Digging up this old thread because I had the same question... i.e. What is the difference between the Platinum, Gold, and Silver 190CC B&S engines? Is there anything that makes the Platinum a more durable, long-lasting engine, or is it all just marketing fluff, "easy start" junk as mentioned above?
All you need to do is get the engine numbers of a Platinum , Gold & Silver engine.
Then download the parts books for each engine.
Go through them and find the same part with different part numbers.
These are the parts that have been modified,
Briggs already have a factory in China, we get the Chinese B &S engines on a lot of walk behind mowers down here.
Kohler, Honda & Stihl all have factories in China & despite all the rhetoric of President Trumph all of those companies will eventually do the bulk of their manfacturing in China.
WE get a lot of ride ons fitted with Chinese Courage engines.
You can not change peoples base instinct for GREED with legislation.
We call it "market pressure" but it is raw greed because I want every thing and I don't want to pay for any of it.
And the past 60 years of advertisements have fanned this base instinct to the point that it has become first nature.
Given this cultural charasteristic of the USA market place no local plant can survive and none will in the long term.
Then on top of this are idologistic driven groups like the EPA needing cheap & easy "wins" for the enviroment thus legislating petrol powered lawn equipment out of the market.
While the net result from enforcing "clean" legislations on things like mowers make almost no difference, it looks like they are doing something.