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Originally Posted by TAG UR IT
^Well, that was kinda off topic. The entire story about CAFE and requirments....then this? Hmm....ok. That has a lot to do w/ your story?.? uh...
I see his point. But, I do think that more engines will be built which can meet CAFE standards. Then, when you order your vehicle, you check the SC option under the engine packages. Technically, the car meets CAFE requirments before....only now, you just added another 150hp on your engine after the fact. But, that doesn't matter, because the car was built to "specs." Ok...this prolly won't work. But, it's worth a shot.
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Sounds like a COPO loophole . . .
The simplest way to gain fuel economy is to make cars lighter. That means getting rid of alot of those power accesories and comforts. Then you use a less powerfull engine. So you end up with cars that weigh 2000 lbs and have 70 hp, with no comfort features. Sporty versions may get 100 hp!. Those will be the 'midsized' cars, others will get smaller still. And all will get obliterated by the SUV's, pickups, and even fullsized cars like the 300 that are going to dominate the roads for another decade.
I know that they say the Smartcar is supposed to be very good in crashes. But to me, the laws of physics dictate that if you get hit by something that weighs 3x as much as you do, you need to absorb a very large amount of energy to avoid injury. Imagine playing football at full speed with full contact, against a 7 year old. The differance in mass dictates that when he hits you, you will probably feel it but it won't do anything to stop you. You hit him and he is going to get seriously injured. It is the same way with cars. A small car is more crash resistant in a single vehicle accident, but if it gets hit, game over.