have. It is an actual lab that you can have cars in and it tests the emissions from an automotive engine. First we sent them a list of our products,” Jay explained. “We went through all the products that we have and came up with different categories. Every vehicle has a different label that the EPA puts on it—if it’s a clean car or dirty car etc. We separated the intakes into those groups and compiled a list of those intakes that belong to each group.”
Working with SEMA liaison made the process quite smooth for the JLT products. The process started by organizing the company’s product line to match up with the EPA’s various categories for how clean the production cars is. From there, they determined what kits to seek approval for and what vehicle to test on.
“It is the most unbelievably stringent and scientific test methods that they do. In a nutshell, for us to go through the process we had a contact at SEMA Garage named Peter Treydte,” Jay said. “He was wonderful. He just made the process so easy. They have it worked out with CARB to where they have procedures in place they have to follow for testing.”
Here’s how the testing was conducted…
• Road Load Determination Coastdowns (previously performed, SEMA In-house test vehicle)
• OBD Preliminary Report
• OBD Reset and Report with SilverScan Tool
• Mileage Accumulation to reset OBD monitors (Note: two laps of 58 miles were required to set the Evap monitor)
• OBD Read and Report with SilverScan Tool
• Drain and Fill with CARB E10 Regular Test Fuel
• 6-hour soak
• Prep for FTP-75 (FTP-74 Precondition w/ no bags, Test ID: UDDS_20160208_02_TC1)
• Drain and Fill with CARB E10 Regular Test Fuel
• 12-36 hour soak/2 gram breakthrough Canister Load (Test ID: CL1-2016-02-08-77)
• FTP-75 (Test ID: FTP75_20160209_02_TC1)
• US06 (Test ID: US06_US06_20160209_03_TC1)
• Drain and Fill with CARB E10 Regular Test Fuel
• Prep for FTP-75 (FTP-74 Precondition w/ no bags, Test ID: UDDS_20160209_05_TC1)
• Drain and Fill with CARB E10 Regular Test Fuel
• 12-36 hour soak/2 gram breakthrough Canister Load (Test ID: CL1-2016-02-09-78)
• FTP-75 (Test ID: FTP75_20160210_01_TC1)
• SC03 using AC2 method (Test ID: SC03_SC03_20160210_02_TC1)
• OBD Read and Report with SilverScan Tool
“There are two ways you can go through the approval process. You can submit the application and let CARB dictate what vehicle the product is tested on. We chose to test on a 2015 EcoBoost Mustang ahead of time without any request,” Jay explained. “We submitted the information almost as a kind of a ‘We know we put out a good product. We know that it’s clean, so we went ahead and tested it. Here are the results.’ We are willing to do more testing. It worked out great because it passed with flying colors. It took about five to six weeks and we got an official E.O. Number.”
Thanks to SEMA the process was far simpler and more cost effective than Jay had anticipated. As a result there are now 24 no-tune-required JLT cold air intakes that fall under this E.O. number. Those parts cover the likes of 1996-2004 Mustangs— including Mach 1s and Cobras—as well as the latest EcoBoost Mustang and F-150 pickups.
“I used to think it was $10,000, $15,000 or $20,000 to do this stuff, but it’s $4,000-$5,000 per test, but it’s worth it in the long run. People think it costs too much and it’s not worth it, but SEMA helps you out. They give you a good deal and it definitely is worth it,” Jay said.
After clearing this first hurdle, JLT plans to have its entire product line test and hopes to gain E.O. numbers for all of its products.
“We’re going to submit applications on everything we have—oil separators, tune packages, Ford, Chrysler, GM, Mopar—everything is going to go through the CARB process to get approval,” Jay said. “If anything fails we have the ability make the change and go for the application again, but I don’t foresee that being an issue.”
There are a few products that will be more difficult than others, like those that require tuning or require a hydrocarbon trap like some factory induction systems. The former will require a dedicated, locked calibration from JLT, while the latter will need some innovation from the aftermarket.
“There are certain vehicles that have the hydrocarbon trap. The GT350 has the hydrocarbon trap,” he added. “The 5.0-liter has a hydrocarbon trap. Right now the material is so new that the EPA and CARB don’t really have a test process for it for aftermarket companies that are making the product.”
Fortunately there are several companies working with SEMA on a hydrocarbon trap solution for aftermarket induction systems. For now, however, Jay is excited to be on the forefront of having products approved for 50-state use.
To gain an Executive Order from the California Air Resources Board for its no-tune-required cold-air induction systems, JLT Performance worked with the SEMA Garage and its emissions testing lab to simplify the process. SEMA tested JLT’s CAI on a new EcoBoost Mustang.
As you can see here, the JLT induction system passed every category of CARB’s stringent emissions testing. On March 29, 2016, JLT received California Air Resources Board Executive Order D-761 for its no-tune Ford intakes.
