  New results and perspectives precipitate from the (modified as) Kaluza ansatz
2 (KA2), whereby, instead of appending $n$ Planck-scale (${\rm L_o}$) compact
SL dimensions to ordinary 4D spacetime, one augments $n$ such dimensions by 3
large ones. By KA2, the fundamental role of gravity in the dynamics of vacuum
geometry is being conceded to the remaining fundamental interactions. The
ground state in KA2 is of the form $\bar{\cal M}^{n+4}=\bar{\cal
C}^{n+1}\times\IR^3$, where the static (averaged-out over scales ${\rm L}>>{\rm
L_o}$) $\bar{\cal C}^{n+1}$ carries {\em effective torsion} as relic of the
deeper vacuum dynamics at Planck scale. For the simplest non-trivial
implementation of KA2, the Bianchi IX subclass of SU(2)-invariant ${\cal
B}^4_{\rm IX}$ provides the $\bar{\cal C}^5=\bar{\cal B}^4_{\rm M}\times S^1$,
with the $S^1$ coming from 'augmentability', a complement to compactification.
The classical action involves (i) the gravitational and EW sectors in elegant
{\em hierarchy}, (ii) the {\em higgsless} emergence and full calculability of
the EW gauge bosons masses and (iii) gravity as a necessarily effective field,
hence non-quantizable. A conjectured ${\cal C}^{n+1}$ with $n\leq 7$ (to adjoin
the strong interaction) toward a standard model 2, might also offer novel
perspectives for supergravity.
