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Are Europe’s’ Environmentalists Threatening To Make Sports Cars An Endangered Species?
As Europe's giant car makers do battle with environmentalists and lawmakers over emissions curbs, makers of classic European sports cars like the Aston Martin DB9, Ferrari F430 and Porsche 911 are struggling to be heard.

Environmentalists say today's supercars, with huge engines pumping out up to three times as much carbon dioxide (CO2) as the average vehicle, have no place in a world struggling to rein in climate change.

But Lamborghini and its rivals argue that theirs is a rare art that needs protecting, blending timeless European design elements with cutting-edge technologies that themselves can help save the planet.

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Are Europe’s’ Environmentalists Threatening To Make Sports Cars An Endangered Species?



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993Turbo993Turbo - 8/6/2008 9:11:20 AM
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Of course they are. Just like the Democrat environment wackos over here are trying to do.

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EnnNorakEnnNorak - 8/6/2008 11:58:55 AM
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Not all Dems are enviro-wackos. The problem is that too many environmentalists have tunnel vision and do not understand that our environmental problems are caused by en excessive human population on our planet. Population control is the answer or wars, famine, and disease will reduce the world population for us.


HSCenterconsoleHSCenterconsole - 8/6/2008 9:12:03 AM
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The environmentalists hate cars in general and would love to see us all riding bicycles.

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Sarcastic1Sarcastic1 - 8/6/2008 3:54:33 PM
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That is the dumbest comment I've read on here. Put in a little creativity and contribute to the debate...s**t man, I could be called an environmentalist and LOVE driving!


jeffy210jeffy210 - 8/6/2008 9:34:14 AM
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Okay, so these cars pump out 3 times as much CO2 as the average car. However I can tell you there aren't that many of these cars out there to even make up a 3rd of the total number. They are such a small volume that there impact should be negligible compared to the volume of all other cars out there.

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Agent009Agent009 - 8/6/2008 9:34:51 AMView My AgentSpace
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Finally common sense prevails!


Htay7500Htay7500 - 8/6/2008 9:42:23 AM
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jeffy makes more common sense than the environmentalists and the idiocy coming out of their mouths.


bimmerbimmer - 8/6/2008 1:44:19 PMView My AgentSpace
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Another thing... everyone seams to forget about those big 50 feet trucks. Here in NA these trucks are everywhere and I'm sure EU is full of them too. Now, how many 'green cars' is canceling a truck like that ?!!


Sarcastic1Sarcastic1 - 8/6/2008 3:52:04 PM
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Bimmer, it would be great if we could get those off of the roads, but look at our society! Trains and planes are too limited to transport to individual markets. It's a real shame that we're so dependent on those gas guzzling 18 wheelers, but until we find something better, there isn't a great alternative.


bitschaserbitschaser - 8/6/2008 9:50:39 AM
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Sure, these cars aren't the greenest thing on Earth, but they are hardly your average commuting car running up 20,000 miles a year. 2,000 annual miles in one of these cars as a fun weekend treat would be a drop in the ocean in the whole scheme of environmental damage. Getting people out of Ford 150s and Chevy Tahoes and into Toyota Corollas would have a far greater impact because a) there are far more people driving F150s compared to F430s; b) the miles these owners drive far exceeds those of the exotic car owner; and c) Manufacturers like Ferrari continue to push the technological envelope that eventually filters to mainstream.

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PrancingHorsePrancingHorse - 8/6/2008 11:51:20 AM
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How about all the outdated vehilcles the goverments run,look at Washington DC and you see all the politicians being driven around in big SUVs.Plus they get flown everywhere in Private Jets Hypocrites all the way.

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nozferatunozferatu - 8/6/2008 1:04:46 PM
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Why are you people so freaking dim? Instead of looking at the negatives, how about looking at the positives and realize that this forces change...change that is long overdue. And the effect will probably result in better designed, lighter, even more focused cars.

Instead I see nothing but hate, ignorance, and stupidity from right-wing nut jobs who don't even have the balls to admit we have big problems ahead.

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goochgooch - 8/6/2008 3:15:01 PM
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"We," as in humans? Because the planet is going nowhere. In fact, the planet will kill us before we even come close to "killing" it. All this environmental yahoo-ism is ridiculous. I am all for using resources wisely, but not at the expense of common sense, nor at the wiilful ignorance of environmentalists of the fact that the world -- not just America -- is built on transportation of goods, services and people.


nozferatunozferatu - 8/8/2008 2:08:43 PM
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Uhhh...no...the planet will not kill us before we kill ourselves.

You keep forgetting that regardless of what the planet does, we affect ourselves on a micro level in comparison.

Humans haven't grasped that concept yet.


goochgooch - 8/11/2008 10:12:26 AM
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I said the planet will kill us before we kill IT, not ourselves. Either way, the planet will be here long after we're gone.


t_bonet_bone - 8/6/2008 1:24:37 PM
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Base Porsche Cayman with 6-speed gets 30MPG. New 7-speed DSG (aka PDK) version will get better than that.

Aerodynamics and weight matter! The only thing inherently non-green about sports cars is the width of their tires.

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Sarcastic1Sarcastic1 - 8/6/2008 3:48:41 PM
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993 Turbo and HSCenterconsole, you two are as narrow minded as these sports car bashing nut jobs! Ennorak had a great point, saying that most environmentalists have tunnel vision, but it's not just them. All extremists, whether liberal, conservative, or the other, are fixated on their cause and have little consideration for the greater impact or views. I'm a live long liberal, but it's not like I'm going to go out and protest meat or hold "make love not war" signs. It's just crazy, equally as bad as the psychos outside of abortion clinics.

To say that, "Just like the democrat wackos over here are trying to do." is insane. There's absolutely no validity in that statement. US environmentalist groups are working, with companies and politicians, to develop more efficient technology. Those guys over seas are holding meaningless protests that just piss everyone off!

There's no question that, through compromise and collaboration, progress is achieved, but it takes input from all sides. If you guys are actually worried about the F430 or DB9 getting pulled, you're out of your damn mind. Their economic benefit alone, to their respective countries, is far too much to sacrifice to some idiot protesters.

I have no doubt in my mind that, within the next few years, changes are going to be made to those engines, but there isn't a chance in hell they're going to be outlawed.


Some food for thought:

People, be open minded and look at the larger picture. Everyone has their own opinions, but take it with a grain of salt. Whether liberal or conservative agenda, people are voicing their opinion for a reason and just let it be. There's no reason to bash groups for their beliefs, it's a small population. These few hundred(if that) people aren't going to infringe upon your quality of life, so just relax. By bashing groups, whether political, racial, etc, you just look like an idiot and establish ZERO credibility.

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BobWBobW - 8/6/2008 10:40:31 PM
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An 18-wheeler is actually quite efficient when their weight is taken into account. A fully loaded 18-wheeler gets something like 4-5 mpg, but has a gross weight of as much as 80,000 lbs (more than half of which is cargo). A typical Prius is getting something like 40-44 mpg, but is only hauling a gross weight of around 4,400 lbs. (of which less than 10% is "cargo"). For the truck, each mpg is hauling 16,600+ lbs, whereas the Prius carries 81 lbs/mpg.
So it's evident that by weight a semi-trailer truck is far more efficient than any high mileage econo-car.

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truckmentruckmen - 8/7/2008 4:26:30 AM
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Industry is by far the biggest polluters but we never hear about them because that would hurt the money people, and I admire some environmentalist and some are just to poor to but a car so they complain and have a lot of issues, that is who is complaining about the super cars! If everyone was driving around PML's mini Cooper with 100mpg +? with 640bhp those enviro nuts would still be complaining.

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