You refuse to understand plain English,I did not say the Wankel engine was a bad design per se, but stated that it had inherent pollution problems due to the nature of the combustion process in this type of engine.I owned an RX 7 once,it was a enjoyable car to drive,turbine-like smooth,but it had mediocre fuel economy, a nimble pocket rocket with a small Wankel would be a blast,but the realities of mass production precludes that,regrettably.
As far as safety features are concerned,it's important to realize that you have only limited controll of the situation despite defensive driving, any reckless fool or drunk behind the wheel is a menace to others esp. cyclists.The circumstance, that nothing bad has happened to you yet, means little,after driving (with only minor scrapes) for 50 years,I was broadsided by someone running a light, but thanks to side airbags (optional by the way) and a door beam (required), I am still around to refute your fallacies.
Nobody but a fool would believe that car engines are not much cleaner than 40 years ago,I have driven around LA on a regular basis over the years,the smog is much better now despite a large increase in traffic.By the way, the carbon canister has nothing whatever to do with CO reduction,it stores hydrocarbon fumes from the gas tank and releases them later to be burnt by the engine.It works quite well, but needs to be replaced every five years or so.The thermactor was an obsolete relic of the past.It was a early bandaid in reducing tailpipe emissions before catalytic convertors came along.Has it occurred you that providing extra air could serve to burn the unburnt hydro carbons,instead of merely diluting the exhaust,as you claim.It was moderately effective esp. during engine warm up.If unethical people go about diluting their exhaust by injecting extra air to pass smog tests does that mean we should stop testing ?,no, you throw the book at the malefactors.Bumper height requirements make sense,I would not care to be crunched be a Hummer,too bad trucks were exempted
(the big three lobby pulled that off).VW rabbits were ubiquitous in this country despite those dreadful bumper impediments,they must have adapted,just raise the bumper an inch,no big deal.I am quite aware that gas prices have gone up a lot and surprise!,sales of gas hogs have declined substantially,the "tipping" point may have been reached,when people change their behaviour permanently.One final thing the Escort was not a bad little car it had a durable engine,that did not self destruct when the timing belt went,some lasted over 200k miles.Forget the TR 7,the Pinto was an incendiary device,the Mini was fun and the Ford Fiesta not bad either,it never caught on in the US,just too small, I guess.
Do attempt to get your facts straight before you sound off ,JJ
