[DML] Bolt On Performance -- The REALLY Big Picture

["content22207" <brobertson@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The whole reason we're having this debate is because of dumbed down
engineering to meet 1970's US Government mandates. Euro spec versions
of engines like our PRV are not so dissatisfactory that owners feel
compelled to reach for improvement.

The whole reason the US Government mandated dumbed down engines is
because we ran out of gas and were choking on our own exhaust.

The whole reason we had too little gas and too much exhaust is because
the US Government did not have a rational transportation policy. Never
has. We became enslaved to the self driven automobile. Living and
working patterns envolved around it. As European cities remained
centrally focused, we spread further and further from our city centers
(which quickly fell into decay). World class interurban and trolly
lines that dotted the landscape were snapped up by GM and promptly
dismantled (not that anyone cared). Heavily subsidized highway and air
transport systems hid the true cost of our irrational transportation
choices. By the 1970's those chickens came home to roost. 

I do not advocate eliminating the self driven automobile. I do
advocate giving drivers REALISTIC alternatives. The high cost of
European gasoline is factored into leisure driving. Americans still
have a bad habit of jumping into the car and driving to the store for
a forgotten grocery item, or a missing bolt or screw. Americans endure
10 and 12 hour Bataan Death Drives to reach vacation destinations when
a train trip would be so much more enjoyable (Amtrak is NOT a
realistic alternative. I'm Amtrak's biggest supporter, but its current
incarnation can not compete even with our crumpling and clogged
interstates). When was the last time an American walked a mile or two
to reach a destination (not power walking in circles for fitness)?
Europeans do it quite regularly.

All this involves passenger transport. Don't even get me started on
freight....

The bitter harvest of our irrational transportation choices is the F
Series PRV nestled in the back of DeLoreans.

At least we're not wasting as much gas as we could when we zip to the
store for that forgotten loaf of bread.

Bill Robertson
#5939




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