Another Sin Tax
DREW WINTER Ward's AutoWorld, May 1, 2004 12:00 PM

How do we know the industry's horsepower race is out of control? Because even BMW engineers are complaining.

AMG, Mercedes-Benz's in-house performance division, recently introduced the SL 65 AMG, a 604-hp supercar. Some high-level engineers at archrival BMW — arguably the world's premier automotive engine producer — are starting to privately grumble that enough is enough.

The astonishing horsepower and acceleration of cars such as the SL 65 (0-62 mph [100 km/h] in 4.2 seconds) may be alluring to the 500 or so extremely wealthy buyers who can afford the $180,000 price tag, but BMW insiders argue there's a point where sheer horsepower ceases to improve a car.

This growing dust-up is reminiscent of the arguments that emerged during America's last muscle-car era, when the limits of sanity were severely tested.

One example: a big-block Chevrolet Corvette with a 454 cu. in. (7.4L) V-8. It was significantly slower in the quarter-mile than its less-powerful siblings. The reason: The giant block made the car so heavy in front the rear wheels couldn't generate enough traction. The car had more horsepower, but it wasn't better for it.

That horsepower race ended abruptly in the early '70s, to no one's satisfaction. Some great cars were killed off along with the silly ones, in part because of growing public outrage over racing on public roads and highly publicized traffic deaths — not just soaring fuel prices and emissions regulations.

Maybe it's time auto makers curtail this generation's horsepower race before the U.S. or European Union governments end it for them.

In the current fuel-economy debate, growing more heated every day in this election year, some auto makers are suggesting that increasing gas taxes would conserve far more fuel than implementing tougher corporate average fuel economy regulations.

Environmentalists dismiss this as a cynical dodge, because it's politically impossible to raise gas taxes. They're probably right.

It would be far more credible for auto makers to suggest a tax — similar to the exisiting gas-guzzler tax — on excessive horsepower.

Why? If there's one tax that can pass through the U.S. legislature without major collateral damage to politicians, it's a sin tax.

And what possibly could be more sinful than filthy rich guys driving around in hideously powerful cars that cost more than the average U.S. home?

I suggest this with tongue only slightly in cheek. Some regions already tax vehicles by engine displacement — bigger engines pay more punitive tax. If auto makers were to propose taxing horsepower on a sliding scale starting moderately at about 225 hp, and getting painful after 300 hp, they might get the ear of environmentalists and legislators and elevate the fuel-economy debate to include torque (what consumers really want), power density and other substantive engineering issues.

A tax on horsepower also would advantage diesels and hybrids, which by their nature have more torque.

Plus, easing the horsepower race could free engineers to concentrate on more important things — like a torque race.