joeyr

Thomas Baloga, BMW North America's engineering VP, expects conventional technologies coupled with ultracapacitor hybridization should be sufficient to meet the standards near term (he points out that BMW's fleet CO2 output has dropped 12 percent in 15 years- more than any other manufacturer's, according to Environmental Defense). For the longer term, he's bullish on hydrogen, but in keeping with BMW's Ultimate Driving Machine mantra, he believes it should be burned in a delightfully musical engine, rather than blown unceremoniously through a fuel-cell stack. (BMW and Mercedes are even more concerned about potential California CO2 regulations that seek to impose an effective 43-mpg standard by 2016, if the state succeeds in its appeal of the EPA's refusal to approve California's emissions waiver.)

Bottom line: Expect musclecars to evolve, offering equal or better performance in a lighter, smaller, more aerodynamic form bristling with new technologies. Don't be surprised to find roller bearings replacing plain journal bearings in cranks, cams, and elsewhere as manufacturers chase friction out of their rotating assemblies (INA sells rollers that assemble just like journals). Transmission-gear ratio spreads will widen (ZF has announced an eight-speed automatic with a 7.01:1 spread). Building small, cheap cars with great mileage is simple. Packaging the aforementioned high-tech into reasonably sized, desirable cars affordably (and profitably) is not.

Here's hoping that, as NHTSA plots our path to 2020's 35-mpg destination, it dials in sufficient alternative-fuel credits and incentives so people can buy the cars they want at prices they can afford (without bankrupting automakers) in numbers that make the CAFE math work out so Congress appears to have done something. It won't be easy, but neither was rejiggering the city and highway window-sticker numbers, and the EPA got that right.

In the meantime, we're ready to embrace the next generation of 4.0-second musclecars, no matter where the tire-smoking torque comes from.

Green Muscle
Would you smile as broadly whooshing to 60 mph in four seconds with an electric hum replacing that stirring fourth-order V-8 roar we all adore? In many ways, electric cars are natural muscle-machines. They make their peak torque at zero rpm for awesome holeshots, they carry their weight down low, and tuning can be as simple as adding batteries or individual fuel cells and maybe bolting in a more powerful motor. Might a digitally reproduced V-8 soundtrack help?

DeJa Vu
We've been here before. At the dawn of the 1970s, an escalating horsepower war peaked with big blocks and 400-plus-horsepower claims. Then the industry was hit with a double-whammy: tightening emissions regulations and the 1973 oil embargo. Hydrocarbon and carbon-monoxide emissions were tightened for 1972 (along with NOX in California), and the automakers lowered compression to comply. Providing a fig leaf of sorts, in 1972 SAE began requiring exhaust and accessory systems to be installed during performance measurements, a change that lowered SAE gross figures by about 20 percent. The three-way catalytic converter arrived in 1975 and drastically cut emissions, but until precise fuel metering arrived in the 1980s, engine output remained anemic. Today's vast computing power enables advances in technology and science that give engineers more options for improving performance and fuel economy. Peak power may again decline, but weight will too and any drop in performance should be far milder.

CTS, 300, and Challenger make up the pic.