Drive without Guilt!(Column)

Byline: Rich Ceppos

So how are you feeling about cars and driving lately? Ever experience a pang of guilt, be it ever so slight, as you mash the accelerator to the carpet and enjoy the heady rush of full-throttle acceleration? Ever worry about what your horsepower habit is doing to the environment? How it affects our dependence on foreign oil? As you observe your fellow Americans' unbridled love of vehicles large, fast and thirsty, are you ever nagged by a little voice that says, "Geez, we could do this a whole lot better''?

Dr. Ceppos wants to know. Because I believe a lot of people, car enthusiasts and average motorists alike, are feeling what I'd call psycho-automotive dissonance. We love something-cars and trucks, high performance and automotive freedom-which also gives us pause if not pain.

Not to worry. The Doctor has the cure. Well, I at least know where to find it: vehicles that are satisfying to drive, that offer excellent (even outrageous) performance, do almost no harm to the environment and are thoroughly capable of workaday tasks. Hang tight; the world is coming to you. We are on the verge of a new generation of vehicles that can do what was thought technologically impossible only a few model years ago.

As Exhibit A, I submit the 2004 Ford Focus. By now everyone knows what a joy a properly equipped Focus is to drive. Not long ago I sampled the guiltless model, and it's the best in the lineup.

This is the one fitted with the 2.3-liter PZEV four-cylinder engine. PZEV stands for "partial zero emissions vehicle,'' but that's a misnomer. There probably just wasn't a handy acronym for "it emits the same or less pollutants than a powerplant does when recharging an electric car.'' Think about that. Electric car emissions-next to none, in other words-with no electric car drawbacks.

The PZEV engine isn't just ...