What can be done to make a pre-2005 MX-5 compliant with Euro 4 emissions? An engine swap? Petrol cars that don’t meet Euro 4 (all Mk.1 and 2 MX-5s as far as I know) will be charged £12.50 per day to enter London’s Ultra Low Emissions Zone. In 2021 the zone will expand to cover the whole area inside the North & South Circular roads. I live outside the M25 but commute to work just inside the future ULEZ.
Now I’ve been seriously contemplating a “Rocketeer” engine swap, so I’m not averse to throwing money at my Mk.1. If there’s a way I can keep driving it to work in future without paying London £2000 every year just for the privilege, then I’m interested.
I know people have made electric MX-5 conversions before and I’m not averse, but I’d need a reliable 50+ mile range for the round trip. A newer, cleaner petrol engine has more appeal, but if, for example, the Jag AJ-30 used in the Rocketeer swap is Euro 4 compliant then maybe that’s a starting point.Â
Does anyone know if there’s any way to get a single vehicle tested to see if it meets Euro 4? I can’t find any info on that. The IVA test seems only to cover MOT style emissions tests but the Euro 1 - 6 standards measure different emissions (such as NOx) and measure grams per km, not percentages in the exhaust gas.
So I guess the worst case is if I got a really early Mk.1, I’d only have to pay the ÂŁ12.50 per day fee until 2029.  Works out about the same cost as buying a new mk.4 and driving that from 2021-2029 then looking for an early Mk.1.Â
I wouldn’t bank on the 40 year exemption being forever cast in stone; its a concession, not a right.
There is probably a hint here, that you ought not be driving a car with poor emissions standards everyday, and keep a clear conscience.
Have you figured inflation into your model? Isn’t Euro 4 based on an assessment of the entire engine, including emission controls? I don’t think the Rocketeer kit is including S-Type or XF-type cats, and the TB moves from drive by wire to Mazda butterfly.
Yes, I appreciate that currently all we Mk.1 owners are driving around in cars which only meet Euro 1 (or worse if they have cats removed) and I would feel quite virtuous for converting it to a cleaner engine. Possibly more virtuous than if I opted instead for a whole new car to be built for me. And of course just taking an engine out of a Euro 4 Jag doesn’t make a Euro 4 MX-5 if you don’t include the original emissions control parts and especially if you tune its new ECU without regard for NOx emissions etc.
Still, it seems to me it ought to be possible to make a compliant modified car and get its compliance certified somehow. I daresay it won’t be easy. Not as easy as just getting an MGB with carburettors and driving that smelly thing into London for free, ironically.
I do wonder about whether the goalposts will move again. The 40 year age exemption may well end if too many take advantage of it.
At 12.50 a day maybe time to get another car,try a Renault Zoe,my wife has one and got to say it is brilliant.I t costs £3.00 to do 180 miles and  very nice to drive,got to be worth considering as it won’t have congestion charge.
That won’t be the reason it might be ended. More likely to be ended by a government stoking a hostile atmosphere against classic cars (or any display of what could be construed as wealth, rightly or wrongly). The classic car movement is not a vote winner. Striking a blow for the planet might though.
I think you answered your own question. There’s also the thought of buying a house at London prices because travel seems expensive. We moved outside the M25 long ago. So did my employer. Unfortunately my job move back in a few years ago. Annoyingly it’s only just inside the forthcoming ULEZ.
Thing is, I could take the train. It’s almost as quick. I could buy a Zoe, or a Leaf or any of those. I could just buy a Mk.3 or 4 because any Euro 4 petrol car is to be exempt.
But I like driving my Mk.1.
Maybe what I need Mazda to do is hurry up with an electric MX-5 with their forthcoming tiny rotary engine range extender. (Not that I really expect that to fit in something MX-5 sized for quite some time to come.)
If it’s only just inside the forthcoming ULEZ, why not drive it right up to the border so to speak and walk the rest of the way? Back in’t day i used to regularly visit the sudanese embassy to haggle about visas for oxfam workers and it msade absolute sense to park in Hyde Park and walk for ten minutes into the congestion zone. Sometimes quicker too!
I don’t get “London Weighting”, in that, if I choose to not work in the London office, I would get paid a bit less. I won’t get paid anything (ie. no job). Employer provides an interest free loan on a train season ticket, if I want to use that. My train bill is £7.2k a year (or more). Only I pay that.
If the OP becomes a contractor, there are more tax breaks with regards to commuting costs.
They’d just tell me to take the train or use a car that’s new enough to be exempt. It’s hardly their business to indulge my preference for a 1990s car. By the time the enlarged ULEZ comes into force, petrol cars up to 16 years old won’t have to pay it.
