Nimisys

my point is when looking at the jnumbers seperating a LEV, form a ULEV, from a SULEV, and form PZEV vehicles, the numbers aren't that different. you probably have never even the smog prinout for your car let alone any other new (within the last 3 years) car to make the comparison on. the best civic 10 years ago could probably not match the emissions of an LS1 corvette, or hell even a v8 truck today. the air quailty in socal sucks for two reasons; one is the geography, you live in a valley surrounded by large mountains (rouhgly 5000 foot difference betwen the valley floor and the mountains i bet) and i live at sea level with a 5000 foot mounatin range 50 miles east of me. unlike i other parts of the country the smog gets trapped int he area directly overhead since its not going to get pushed up and over the mountains. thats why emissions testing beyond the mounatins is only required in those area at the time of sale. gthe second reason is volume, there are more cars in socal than there are in any other part of the world. everyone driving ULEV, SULEV, etc isn't going to have the same affect because of the geography anyways.

Second vehicle wieght contributes to handling, but not nearly as much as hpw the weight is handled and balanced by the car. a heavy car with even weight distrabution and a low unsprung weight can out handle a siginifcantly lighter car with an uneven wieght balance and terriable sprung weight. despite its signifcantly lower weight no one will try to claim an insight will outcorner a corvette.