Let's hug some trees, Emissions...how bad are these cars? Options

[ehick72]

I was reading an article on Mexico City banning the use of the Mexican VW bettle because of safety and emissions. That concerns me because I try to keep my 1.7 engine well tuned. I know my car is extremely fuel efficient but is it bad for the environment in another way? Does anyone know have any info on this?

[lapuwali]

It's all relative. A typical car from the unregulated 1950s would register way over 500ppm HC on an idle test, often over 1000ppm. A 914 with D-Jet tuned for emissions roughly 100-200ppm. Modern technology, esp. catalytic convertors, but also lean-burn engines, have pushed this all the way down to under 10ppm. A PZEV class car (2nd gen Prius, Focus PZEV) will be under 1ppm. Catalytic convertors are so good that I once got 10ppm from a 1978 car with mechanical FI, just by swapping in a new cat.

So, 10-20% of 1950s emissions, but 100x the emissions of the best 2005 cars.

Of course, really, most 914s are true zero emissions cars, since they spend most of their time on jackstands, anyway. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif)

The low emissions cars produced since 1990 or so have made a difference, which anyone who's lived in LA for 20 years will tell you.