LAC Pollution Musings, was Massachusetts 4KTQ owner question

[rob hod]

    Well, I hope the learned list will forgive me going a bit LAC and maybe
philosophical for a moment, in my defense all I can do is plead for Xmas
dispensations on raising this one , but I am interested in knowing what
people think about this one;

    A fellow car enthusiast I was talking to today said that 90% of the
pollution made by the average car in its entire life was during the
manufacturing process.
    Now I've always had in mind the huge amount of resources consumed in
manufacturing a car, and that awareness, along with the fact that I'm a
cheapskate and don't mind (sometimes even enjoy) tinkering with cars, is a
reason why I run older cars such as my brace of 1980's Audi, when I could
afford a brand new car instead if thats what I wanted. I simply find it
close to sinful the way that cars are used , abused  and then dumped to
clutter up the environment when the least thing goes wrong with them, when
with a bit of care they would last many times longer and cause much less
pollution over their life-cycle.

    However I had never had a figure (the 90%) put on the amount of
pollutuion caused by the cars manufacture, but am prepared to beleive it.

    Now add another strand of thought. The private car owner here in the UK
and (from what I read on this list and elsewhere) in the US and other
countries seem to bear the brunt of pollution control, IE catalyst equipment
and ever more stringent controls, tests and inspections to make sure that
our personal transport creates the minimum amount of pollution (once
manufactured!). On the other hand I think I'm right in saying that pollution
control on things like big commercial vehicles, diesel trucks etc  is at a
minimum, just one example being the common practice of crankcases that vent
direct to the atmosphere.

    So when I read about a someone having to consider going to a different
state to pass an inspection, just because they are an enthusiast and fitted
a turbo, I begin to wonder at the justice of it all.

    Surely all us enthusiasts, even if we do turbo swaps etc are helping the
environment, for one thing we're keeping these old cars on the road and not
buying new ones instead, and consuming the least resources in their repair
by only replacing worn parts, for another we're quite likely to have our
cars in a good state of tune, because we're enthusiasts and because we want
a car that runs well, doesn't  waste fuel and we want a nice environment
too!

    By all means cars that are polluting blatantly due to bad servicing or
just being plain worn-out shuold be taken off the road, but where is the
recognition by lawmakers that the environment would be much better if the
world made less cars, but made them last much longer?

    So to anyone else does all this regulation seem punitive, heavy handed
and skewed against the consumer and in favor of the manufacturer? What says
the list?

    Cheers

rob
> Message: 6
> Date: Tue, 17 Dec 2002 11:43:30 -0500
> To: Bill Phelps <wphelps at rizzo.com>
> From: "Doyt W. Echelberger" <Doyt at NWOnline.Net>
> Subject: Re: Massachusetts 4KTQ owner question...
> Cc: quattro at audifans.com
>
> Hello Bill.  I don't have a Massachusetts answer, but I do think out of
the
> box. Where do you go if you get a "NO" from your home state?
>
>
> Worst case: "No, you can't do that in this state. No way. Put it back the
> way it was."
>
> Solution: Do it in another state, and have it done by somebody else, for a
> small fee. Re-title the car and register it in a state with no emissions
> requirements and which allows title & registration by mail. Florida is one
> such state.
>
> Start with this one:
>
> http://www.amhomebase.com/
>
> Here is a clip from the web site:
>
> "AMERICAN HOME BASE, INC. is a total-contact service meeting the needs of
> full-time and part-time travelers. Our clients include RV'ers, Armed
Forces
> Personnel, Contract Workers, Sailors, Small Businesses and over-the-road
> Truckers. Many others find that our services provide a valuable link to
> family, friends and business contacts and still allow the freedom of a
> traveling lifestyle."
>
>
> "American Home Base Inc. has some exciting new features to offer its
> clients. Working with our local tag office, we can assist clients on
> registering vehicles through the mail so you or your vehicles do not have
> to come to Florida. For our message service clients, any message you get
> through the message center we can e-mail to you on a daily basis
> (especially useful to our international clients). Request to forward mail
> and other instructions can also be e-mailed to us at no additional cost.
> For more details call the "Home Base" office."
>
>
> Doyt Echelberger
> Ohio   USA
>
>
>
>
>  >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
> At 11:18 AM 12/17/2002 -0500, you wrote:
> >This message is in MIME format. Since your mail reader does not
understand
> >this format, some or all of this message may not be legible.
> >--
> >[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
> >So it's time to get my 4KQ inspected here in the People's Republic of
> >Massachusetts. I've recently completed the turbo conversion on my 87 4KQ
and
> >the car runs great. The AFR meter does not indicate an overly rich or
lean
> >condition and there is no smoke from the tail pipe.. Every thing seems
OK.
> >My question is... Am I going to get busted for adding the turbo at
> >inspection? Or if the car passes safety and emissions, is that all she
> >needs?
> >
> >I suspect I might be able to find a "friendly" shop for the inspection,
but
> >it is not very convenient.
> >
> >Thanks
> >
> >Bill
>
>
>
> --__--__--
>
> _______________________________________________
> quattro mailing list
> quattro at audifans.com
> http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/quattro
>
>
> End of quattro Digest
>