This has been talked about, on and off, since June 24.



I've posted this guy's videos before. If you haven't seen him before, he has a government press card, and apparently is on a congressional email/update list. He also has inside sources at Stellantis - among others.
(Subliminal message... he usually nails his predictions.)

[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 08-25-2025).]

I have my fingers crossed that it makes it through.

On the subject of a government shutdown, the hilarious thing about it is that it would allow President Trump to cut spending even more. Go ahead and shut down the government, Democrats. I dare you.

Unfortunately, this isn't what everyone thinks it is.

All this is will relax the rather over the top emissions requirements that most car companies have to deal with... but our cars will still look like **** . I keep seeing people on YouTube and X saying things like this will allow us to have cool cars again... and that couldn't be further from the truth.

Our cars look like **** because of the NHTSA safety requirements that have all been put into place because of the insurance lobby... specifically, things like the 40/60 rule, which means that the "hips" and rear gate of a car must be at least 60% of the total height of the body. This is why in all modern cars, even as a 6'3" person, you're barely looking over the door... and it's also why cars have ENORMOUSLY huge asses in the back. It's all to protect against pickup truck rear-end crashes... because pickup trucks (structure / chassis) are NOT regulated as a result of the "commercial" lobby fighting against the insurance lobby.

Canada's cars are the same because they basically adopt whatever we do in the United States. But it's the primary reason why we don't really have very many cars anymore... and why almost everything in the United States being sold today is an SUV... compared with say, Europe... where pickup trucks make up like 1/40th of the vehicles on the road... and everything is a car.

The insurance and commerical lobby have basically destroyed the US auto industry. We need to eliminate many of these totally insane rules... we need to make trucks able to better protect against car crashes, and limit the ability for people to jack trucks up off the ground. Instead, cars took the brunt of all the regulation, and guess what... what always happens. Everyone moved to SUVs and trucks... which cost more, use more gas, and now cars are nearly extinct.

This year, General Motors will produce it's very last "car" ... which is the Chevy Malibu. Every other vehicle they make except the Corvette, is classified as a sport utility vehicle, or a truck.

quote Originally posted by 82-T/A [At Work]: Unfortunately, this isn't what everyone thinks it is. All this is will relax the rather over the top emissions requirements that most car companies have to deal with... but our cars will still look like **** .

No argument on that point. But the emissions requirements are the big thing, as far as I'm concerned.

Cars can still comply with the regs and not be fugly. The Challenger and Camaro looking like "pillboxes" is still overkill on the part of the manufacturers. (Ever since the Camaro was re-introduced in 2009(?) I have always described it as looking like a cartoon of itself.) The Mustang isn't built to those extremes. Neither is the new Charger, or any number of imports. (Other than being an unreliable POS, at this point, I think the new Charger is just gorgeous - albeit huge.)
I'm not saying that sedans are going to make a "comeback", but the emissions deck was kind of stacked against smaller vehicles.

[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 08-27-2025).]

quote Originally posted by Raydar: No argument on that point. But the emissions requirements are the big thing, as far as I'm concerned. Cars can still comply with the regs and not be fugly. The Challenger and Camaro looking like "pillboxes" is still overkill on the part of the manufacturers. (Ever since the Camaro was re-introduced in 2009(?) I have always described it as looking like a cartoon of itself.) The Mustang isn't built to those extremes. Neither is the new Charger, or any number of imports. (Other than being an unreliable POS, at this point, I think the new Charger is just gorgeous - albeit huge.) I'm not saying that sedans are going to make a "comeback", but the emissions deck was kind of stacked against smaller vehicles.

Yeah, the Mustang... I have to say, is an engineering marvel. I say that because, the ability for them to get it to look like that, while meeting the current regulations was nearly impossible. Not sure I like the totally new redesign (still bad-ass though), but I think I like the one that was around 2019. It's such a damn good looking car. But the way they did it is by raising the belt line, while simultaneously lowering the roof line. It manages to maintain the look of the classic Mustangs, but also meets the 60/40 rule.

They really need to take a hatchet to NHTSA regulations... there's so much of the "You will do exactly X," rather than saying, "Meet X safety requirement." And this is always something I've been annoyed with.

It's pervasive too with the EPA... things like Throttle By Wire. Yeah, they do have some benefits... e.g., traction control and cruise control are merely lines of software now (integrated into the ABS system), rather than separate modules... this is only possible with Throttle By Wire... but it was implemented to save money... and also pushed by the insurance lobby because they can limit the damage caused to the car by people abusing it (allows manufacturers to have a higher warranty period).

I generally approve of some things, like... fuel evaporative canisters (improves start-up, etc.), etc... but things like EGR (which most cars don't have anymore), and multiple catalytic converters (pre and aft cats) don't make a lot of sense... and I'm going to be glad to see those go. I think we need cats, but a car only really needs one, or one per side when it's dual exhuast. Just a lot of totally unnecessary stuff.


There's so much forced crap in our cars, that it increases the cost, increases the weight, and reduces efficiency.

And an update.

[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 08-29-2025).]