TireSmoke.org

http://www.hagerty.com/classic-car-arti ... 08-21-2013

I'm not saying that I agree with all or any of this but I think it's fun to ponder.

When a street legal quiet as a mouse Cadillac runs 12's I think this whole debate becomes almost moot. Today's performance cars are better in every measurable way.

We can argue aesthetics til the cows come home it does not change the raw performance measurements

When everyday, run of the mill Mustangs run low 14's... FWD mileage misers run 14.0 (Cobalt)... There's no doubt that right now is the real Muscle Car era, whether we know it or not. LOTS have changed in the last five years.

-BP

I agree with BP and Mostmint. Old cars with huge displacement, high compression, etc. are so cool,
but the current motors are way superior. Technology alone puts current vehicles at a total advantage.
Multiple valves per cylinder, fuel injection, 4, 5 or 6 speed transmissions with lock-up converters, roller
valve train...... the list goes on and on... current "stuff" makes our cars today fly. I began to really
realize this when my 3.8 Buick, supercharged, 4 speed automatic 2000 Regal ran mid 14's bone stock.
Very little work put it in the high 13's, literally crushing my big block Oldsmobile on the track and my
403 cu. in. 80 cutlass.... At the time, my personal "fastest car I've owned" was a daily driver that got
23 mpg daily and sometimes over 30 mpg on the freeway with the air conditioner on and kids in the back
seat..and that car was a year 2000... . Now BP's mustang, no supercharger and in stock trim, puts a stock
et down that's beyond respectable and pummels my stock car with a blower, there's no way that anybody
in their right mind can say "old school" technology and muscle is better. If they do, they're stuck in the
late sixties.

GM

I have to agree with everything said. And, I'd add suspension and tires to the list of new car ET advantages.

The old stuff still has charm and its fun to bring some of the newer technology to it but the new cars have it all. In addition to performance, there's comfort, ride, economy, braking, handing, reliability and safety. I never did take the Maverick to Michigan. 12+ hours behind the wheel each way would have been grueling. Thumbs ups are fun but you pay a price.

Now that I'm driving the '70 F100, I'm seeing all that in spades. The switch to the '81 F150 and the 11 years of improvements and added features is a good move I think. The '70 F100 is not a fun vehicle to drive. At least, not for very far. If you haven't driven an early '70s vehicle recently you might not remember what its like.

I was talking to a guy at Thompson with a '13 Ford F-150 V6 EcoBoost. Bone stock he was running high 14's. This is a 4x4, extended cab, and it gets about 22mpg on the freeway. It has 420 ft lbs of torque out of a 3.6 liter engine... Nothing like a little boost.

I think another five years will bring smaller motors, better power, and higher MPGs.

-BP

A perfect example of what we've just discussed:

http://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motoramic/ ... 06792.html

GM