RE: I NEED A DEAD CAT! (4KQ senior project)

["Buchholz, Steven" <Steven.Buchholz@kla-tencor.com>]

Puh-leeze!  I'm sure that the only difference between LA and Mexico City is
the use of catalytic converters on automobiles.  I've never been to Mexico
City, so I can't speak to the emission control technology that is required
on cars in that city, but I dare say that there are probably more
differences than simply cats vs. no cats.  How many times have there been
reports of cars that have been able to meet their emissions test without
having a cat.  I did not know that my QTC was sold to me with a hollow kitty
until I took it in for its first smog check ... where it passed the test,
but the service adviser took me aside and told me that they tested the
emissions at the CO tap tube and found them to be the same as at the
tailpipe.  Manufacturers install catalyic converters as a means to ensure
that every car that they build will have no worse than the specified
emissions over a long time period.  This model has to incorporate the
possibility of a lack of maintenance by the owner.  You might actually find
that a car sans a cat meticulously maintained by its owner might well have
better than average emissions.  

If you look into the rationale behind a lot of the initiatives like RFG-II
they are not meant to improve the emissions of newer cars, but those of
older cars that do not have the modern controls.  I'll bet the average age
of a car in Mexico City is more than a couple years higher than the same in
the LA Basin.  

Yes, my cars have catalytic converters ... now even the QTC, but I am not
convinced that catalytic converters are all good.  My biggest issue with the
catalytic converter is that one of its byproducts when mixed with water is
sulfuric acid.  While sulfuric acid may not cause the clearly visible
photochemical smog it isn't one of the best things to be inhaling either.
Have you ever wondered why manufacturers have gone to stainless steel
exhaust systems in recent years?  While they may claim it is to help in
areas where salt is used on roads, it is just as much to prevent them from
being eaten inside out ...

Just because our omniscient government requires something does not mean that
it is a perfectly good thing ... MTBE and airbags submitted as examples ...

Steve Buchholz
San Jose, CA (USA)

> -----Original Message-----
> 
> Your sarcasm could use a visit to Mexico City where you'll