Yep; it's just that the implementation was so poor.
Later three-coil ones that had current control were marginally better.
I night-rallied a Mini Cooper S. The dynamo stood no chance of even balancing the load. I converted the battery carrier to take a Triumph 2000 battery - the biggest I could get in the boot. By the end of the event, it was about 50/50 whether it would start on the button!
but two extremes
Formula1 BMW 3.0Lt V10 (2005)
idle 4000rpm 6000rpm to move out of garage max 18000rpm
Mercedes OM470LA Diesel 10.7Lt 6cyl idle 150rpm max Kw output at 1800rpm
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I had a '74 Rover P6 3500S where the alternator wouldn't balance the load of lights, heater, wipers and heated rear window. Even at speed. But the earlier version of the same car had a larger alternator which would. And the SD1, with much the same peak load had a larger one still. All very odd.
The weediest Lucas alternators were the 10AC and 11AC. Outputs ranged from
22A to 35A, so that is an entirely possible situation. Even the 22A one was a big improvement over a dynamo however.In those days a HRW was usually an option, and some manufacturers such as Vauxhall fitted an alternator with a higher output with that option in order to avoid the situation you describe.
Chris
The point of my post is that the current emission rules are interested in the proportion of toxic waste to other waste products, not the actual quantity of toxic waste.
In fact they actively encourage the burning of extra fuel to dilute toxic emissions.
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