I'm not going to shed any tears. The new SCR-equipped diesels run amazingly clean, and now that I've been in Southern Idaho for a while, there's a pretty apparent correlation between the delete-culture and air quality. And noise pollution. I might occasionally hear a straight-piped modern diesel in Portland, but in Twin Falls Idaho, I hear it ALL NIGHT LONG.
Also I think the creator of that first was jumping to some extreme conclusions. The EPA has zero interest in specialty racing events. What they care about it are modification being done under the premise of racing, then continuing to drive that vehicle on-road (or really, tuners being sold for that purpose and being used on-road). Now, the changes will make it more difficult for and amateur to buy a canned tune and use their Duramax for tractor pulls, but the guys who really know what they're doing are already running a standalone ECU and doing their own tuning.
That all said... I would like to see the EPA add some reliability-performance standards, and offer a rolling exemption for older trucks, when they data shows the factory systems aren't performing as designed. Like the Ford 6.4L or 1st gen Cummins 6.7L. These trucks are nightmares to keep running reliably without spending big $ or deleting those systems.
One more thought.... Now that new trucks make over 400 hp and 1000 ft-lbs of torque, reliably at that, there's zero reason to need more power on the road. The folks buying these new trucks and deleting them the day they get home, are doing it out of principle.
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2000 E450 dually V10 wagon
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