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Originally Posted by Big Dave
So some people say that infinitesimal benefits in air quality for the benefit of a very small subset of the population outweigh a large improvement in MPG for everybody.
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Seems like I've heard that line before. Back in the '70s, when Detroit kept saying that their gasoline engines couldn't possibly meet emissions standards (even the lesser ones of those days) without costly & complex air injection pumps and other costly economy & performance-robbing add-ons. Then along came Honda with their CVCC engine, other companies (not often American ones, alas) introduced things like variable valve timing & electronic fuel injection, and all of a sudden their engines were getting lower emissions AND better performance.
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That makes improved MPG Mission: Impossible unless you force people to drive small cars they don't want.
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Or unless someone comes up with a source of the small cars some of us want, which Detroit refuses to build. Even at the height of the SUV craze, Honda, Toyota, and all the rest were making good profits building small cars. How'd they manage that if people didn't want them?