Posted on 06/07/2007 5:24:30 PM PDT by LibWhacker
Make sure you’re sitting down before reading this story.
There is a proposal in a report to the European Parliament calling for a ban on the making of cars capable of more than 101mph.
It's all part of a proposal to cut CO2 emissions from cars, and many of the silliest parts come from British Lib Dem MEP Chris Davies.
Davies states that 101mph is 25 per cent over the top speed limit in most EU countries.
However, according to a report by the BBC, he then goes on to note that "between 1994 and 2004 the power of new cars went up by 28 per cent, making them a lot heavier, and so increasing the amount of CO2 they put out, even though no country raised its speed limit to allow cars to use this increased power."
Now obviously this is utterly and totally wrong, but that won't prevent members of the European Parliament from voting on the proposed ban this autumn.
Obviously what has actually happened is that increased safety legislation (much of it from the EU), has increased the weight of cars. Power outputs have also increased.
Now that cars have beneficial safety features – airbags, pedestrian impact zones and the like – they are by necessity heavier than before. But what this has to do with top speeds, we're not sure, other than the fact that it takes greater effort to start and stop a heavier car than a lighter one.
But it's not just power and weight that have increased – car's braking systems and tyres have also improved (not least because EU legislation means that anti-lock brakes are now mandatory on new cars).
We're all for increased safety – such as the proposed standard fitment of ESP stability control – but to claim that banning the making of cars capable of over 101mph would create a dramatic reduction of CO2 is incorrect.
We can't help but think that, say, Mr Davies not flying from his Stockport base to Brussels every week would help a bit more.
Oh yes, and Mr Davies was also a big supporter of GM's decision to build the new Vauxhall Astra at Ellesmere Port in April.
"This is a fantastic reward for the commitment shown by everyone involved to keeping car manufacturing alive in Ellesmere Port," said Davies.
Quite right, but seeing as every single model in the current Astra range is capable of well over 101mph, if Mr Davies' proposal succeeds at the EU, there will be no new Astra.
I have a really great (and original) idea!
Simply make the speedometers peg out at 85MPH!
I’m Serial!!
Won’t Germans riot over something like this?
I think so, and Italians, too!
Even the Spanish would throw a fit.
Well raise the speed limits then!
Imagine a Lamborghini geared for a top speed of 101 mph. Now THAT would be fun at a stoplight!
It sounds like this guy wants cars specifically designed to be incapable of high speed? What a nutcase.
Environmentalists are long overdue for a backlash... hopefully this will help trigger something.
My ‘85 Trans Am and ‘84 Corvette already does that. (kinda on the Vette)
>> My ‘85 Trans Am and ‘84 Corvette already does that. (kinda on the Vette)
Really? Darn! I was going to apply for a patent. ;)
(When it comes to silly legislation, our “members of parliament” are no pikers themselves; they’ve been at it a LOT longer than the EU!)
Cool with that. Took my 1972 Honda 600 (that's in "cc"s of engine displacement, 0.6 litre) Coupe up to 84 MPH once, having heard they could get up there.
Got pulled over for it.
And was let off with a warning.
(I was very polite to the nice policeman, however... and I kept my word, I never did it again.)
My uncle has a country place, that no one knows about
He says it used to be a farm, before the Motor Law
And on Sundays I elude the eyes and hop the turbine freight
To far outside the wire, where my white-haired uncle waits.
Jump to the ground
As the turbo slows to cross the borderline
Run like the wind,
As excitement shivers up and down my spine
Down in his barn
My uncle preserved for me, an old machine -—
For fifty-odd years
To keep it as new has been his dearest dream
I strip away the old debris, that hides a shining car
A brilliant red Barchetta, from a better, vanished time
I fire up the willing engine, responding with a roar
Tires spitting gravel, I commit my weekly crime...
Wind in my hair -—
Shifting and drifting -—
Mechanical music -—
Adrenalin surge -—
Well-weathered leather
Hot metal and oil
The scented country air
Sunlight on chrome
The blur of the landscape
Every nerve aware
Suddenly, ahead of me, across the mountainside
A gleaming alloy air-car shoots towards me, two lanes wide
I spin around with shrieking tires, to run the deadly race
Go screaming through the valley as another joins the chase
Drive like the wind
Straining the limits of machine and man
Laughing out loud
With fear and hope, I’ve got a desperate plan
At the one-lane bridge
I leave the giants stranded
At the riverside
Race back to the farm
To dream with my uncle
At the fireside...
Most new cars in America now have a chip in the computer that turns them off at 100. If they dont its easy to add.
Outlaw those that change this chip. Cutting power is not the answer, many times that power is needed for passing. some people actually own boats and trailers and campers that need power to be pulled. Some live in the mountains.
If you want to have cars stop running at 100, I dont think too many people will opbject. If you take away needed power , Damned right they will object.
PS> I dont even want to get into the subject of Japanese motorcycles that weigh 450 lbs. and have 180 horsepower and will run 180 right out of the box. They will and most often are run at speeds in excess of 100 mph. Not many people buy one of these and then are satisfied with not “Letting it all hang out” on occasion.
I have not thought about that song for a long time until about 6:30pm today. On my walk home there’s a house that had an old ‘what looks like’ 1968 Aston Martin and the drum fills leading to the chorus of Red Barchetta jumped to mind right away.
Great music from a great band.
Incremental government control of the sheeple. This is just a step in an attempt to remove personal transportation as an option. Slow the cars down in the name of "global warming", reduce power in the name of "global warming", control the amount of personal travel a person can do in the name of "global warming", deny personal possession of motor vehicles in the name of "global warming". Mass transit only for the servant class. It's hard for the serfs to rise up against a communist government if they can't get to it.
Tin foil hat stuff I guess but these days it's hard to tell what we're going to have thrown at us next.
I can’t help but think that Neal Peart looks like Tom Hanks, especially in that video.
I object (on general principle), and I rarely drive that fast. There are times when it may be necessary, though. What if you're trying to outrun someone or something in a life-or-death situation, and your nanny-chipped car shuts off? Not a happy situation.
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