New laws have been introduced in Victoria, which will eliminate the ban on probationary license holders driving some high performance vehicles, such as V8, turbocharged and supercharged engines.
The current restrictions which ban probationary license holders from driving cars with these engine types (with the exemption of listed acceptable vehicles) will be replaced on July 1, 2014, for a new scheme that measures a cars power to weight ratio.
Under the new regulation, P Platers will be allowed to drive any vehicle built in or after 2010, that has a power to weight ratio that does not exceed 130kW per tonne.
To determine what vehicles are legal to drive, a simple power to weight ratio calculation is performed by:
- Dividing the cars curb weight by 1000 (in kilograms)
- Dividing the cars maximum power output (in kilowatts) by the result of step 1
For example
- A Volkswagen Golf GTI Performance, peak output power of 169kW, and a curb weight of 1,360kg
169kW divided by 1.36 tonnes = 124.2kW/tonne
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Please note: This website should not be used as a legal guide on any Victorian driving laws. Always check with VicRoads regarding road & safety rules and regulations.
Source: caradvice.com.au
