We are all so guru aren't we. We buy a car that we know does not comply with the rules (small volume exemptions) and then we modify it (oops I mean customise it) with extras and modifications that don't comply with the rules. For example winged wheel nuts are not legal if they protrude beyond the tyre as they do on a 4/4, not to mention sports exhausts etc. etc. Even the carry rack on the back may not be strictly legit.

Then we all sit around in te pub and complain that someone has done something questionable that really makes b---r all differnce because the tests are conducted over a narrow range of conditions that are rarely met in real world driving.

The exemptions for paying to enter the center of Milan with methane or GPL powered vehicles will be cancelled for 2017 because studies have just shown that the emissions for these vehicles is only a tiny percentage less than those for diesel and petrol powered cars. Now that's a surprise when they have been telling us for years that GPL and methane is cleaner. Really the main thing is that they want to reduce the total number of vehicles that enter Milan (Euro 4 diesels will be banned too).

What the politicians have been ignoring is that something like 5.5 million tons of carbon black is used in tyre production every year. A portion of that will inevitably finish up on the roads and in the air of our cities. They have been wondering why the banning of "polluting" diesel powered vehicles from cities has actually had little effect of reducing fine carbon particles that disappear (get washed down the drains?) the moment it rains.

Peter

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