It's all the gummint's fault!

[Mike Arman <armanmik@n-jcenter.com>]

>To our way of thinking most euro cars are significantly underpowered.  But it
>makes sense to them, I guess.
>
>	That's it from Bucksnort.
>	--ml
>

What's going on here is a couple of things - (at this point, my wife the
lawyer will demand - "Just answer yes or no!")

Governments everywhere have discovered the internal combustion engine to be
a terrific source of revenue, but their method of assessment varies. In
many countries, the tax is on displacement, in some places it is on vehicle
weight, and in others, the value of the vehicle determines the annual
registration cost. (Taxachussets comes to mind - capital city is Boston . .
. )

Insurance companies also play the same game.

Result: Areas that tax displacement tend to have smaller engines - the
factory builds them just under the limit for the next higher tax rate
(which can be a significant difference). In areas that tax value, people
tend to drive older cars.

It seems that all drivers everywhere want to go faster and haul more stuff.
This takes horsepower. In "limited displacement" areas, that means smaller,
higher revving engines, and often turbochargers. Many of the US cars that
had turbos grafted onto them were more a statement of style - "Well
Porsches have turbos, and we're looking for the upmarket image, so we'll
have them too!" In fact, a larger displacement engine would have given all
the horsepower needed - and been less expensive and more reliable.

There's another issue as well - Europe is much older and far more congested
than the USA - there are roads there that were originally Roman roads, and
the Romans never drove Winnebagos - cars, trucks and trains simply HAVE to
be smaller - unless they feel like rebuilding most the the infrastructure.

Now, let us dream a little - we'll reverse the tax structure - no penalty
for displacement or horsepower, low gas prices (50 cents a gallon?),
penalty will be on vehicle weight. Coming soon, the new Audi S-10 Quattro:
2,300 lbs, 900 cubic inch V-12, twin turbochargers, 1,500 HP and 500
mile-tons of torque! Make mine silver, please.

Best Regards,

Mike Arman