Can I alter the exhaust in my Land Rover Defender?

I have read that by removing the catalytic converter and the EGR valve from a TD5 Land Rover Defender, the car will perform better and be a lot more economical. There are replacement pipes and plugs available on the internet, for that purpose and it is MOT-approved. My question is: if I do this in Ireland, would my Defender fail the NCT test?

Cesar Pereira (Mullaghmore, County Sligo)

Oct 2015 Filed under: NCT

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Expert answer

Hi Cesar,

Yes, pretty much an instant fail there. If you take out the cat and the EGR valve you're going to push your emissions readings up significantly. Please don't do it - that equipment is there for a reason.

Neil Briscoe - Complete Car Adviser
@neilmbriscoe