BRG Ronart

It was a lovely, sunny morning as I left home in the Ronart for the IVA test in Southampton. This was the first outing for the car and I was immediately struck by just how windy 30 mph can be! with no screens fitted I had to wear full goggles to drive and I had to remember to keep my mouth closed. The drive to the centre was great, there were no issues and we arrived in plenty of time.

The tester was a pleasant chap and clearly knew the rules as within a minute he declared the first failure. The car was supplied with the chassis number stamped on a plate which is then riveted onto the chassis, apparently this is not acceptable and the number has to be stamped directly onto the chassis.

We progressed well through the test which took six hours in all. I was very pleased to have passed on all of the major items such as brakes, emmissions, noise, speedo, etc. so there is no major rework to do. The main issues found were:

• Chassis number to be stamped directly onto chassis.
• Brake failure tell tale must have the symbol on it and not just the text under it.
• Sharp edges on the steering arms and headlight brackets.
• Track control arms must be covered with a permanent cover and not a temporary cover despite the need to remove it to set the tracking!
• Sharp edges around the exhaust box.
• Offside mirror didn't have the required field of view, a long stalk is needed.
• The side repeaters weren't visible from behind the car at 5° - despite having a rear indicator right there.
• Seat belt mountings too low. This was because the test was done with a measuring device that doesn't compress the seat cushions.
• Driver's side headrest not wide enough, again the method for measuring doesn't compress the seat cushions.
• Vacuum hoses need to be reinforced and not made of silicone.

I am actually very pleased with this result, everything is fixable so there is a clear way forward. Hopefully I can get it back for a retest within a couple of weeks and then move on to registration.