Automotive electronics: Microcomputers hit the road: U.S. automakers are turning to digital electronic controls to boost fuel economy and reduce pollution

By 1981, most new cars made in the U.S. will use microcomputer-based engine controls to increase gas mileage while reducing exhaust emissions. Microcomputer-based controls — systems that optimize ignition timing and air/fuel ratio, for example — are the automakers' way of meeting Federal requirements in the 1980s to increase fuel economy and reduce pollution. Electronic engine controls arc still too expensive, however, to be used in all cars.