Singing my song there Norm. I do't like the 4 strokes myself. No real reason just prefer the two strokes. As for the bases I really don't think much of the pressed steel bases. Your right on the costly production of cast aluminium bases too. For a start look at the price of scrap aluminium versus steel. Then theres either pressing a base with hydraulic pressure and dies in only a few steps or compared to heating molten aluminium and maintaining the dies of more complex shapes and a lot more labour. It would have to cost several times as much to produce a decent alloy base.
