Millions of people do it every day on cars that last 200k+ miles with only basic maintenance. If you give it 5-10 seconds to get some oil moving, it's good. Not saying you have to floor it but it should be able to move right away if it's a good working fuel system.
Icing also doesn't mean that it stops running, it just generally runs bad. I have physically removed the air cleaner and seen ice on the boosters for myself. The fuel cools the air and when its high in water it condenses. When you are around freezing and there isn't a heat source, the ice can form and really make it run crappy.
That's one of the more ridiculous statements I've seen. For fuel economy alone they would go EFI, let alone that the computer allows them to get better HP and torque out of the same size, if not smaller engine. Let alone run all the safety features like stability control. Most people don't want to work on their car basically ever. The EFI allows us to go 100k miles without doing anything but changing the oil and the air filter. No washing down the cylinders, and no BS. It can account for changes in the engine and can send someone in the right direction when things go wrong. They also start at 20 below zero with no problem which does happen here also. You also get 400hp pickups that get 20 MPG despite being huge and heavy.
With the exception of NOx emissions, lower emissions is usually a sign of efficiency. NOx would happen with really lean running and EGR which is what a lot of 90s cars did.
I have personally pulled spark plugs from more modern cars with plug gaps over .100" and they just had minor idle issues. The ignition systems are also better. This is another reason I went to coil near plug and LS coils.
I remember being a kid and knowing people who had 80s Chevy pickups, the second they had TBI the engines went from wearing out at 120-130k miles to running for 200k+, despite the fact that it's a crap system in the EFI world. I even personally had an 80s Mopar TBI 318 engine for my duster 15 years ago which had serious miles on it and looked brand new inside, despite being from a totally beat truck.
Roller lifters last longer and make more power also. Even with carbs.
The world moves forward with technology whether we like it or not.