John Graves wrote:
> > Tom (O'Malley), your idea for 1981 being the cutoff is outstanding!
And Shane...
>Indeed, this has me thinking of writing to Kopp and suggesting that
>BAR-90 (the current smog test) be applied to vehicles up to (say) 1980,
>then have BAR-97 (Smog Check II) apply for vehicles newer than (say) 1981.
>What a grand idea. Good one, Gents!
> Shane Ingate in San Diego
Ha! Thanks for the positive feedback guys but I don't know that it
would be taken seriously in your state. That *is* California, after
all. :-)
I guess the point I was trying to make is that cars saddled with '70s
emissions systems have paid the price of being the pioneers...
The owner's of let's say a 1978 MGB or a 1978 Corvette could expect
only a fraction of the performance of their 1968 counterparts. This
was due in large part to the primitive emissions controls fitted to
these cars.
By contrast,< ten years later> a 1988 Corvette is a whole 'nother
animal. The performance came back in spades! Same for the MGF.
Today's emissions controls require no significant trade-offs in
performance or fuel economy.
Just right now in Massachusetts there are no emissions tests once the
car reaches 15 years old. There was some serious talk about changing
this a year or two ago but it seems to be stalled for the time being.
I suspect that in this state the cost/benefit ratio would be poor.
We seldom see 20 year old cars in regular use. As you might imagine,
most have either worn out or rusted away. Those that remain are
mostly of some special interest or collector cars.
I believe that for *most* of the United States, the 20 year old
emissions controls fitted to these cars have served their intended
purpose. I think that the owners of these cars have by now "paid
their dues" in keeping these primitive controls in place for what
amounts to several times the life of an average car.
I think it would be OK if the owner of a 1978 MGB could fit a Weber,
or K&N filters or headers to his car legally. Or the 1978 Corvette
guy could do *something* to improve it's Caprice-like performance.
I do recognise that in places like CA the old cars might last much
longer and that cars of this vintage might still be there in large
enough numbers to damage the environment. I'd like to think that the
legislators in CA are monitoring the old car population and are making
intelligent decisions about the effectiveness of these old emissions
systems and the difficulty the owners face in maintaining them.
But I'm having trouble with the line of reasoning that the enforcement
cutoff year will be chosen simply to offset a loss of revenue for the
state and it's car oriented businesses.
Whew!...see what you guys started? :-)
Tom O'Malley
'74, '77 Spits
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