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The problem is when manufacturers try to hang a component on an engine to clean up emissions. Eventually they learn to incorporate the operation principles in the desgin of the engine. The first round of emissions controls were pitiful and engine power dropped dramatically. Then they adopted FI and feedback systems and power returned while still being clean. Example is air injection versus DFCO. Power robbing lower compression to reduce NOX versus precise egr flow and much higher compression.
When you have the tail wagging the dog, reguators writing laws that have no basis in cound engineering, then it takes a while for the engineers to catch up with designs that incorporate later generations of systems. The death of the Civic VX was due to small percentages of NOX over the limit. Kill the design, but don't even consider giving it a few years to mature with additional development. No incentive to truly innovate without a balanced approach to emissions.
The end result is efficiency suffers as research continues until the systems become truly integrated. In the mean time economy suffers, but the regulators see the percentage value as success when the real success is lower emissions because of greater efficiency.
regards
Mech
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