And there is nothing stopping you or anybody else from driving outside the efficiency range of your drivetrain by moderate/heavy throttle application/acceleration, which is well within the laws...
So once again, it's our wonderful government listening to the chicken littles, who used their lobbying power to create 2 entirely new industries, those that provide emissions controls, and those that test said emissions controls, in essence, a naturalized monopoly.
And the entire existence of that naturalized monopoly can be put into question when you look at the number of cars on the road with properly functioning emissions equipment that will never be touched/modified. Does the testing keep emissions low if all cars have properly functioning emissions equipment? How many new vehicles fail emissions? Can you justify the emissions testing infrastructure (and it's own emissions output by construction of the facility, manufacture of the equipment, etc) to ensure the very small number of cars with faulty emissions equipment be repaired?
Also, if somebody is going to argue that catalysts should remain in place, they should also argue that all of the driveability tuning Audi does should be stripped out for a bare minimum calibration, ensuring maximum efficiency, while ignoring all aspects of driveability we expect, such as torque management on shifts, cold start enrichment, etc.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not arguing that we should do away with emissions controls, I'm arguing that if somebody is going to try to split hairs about gutting precats than he/she should be prepared to go live in the woods or else be labelled a hypocrite.
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2000 w/ some stuff

StilAuto Fives, 19x8 - 235/35/19 (they won't clear stock calipers with new pads)