Acura Integra, Outside of Yosemite, Spring 2025
I have more than a passing interest in classic cars, particularly those of the Japanese domestic market (See some “JDMs” here). I inherited this interest from my father, who has raised me in an exclusively Honda/Acura household. His affinity for Acura began in the 1980s when he lived and worked in Osaka, where he purchased a Honda Quint (now known as a first generation Acura Integra).
My father’s Integra was an original model three door coupe, with a four-cylinder engine that displaced 1.6L of standard 87 octane and produced about 91 horsepower at a base weight of 2,000 pounds. In the thin, often crowded streets of Osaka - and most of Japan, for that matter- that compact size and its modest horsepower were more than sufficient for his needs. This design philosophy can be found in many JDM cars, with the informal gentleman’s agreement capping original JDM output at around 276 horsepower at the wheel.
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| Acura watch given to salesperson for making quota, circa 1990s |
Today, I also drive an Integra. It is ostensibly of the same lineage as the original production. (Read more about the fifth generation Integra here). However, despite the fact that my Integra is classified as a “subcompact,” it weighs 1,200 pounds more than the original JDM Integra, typically cruising around 3,200 pounds. Despite this (in my mind unnecessary and deeply upsetting) size update for modern tastes in cars, it remains one of the smallest vehicles on asphalt, with American markets now dominated by SUVs and pickup trucks.
As anyone who drives on country roads in America can attest, one of the common classes of vehicle on the road today is a full-size pickup; think the F-150, the Ram 1500, or the Chevrolet Silverado 1500. Read more about driving in rural spaces on this blog here. ]. Looking closer at the 2024 F-150 as an example, the standard powertrain is a 325Hp 2.7L V6, with the typical model weighing in around 5,500 pounds. That is by no means the top of the scale. Many non-commercial super pickups can go upwards of 7,000 pounds. (For example, read about the F-250.)
In many rural contexts, these vehicles serve legitimate irreplaceable needs. Pickups are necessary for anyone who has to haul in day-to-day life, whether from hunting. (Read more about hunting to eat on the blog here) or work, and their standard four wheel differential transmission is more suited for off road travel than a forward wheel drive or a rear wheel drive. However, these justifications simply do not apply to urban environments. Urban roads are well developed; urban spaces do not typically require hauling of loads in daily life.
Cultural factors help explain the popularity of these monster trucks in situations where their practicality is in question. Much has been said about the cultural ethos associating rural practices with country, blue collar work and conservative politics. Read more on this association. As mentioned, you can’t listen to a modern country playlist without hitting three allusions to a truck. Trucks are one of the most popular vehicle types, owing I believe some amount of success with this association.
Larger vehicles increase the survival rate of their own occupants while increasing the mortality for others from a collision (A study about increasing vehicle sizes and lethality here). Increased fuel consumption, wear on roads, and congestion are negative externalities that are put onto the public. With every pound that a car carries, its wear on asphalt becomes exponentially greater).
Today, addressing pickups and other automobiles through regulation has regrettably become a culture war problem. Current contentions surrounding car emissions and sizing are much the same as the rural/urban divide elsewhere: idealistic urban elites are intruding on the necessities of rural life. Read more about rural contentions on emissions standards and the adoption of electric vehicles here and here.
To address this issue in a less controversial way, I propose to localize vehicle regulation. Municipal policymakers should have greater authority to regulate vehicles purchased and used within counties, rather than this power being solely vested in the state and federal systems and resulting in deeply unpopular legislation between rural and urban areas. (One such example involving taxing larger vehicles at the state level here). As such, localized vehicle standards would no longer place unnecessary burdens on rural communities. At the same time, vehicle emission standards should remain federal and state, as air remains shared amongst both rural and urban areas and across state lines.
This increased municipal power could come in many forms. The simplest would be a increased municipal tax of some sort on the purchase and registration of larger vehicles in urban areas. The easiest way to implement this would be an excise "sin tax" on vehicles of a certain size that are deemed unnecessary outside of work purposes. Alternatively, or in addition, bylaws that regulate the usage of vehicles over a certain size in some areas such as parking lots and school zones would serve to decrease congestion and potential safety risks.
My final proposal is to allow the local importation of JDM vehicles that are not marketed in the United States. As these vehicles are often smaller, their fuel consumption and negative externalities are correspondingly smaller. Read about “Kei trucks,” a JDM only smaller pickup, here. Subsidies could also be incorporated into prices for subcompact automobiles and their drivers, preferably those who drive Hondas or Acuras.
