The Death of Automotive Tuning: Complexity and the Hp Arms Race
Today’s Cars aren’t Fun. They are too complicated and rely far too much on technology. Such luxury is a handicap.
Saying you could go 250mph in a factory car half a century ago would have gotten you put in the looney bin. Today, it’s a reality. With cars like the Hennessey Venom and Bugatti Veyron SS gracing the airstrips of our country, the quest for speed has anted up. Remember the BYO Cup Slurpee promotion a few years back when we showed up with kiddie pools to get our flavored ice? The world has that level of thirst.
Simply put, production vehicles have become too powerful and too fast. Take the Dodge Challenger Hellcat for example, 707 hp from the factory is just too much. At my local drag strip, people who have labored for years building up their LS1 Camaro or 2jz swapped MK3 Supra are leaving the sport after seeing their hard work beaten by a car fresh from the factory. Money these days buys speed and power at such a high level that your average at-home enthusiast can’t keep up. You may be floored to see the plethora of cars with over 400hp from the factory being stamped out today, but that makes anything less seem mundane.
Back in the 80’s when an Iroc-Z Camaro put out 190hp of flame spitting fury, a car modified for speed was a force to be reckoned with. Even a modest 100hp increase resulted in immense improvement. The cars of the 70’s and 60’s were still competitive as the power wars hadn’t risen to monumental proportions. This isn’t the case today, where the LT1 and LS1 of the 4th gen F-body is weak-sauce when compared to a new Nissan Maxima. When a family car is faster than a decade old sports car it’s time to slow it down.
Cars of the past proposed a synthesis of operator and machine, with each operating in tandem producing a thing of beauty. Those 205’s on your Trans Am squeal like a pig to slaughter. The Viper of today can roast its massive 335mm rear tires like a marshmallow for s’mores. Driving one on the track is like waiting in the checkout line behind a woman with a ton of coupons, it requires patience. Short bursts of speed on the straits coupled with massive brakes in the corners makes a few seconds of smiling a lap. Whereas my Lacrosse Super would allow me to cover the track at a slower pace, making the track seem longer, the corners more nerve-racking, the day that much better. Such power and speed detracts from the driving experience.
The development of transmissions has as well. The CVT is no longer crude and troublesome (think 80’s Subaru Justy) but has evolved several times over into a reasonable alternative to more traditional systems. Gone are the 4-speed automatics of 90’s GM, 8 speeds and higher are reaching production. The beautiful 5/6-speed manuals are dying off, as manufacturers like BMW have switched to automatics, which are often faster. Car tuning at home will be impossible, as the amount of electrical knowledge and intricacies of modern systems require a specialization of labor.
In ten years I will need to be an engineer to work on my own car. Tuning will be a nightmare, and anything reasonably affordable will have little chance when pitted against the current generation. The days of the 240sx as a reasonable project, the father/son restorations, garage engine rebuilds are numbered. To put it frankly, I wish I was born twenty years ago.
Comments
I agree with you. I wrote an article like this about 2 months ago
Lower hp cars arent thought of as ‘fun’ anymore, unless they are hot hatches or rev like crazy. Going to the drag strip people with brand new cars they buy bash people who put in the work to modify older ones. Plus a 335mm tire is just insane.
So it seems that you’re upset that modern cars are faster and more powerful than older cars? If we’re talking stock vs stock then yes, then the majority of modern cars are faster and more powerful. If they weren’t, then almost all street cars would have less than 200hp like the 1930’s. How much fun would it be if progress simply stood still? And why would new cars need to be produced? Maybe I’m reaching here.
But… you mention that people at your local drag strip are giving up drag racing due to stock modern cars being faster than their LS1/2JZ powered track cars?! That smells of bull to me. Even if we were to go with an extreme budget build like a junkyard turbo’d iron block 5.3 with new heads/exhaust/cam, and budget slicks/lsd it would be able to outrun 95% of cars being produced today! If you don’t believe me then search google for the hundreds of junkyard ls turbo swaps that have been done, producing huge reliable power.
You also mention how a Viper can only be enjoyed for a few seconds a lap. Granted, the Viper is known to be a handful, but the current gen (especially the TA and ACR) is known to handle well, and can keep pace with most expensive supercars! I’m pretty darn sure it would be enjoyable in both straights and turns in experienced hands. If you want an example of a fun slower car to contrast to the Viper’s brutality and raw speed, the Miata or perhaps an MR2 would be a better example of an enjoyable track car than a front wheel drive V8 Buick. All of this said, I think you should be excited that we live in a day and age with such extreme cars! Right now they may be out of reach, but I look forwards to the day when Hellcats and the like become the older more affordable alternative to modern cars.
Some of the older guys have given up the competition rounds, those who used to be the fastest at the strip ( i live in a crap area, a 10 second car is about the best there is). I like driving older cars over new, it seems to me you feel more involved while driving. My biggest gripe is the influx of technology in nearly every aspect of car design, restoring today’c cars in thirty years will be a giant headache.
Very interesting perspective! Nice write up! It is a little bit sad that family cars have enough power to spank 10 year old sports cars…
100% agree