[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by PJMac

Nope, no data to support it. Just way, way too much time reading car magazines. It just seems to make sense to me, I am not pretending to be an authority

Let me add to my response. I seem to remember reading that mowing your lawn for an hour pollutes as much as driving for like 6 hours or some crazy number like that. Again, not an expert. Our golf carts, setting aside the EFI, are closer to lawn mower tech than car tech.

It's a tough call. Comparisons are apples to oranges due to both equipment differences and emissions requirements. I found 2001 comparisons that looked better than 2010 comparisons but with the expectation that 2018 regulations would close the gap again. In addition, small engine testing usually measured the pollutants that are removed by catalytic converters but didn't consider the CO2 that are produced.

Emissions from small engines are not as clean as those from highly-regulated automobiles. Still, in striving to make the ride smoother, quieter, and cleaner (less fumes), I would guess that they aren't as bad as the lawnmowers used in the comparisons.