Shamelessly copied from the BBC website!

Road tax increase 'will hit 9m'

Labour backbenchers have criticised the reforms to the road tax system

New car tax rates for 2009
An estimated nine million motorists will have to pay more road tax under reforms aimed at punishing gas-guzzling vehicles, the government has admitted.

Official estimates say vehicle excise duty will rise for 44% of vehicles made since 2001 - by up to £245 for the most polluting ones - but will fall for 33%.

The AA said the figures confirmed "our worst fears", while the Tories said the PM had misled Parliament over the plan.

But ministers insisted the aim was to cut pollution, not to raise revenue.

Environmental groups have urged the government to "stand firm" on plans to raise excise duty.

Friends of the Earth has also called on ministers to invest the money raised in better public transport, which it said was a "greener" alternative to the car.

blah blah blah (Full story HERE)

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Loosey
Loosey@gt4dc.co.uk
Storm Blue JDM ST205
Super White JDM ST205
http://www.gtfours.co.uk

Some people are like a Slinky .. Not really good for anything, but they make you smile when you shove them down the stairs!

My 2p for what it is worth is that this is just another con to hit motorists hardest where it hurts

We already pay WAY over the odds for petrol (never though I’d see the day that it would be cheaper to run my gas guzzling gt4 over a 1.3 diesel saxo - but it isn’t that far off!)

Insurance seems to get more expensive each year, even though no claims discount (apparently) increases as I get another year older and wiser . . .

And now this? Whilst it is only currently affecting cars made in and after 2001, how long will it be before the parliamentarians change that, chipping away year by year until no car is exempt.

Now before anyone gets all 'green defensive' I agree something needs to be done to check the co2 emissions this country produces, but I don't believe motorists are the biggest culprits by far. . . perhaps the spotlight of doom should focus on the big polluters and they should be charged/fined accordingly.

I have also heard that if everyone switched every light bulb from normal to energy saving it would save the equivalent power of lighting the whole of London for a week? What’s the co2 emissions involved in producing that much power?

I do believe the Chelsea tractor drivers should have to pay more than the rest of us, but that’s not because they produce more CO2, but because most people that drive them don’t know how to drive!!

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Loosey
Loosey@gt4dc.co.uk
Storm Blue JDM ST205
Super White JDM ST205
http://www.gtfours.co.uk

Some people are like a Slinky .. Not really good for anything, but they make you smile when you shove them down the stairs!

LOL,
I am due to get stung by this on the M3 come Next April ish. Road tax is currently £210 for 12 months - will be £330 and then £455 in 2010!

I am glad it is much better on fuel than a four!

As you say it is not a green tax it is just a rebadged stealth tax (that isn't so stealthy now!)

If you really want to get me started look at the "low emmission Zone" taxation - commercial vehicles travelling into London will ahve to pay £200 per day unless they are a low emission vehicle. With 4 deliveries a week going in to London this means that our company will have to purchase new commercial vehicles to avoid additional costs of circa £800 per week! It would be cheaper to use the M3 for deliveries! Anyone for a GT-Four pick-up?

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JP
GT4DC Treasurer

Grey St185 RC
Silver BMW E46 M3
Multicolour yawn Honda VFR400
Silver Honda Civic Type-R

As far as I can see diesel is dead now

Car manufacturers have worked hard to bring performance up to the levels of an equivalent petrol engine and in so doing have seriously eroded the MPG advantage that diseasel used to have. The latest greatest twin turbo DI VNT powered 3.0 diesels are producing 200+hp but returning <30mpg. Easily achievable from petrol these days.

Couple that with the initial price premium you pay for weasel and the ever widening premium difference on fuel and it's always going to be a looser. In the case of diesel you are now being heavily taxed for taking the green option since the latest DPF equipped cars are less polluting than petrol. Unfortunately the general public appears unable to grasp this.

Joe public handed the government a large stick with their eco friendly demands and now we all have to take a beating.

LPG looks the most viable fuel these days unless you're running an older diesel in which case it's time to get up the local chippy

With the economy crashing and burning more voters will be hanging onto their old cars rather than rushing out and buying environmentally friendly new ones.

Maybe Toyota will ride to our rescue if they can productionise the Ultra Capacitors used on the endurance Supra last year. The new LF-A was due to be released with a V10 engine initially but maybe they will accelerate development of the hybrid version now.

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Don
GT4DC Chairman
1994 Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205WRC JDM 269bhp @ 0.9bar
1994 Toyota Celica GT-Four Special GT 590bhp @ 1.8bar
1989 Van Diemen RF88/89 Formula Ford 1600
2008 Nissan Patrol GU 3.0L ZD30DDTi 154bhp

I don't think it's just me that is deeply dubious of the science behind the CO2 hatred.

We are told the science is undisputable but imo it is full of holes. Science should be unbiased but the global warming theory was spawned when Maggie Thatcher commissioned a group of scienstists specifically to prove that coal was bad so she could push nuclear power and screw over Arthur Scargill and the coal trade unions. Great politics but terrible science. Nobody has properly revisited it since then.

They act like it's the only pollutant out there.

No! It's just the easiest to tax.

If you want to cut the CO2 emissions of your car take the cat off. CO2 is a byproduct of the catalytic process.

You won't be taxed on the nox and carbon monoxide and other far more harmful chemicals.


Latest I heard was that the plancton in the sea responsible for most of the worlds O2 production was "saturated"

What? are they full? on a diet? or is it a hunger strike for better working conditions?

The fact remains that humans are responsible for a relatively small amount of pollution and cars for only 4% of that. Yet I don't see any sanctions against big businesses who have the might to challenge what the government are going.

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JDM ST205 (286bhp and 281lb/ft)
JDM ST202 (Finally sold )
1982 Pontiac Trans Am 5.7L V8 (See my website)