Interpretation ID: nht80-4.23

DATE: 12/04/80

FROM: AUTHOR UNAVAILABLE; Frank Berndt; NHTSA

TO: Toyo Kogyo USA Office

TITLE: FMVSS INTERPRETATION

TEXT: This is in response to your letter of October 20, 1980, concerning Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 115, Vehicle identification number (49 CFR 571.115).

Your question concerns the submission of horsepower data to the agency as required by the standard (S4.5.2). On February 25, 1980, the agency published an amendment to Standard No. 115 in the Federal Register (45 FR 12255) which authorized slight variations between the engine horsepower encoded in the vehicle identification number (VIN) and the actual engine horsepower. Except in the case of motorcycles, a variance in horsepower of plus or minus 10 percent was authorized. You wish to know whether the engine horsepower data you submit to the agency should be consistent with the VIN coding, or whether you should submit the precise horsepower.

The information which must be submitted pursuant to S6.3 is that necessary to decipher the characters contained in the VIN. Consequently, the engine horsepower submitted should represent the horsepower actually encoded in the VIN, whether or not this is the precise horsepower.

Sincerely,

ATTACH.

October 20, 1980

Frederic Schwartz -- Office of the Chief Counsel, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Dear Mr. Schwartz,

RE: Submission Data for VIN

As per our conversation concerning the above captioned matter, the following is (Illegible Word) question which we request to have your official written interpretation as soon as possible.

QUESTION

Is it necessary to submit the precise data concerning the engine net horse powers for each engine type which shows or certifies that our brake hose powers are within the same engine type differ or does not differ of more than 10 percent, in the case of the vehicles except motorcycles?

Sincerely yours, R. Kawaguchi -- Technical Representative, Toyo Kogyo USA Office