Re: alfa-digest V9 #302

[Andy Kress <aokress@domain.elided>]

hate to beat an almost dead horse into the ground - but i'm just catching 
up on the carbs/injected discussion.   after reading the comments, it is 
clear that many digesti were not around and driving during those good old 
days of the emissions change.   Those standards were of course, much more 
slack than they are today.  however, manufacturers knowledge was much less 
than it is today.  This was all virgin territory, and they struggled 
mightily with the technology.....plus it cost real money to make the change 
- and for the most part the manufacturers (read the big 3 who took the 
lead, but everyone else was on their coat tails) fought it tooth and 
nail.  Driving one of these early emission compliant cars was an 
unmitigated obnoxious experience.  No power, running hot, gaping holes in 
"power" curves.  In 1967, Big Block V8s were alleged to pump out 300 - 400 
real big, bad dirty hp, and every US manufacturer had lots of models that 
used them - from big luxury sedans to pony cars.   By the early 80s, the 
Corvettes & Z28s  were down to 195hp, and a mid 8 sec 0-60 time (w/ a top 
end of ~ 105mph) was as good as it got. This was the period when the 
general public became intimately acquainted with the term 
"dieseling".   When you turned the ignition off, locked the car, and walked 
away with the car still "running", bucking, snorting and twitching - you 
realized that there was still work to be  done implementing emissions 
controls.    Grim times to the auto enthusiast - it was considered the end 
of automotive fun as we knew it.  All prognostications were that these 
requirements were beyond the reach of science and in fact, successfully 
meeting them required contravening the laws of physics.  It was clear that 
the situation would get worse and worse until we were all driving electric 
golf carts type transportation modules.  There was no reason to go on 
living!!!!!   It was said by some, that the big 3 sent cars like that into 
the market on purpose to stir up so much public outcry that the politicians 
would have to repeal these laws.   Obviously, their "clever ruse" didn't 
work.   It was all uncharted territory, and every manufacturer took their 
own path to compliance - based on their own needs and abilities.  You 
probably could make a case that the different responses offered up would 
yield a snapshot of each company's corporate culture, technology potential 
and financial resources at that moment in time.
I'm sure the mass marketers rushed onto the market whatever minimal system 
would meet the letter of the law, and hoped to refine it over time.  At the 
time, fuel injection was perceived to be the only way to meet the 
requirements w/ any hope of maintaining some adequate level of power - but 
it was expensive (to develop, build and maintain) and exotic.   Some 
marques could bare that burden, most couldn't.  Alfa stepped up to the 
plate and did the best they could at the time to preserve the performance 
levels they deemed characteristic.    
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