By making these vehicle regulations local, cities can better manage their own safety, infrastructure, and environmental concerns without deepening the cultural divide that often accompanies broad, uniform mandates between the rural and urban. I am happy to report that I have no conflicts of interest in any of these proposals.
As anyone who drives on country roads in America can attest, one of the common classes of vehicle on the road today is a full-size pickup; think the F-150, the Ram 1500, or the Chevrolet Silverado 1500. Read more about driving in rural spaces on this blog here. ]. Looking closer at the 2024 F-150 as an example, the standard powertrain is a 325Hp 2.7L V6, with the typical model weighing in around 5,500 pounds. That is by no means the top of the scale. Many non-commercial super pickups can go upwards of 7,000 pounds. (For example, read about the F-250.)
In many rural contexts, these vehicles serve legitimate irreplaceable needs. Pickups are necessary for anyone who has to haul in day-to-day life, whether from hunting. (Read more about hunting to eat on the blog here) or work, and their standard four wheel differential transmission is more suited for off road travel than a forward wheel drive or a rear wheel drive. However, these justifications simply do not apply to urban environments. Urban roads are well developed; urban spaces do not typically require hauling of loads in daily life.
Cultural factors help explain the popularity of these monster trucks in situations where their practicality is in question. Much has been said about the cultural ethos associating rural practices with country, blue collar work and conservative politics. Read more on this association. As mentioned, you can’t listen to a modern country playlist without hitting three allusions to a truck. Trucks are one of the most popular vehicle types, owing I believe some amount of success with this association.
That said, I have a serious interest in limiting these vehicles to urban environments. If vehicle choice was purely aesthetic, then I’d let it rest there, with the only discomfort being visual. However, this choice of vehicle is not harmless in an urban environment.
Larger vehicles increase the survival rate of their own occupants while increasing the mortality for others from a collision (A study about increasing vehicle sizes and lethality here). Increased fuel consumption, wear on roads, and congestion are negative externalities that are put onto the public. With every pound that a car carries, its wear on asphalt becomes exponentially greater).
Today, addressing pickups and other automobiles through regulation has regrettably become a culture war problem. Current contentions surrounding car emissions and sizing are much the same as the rural/urban divide elsewhere: idealistic urban elites are intruding on the necessities of rural life. Read more about rural contentions on emissions standards and the adoption of electric vehicles here and here.
To address this issue in a less controversial way, I propose to localize vehicle regulation. Municipal policymakers should have greater authority to regulate vehicles purchased and used within counties, rather than this power being solely vested in the state and federal systems and resulting in deeply unpopular legislation between rural and urban areas. (One such example involving taxing larger vehicles at the state level here). As such, localized vehicle standards would no longer place unnecessary burdens on rural communities. At the same time, vehicle emission standards should remain federal and state, as air remains shared amongst both rural and urban areas and across state lines.
This increased municipal power could come in many forms. The simplest would be a increased municipal tax of some sort on the purchase and registration of larger vehicles in urban areas. The easiest way to implement this would be an excise "sin tax" on vehicles of a certain size that are deemed unnecessary outside of work purposes. Alternatively, or in addition, bylaws that regulate the usage of vehicles over a certain size in some areas such as parking lots and school zones would serve to decrease congestion and potential safety risks.
My final proposal is to allow the local importation of JDM vehicles that are not marketed in the United States. As these vehicles are often smaller, their fuel consumption and negative externalities are correspondingly smaller. Read about “Kei trucks,” a JDM only smaller pickup, here. Subsidies could also be incorporated into prices for subcompact automobiles and their drivers, preferably those who drive Hondas or Acuras.
By making these vehicle regulations local, cities can better manage their own safety, infrastructure, and environmental concerns without deepening the cultural divide that often accompanies broad, uniform mandates between the rural and urban. I am happy to report that I have no conflicts of interest in any of these proposals.
Acura Integra, Yosemite, Spring 2025
2 comments:
Love your photos of Yosemite! I think that your idea to localize vehicle regulations is unlikely to be successful, and I am highly skeptical that it will be less controversial. I think that there is little that will grate against people who own unnecessarily large trucks (I like the term “pavement princess” or “mall crawler”) than a municipal government determination of whether their truck is necessary for their work. Additionally, I believe municipal governments will simply be uninterested in bearing the costs of this level of municipal regulation. Further, this seems less likely to motivate changes in vehicle manufacturing than state level regulations like California’s fuel economy standards.
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