Yeah, but I'm still glad I grew up in the days of fire-bleching carbs gulping that high octane. It just won't be the same with a silent whizzer now will it?
spyder
It definitely won't be as much fun spyder, but it won't necessarily be all bad either. Many of us think back to the muscle cars of our youth, or the bikes, and think that it all went downhill since that time. But, when you look at actual performance it's shocking just how much better the modern vehicles are even though they have to meet all sorts of tough emission, safety and noise regulations that didn't exist back in the day. Compare a modern Mustang with a Boss from the 70's for instance. They have a six cylinder model now that would run with a Boss 302 and still get 30 mpg, based on test results from the various magazines, and if you go with the modern V-8 it's no contest at all. Same is true of Corvette's and any of the other muscle cars that have modern day equivalents. And I remember the hot rides of my youth being 650 Triumph's and 900 Sportster's, both of which would be totally blown away by any of the under 600cc bikes currently on the market. So even though I agree with you, I don't think actual performance will suffer, it just won't be as visceral and "fun".
BTW, they're already working on regulations to add noise to electric vehicles, so that visually impaired people won't step off the curb into the path of a silent car. I suggested a recording of a Harley with straight pipes, but I imagine Uncle will just give us another irritating "beep-beep-beep" device like those on industrial equipment. No fun at all.

Jerry