I could guess it does bring the lead foots back into action.
The plus side (as I do alot of driving around) is spotting a mack superliner (the ONLY v8 big truck, but its bad 3mpg)
and bigger cars at highway speeds (a canadian crown vic in the fast lane comes to mind) is great to see....
For awhile the automotive kamakaze put upon us with gas prices has japan thinking it makes big safe cars for the REAL 80mph.