Lets think about this for a second since we all live in this tiny little diesel bubble of a world.
1. What percentage of diesel trucks sold end up being modified? My best guess is less than 3% who knows though for sure?
2. Modified diesel trucks represent what number of trucks on the average road? 1 in 1000? Maybe less , maybe more again who knows, I do know that its not very many of them.
3. Out of all the modified diesel trucks driven on the road how many of them blow smoke at every given chance? And on the flip side how many of them make a conscientious effort to keep smoke to a minimum? How many of them go out of there way to smoke pedestrians?
4. How many of them are in rural areas vs urban areas? Majority of them are in rural areas, probably by a big majority as well. So if one blows some smoke chances are maybe 2 or 3 cars prolly less than that see it most of the time, and obviously more on in the urban areas.
My point is we all live in this bubble surrounded by diesel trucks, most of us notice other diesel trucks on the highway or elsewhere on the road, and I'll bet give them a double take checking if there modified or not. EPA may notice some light duty diesel trucks but I doubt its more than a blink or too, and it'd be even less if it wasnt for douche bags like ATS and Banks trying to corner the market, as much as they are loved on this site, I believe it to be the truth.
95% of John Q Public recognizes diesel as slow, noisy, stinky buckets of junk, and that image has only lately been slowly on the reserve in a few areas of the country because since the inception of the Powerstroke, Duramax and Cummins, and the image gets a little better with technology i.e. Common Rail. The public bad taste of diesel trucks comes from P.O.S. Mack dump trucks with the stacks falling off of them, chitty freightliners, old farm tractors they remember there grandfathers farming with when there parents would leave the city so they could visit "Old Cenile Grandpapa" for the weekend during the summer, city buses, and the list goes on and on.
Not to pick on Josh, Ski, or Pat as you guys are all obviously very intelligent, but climb out of the bubble and look around, we could play off the old commercial you meet the nicest people driving a Honda and say it about diesels and launch some huge massive campaign, We as a whole diesel community are not the problem and have nothing to do with the EPA crackdown nor will we be the death of our own sport, nor will some smokey 12V drag truck ever be the death of diesel, its absurd to think so. Were not going to change the public perception of diesel trucks one way or the other in any substantial amount EVER, its the diesels of the 60's,70's,80's, and early 90's that've sealed that in concrete for years to come.
The only exception to the rule, I believe there is, is when there is a big concentration of diesel trucks gatherd together, and there all trying to one up each other and show off, on the street instead of on the track. Your nuts if you think bastard stacks and 0 plates are the reason for DPF's or EGR's plain and simple.
Im not advocating running around smoke out everyone, I dont hardly blow a puff of smoke at all with my tune except if the motor is lugged down you might get a light haze while it waits to downshift a gear, the only folks I've smoke have Obama stickers or somthing else stupid on, and I dont agree with going around smoking out people on the side of the road unless there at a Democrat or some other liberal douche rally, but you guys seriously are puffing your chest out about nothing, were on the right track right now, police our own, do the best we can to keep unnesacary smoke off the road, most of the time and spreading the word.