"Rolling coal" (modifying a diesel engine to run rich and increase soot in the exhaust, a.k.a. incompletely combusted fuel) has become a statement in many places of the U.S. that you are opposed to the EPA, clean air rules, regulation, and in general the perceived nanny state.

My friend is a Tesla owner in Georgia and has been deliberately blasted by these guys at stoplights a few times. They tried, anyway—hard to do this to a car with superior acceleration and a HEPA cabin filter.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_coal

Ah yes, we have tons of these folks in AZ, frequently they're the same people with the "Don't tread on me" stickers and flags that seem to think "don't tread on me" means "But I can tread on you."

I don't understand it myself. I'm fascinated by the energy extraction from a properly calibrated diesel engine. They get more efficient the more air you pump in.

Ruining that for the sake of pissing people off seems a travesty against the machine.

This is something entirely different and reprehensible. I was mostly concerned with the utility of Trucks and how politicization of it is absurd and dangerous. Next time someone wants to buy a truck, they’ll think twice what the society would think of them. What would the neighbors say? All they wanted is a utility vehicle.

This is just one example of many things that are dividing the society into factions.

The same reasons usually apply to large BMW and Mercedes SUVs. The correct people own those so they don't attract the same Attention.

Up until this year I would have agreed with you, but grills this year have gotten completely out of control. The lack of visibility and the height of the impact zone has really changed on some trucks.