Curmudgeons always tell us how good the good ol' days used to be. Automotive curmudgeons point to the variety of sports cars, interesting sedans, and shapely aesthetics of the '50s and '60s, while decrying the lack of variation in today's offerings. Although I enjoy the cars of yesteryear, it must be said that technology, legislation, and the needs of a changing world have given today's enthusiasts a broad choice.
Consider the huge variety of engines: in-line three- and four-cylinders, flat and straight sixes, V6s, V8s, V10s, V12s, W12s, and W16s. We have rotary engines, electric cars, gas/electric hybrids, engines running on E85 ethanol, diesels, propane-propelled cars, and-thanks to BMW-even one that runs on hydrogen. There are supercharged and turbocharged engines, variable tract-length intake manifolds and variable valve timing. We have electronic throttle/drive-by-wire. Computers control everything, including automatic transmissions that can hold up to seven gears.
Power output ranges from merely adequate to completely outrageous. Driveability is as good as it's ever been. Exhaust emissions are low and engines easily last more than 100,000 miles without any real maintenance. Compare this to the cranky, high-polluting, hard-to-start and difficult-to-maintain engines of the recent past and we can score one for modern technology.
It isn't just engines. Vastly improved tire technology, anti-lock brakes and electronic stability systems allow modern cars to perform at levels that exceed all-out racing cars from just a few years ago. Advances in tire compounding have included the incorporation of silica to enhance grip in the wet. Modern manufacturing techniques allow more sophisticated tread designs and advanced computer models allow designers to optimize the tire's contact patch. The result has been much higher levels of dry and wet grip with exceptional stability at high speeds.
To use all this extra grip and performance, features like ventilated disc brakes and electronically controlled anti-lock systems are combined with electronic stability controls that help in an emergency. Better training might keep the driver from getting into an emergency in the first place, but telling people they aren't good at driving has never been a vote-winner. So legislators have decided that all cars must be equipped with electronic stability controls by 2012. Meanwhile, engineers keep forging ahead with brake-by-wire, electronically controlled pneumatic suspension systems, and computer-controlled damping strategies-all designed to make cars handle even better. Score two for the present.
Nobody would want to be in a 1950s car crash. No seatbelts, hard dashboards, chromed steel horn rings and non-collapsing steering columns made even a relatively low-speed crash an often deadly occurrence. Of course, today's cars have dozens of systems to help keep an occupant safe, even in severe collisions: structural crumple zones, collapsible steering columns and pedal clusters, energy-absorbing interior materials, three-point seat belts, front, side and curtain airbags. All this safety equipment has added both weight and cost, but it's hard to imagine insurance companies, government regulators and the buying public ever letting us go back. Score three for modern cars.