[jcp123]

Lean burn should be as common today as VVT. With 40 years as a learning curve (remember Chrysler had lean burn cars in the 70s, with noted FE returns), this could be a huge driver for saving folks fuel with bloated fuel prices and a huge balance of payments problem vs. those oh so friendly folks in the Middle East. Fracking will only go so far.

But the hippies bellyache when the emissions are too high. Then they complain that due to emissions, the FE has to drop. Ironic that lean burn was killed by the very people who to this day lobby for better FE, and indeed urged higher FE standards for automobiles, which I argue led to the rise of the SUV's popularity. Perhaps they should be schooled in combustion theory and then decide what is important?