remember when
I started driving in the late 50's so I grew up with the muscle cars of the 60's and 70's. I never had a true muscle car but did have some big V8's. Back then you either had a stick or a 3 speed auto...
Forum Discussion
Thunderbolt wrote:
I have mixed feeling about new vs old. I had a 72 Chevy pickup with a built 350 in it and it was pretty quick. I embarrassed my share of big blocks in the 1/4 mile, but I did break things. Now I have my 03 with the 6.0 liter and a Nelson Performance PCM. It woke it up quite a bit, but as you recall from a post of mine last month I broke the forward drum on my 4L80E. The manufacturers incorporate measures to protect the drive train from damage for good reason. They are designed for the average driver. I knew when I installed the pcm that I was on my own. Todays vehicles even with the electronic controls perform better and are more reliable than anything from the past. With that said it was much easier to work on the old stuff. I learned a lesson with my truck and now drive it much easier than before. I will take a new vehicle for normal use and an old one for fun. I miss the sound of the engine loping with that big cam on my 72.
And speaking of working on the next generation of cars and specifically the electrics, it was interesting looking at the drive train of the TESLA in the showroom. But quite literally, very little to work on, an electric motor, a fairly simple transmission if you can call it that (there is only one gear), a sealed motor controller and a big a$$ battery. The next generation of back yard mechanics better know there way around multi bus protocols and software. The other question is how much faster can they make them. If a 4 passenger 4 door sedan goes from zero to 60 in 2.7 seconds with a top speed in excess of 150 miles per hour, how much faster can you make them before you start passing out from the acceleration. :) I would think the parts industry will have to change as well. Interesting times we live in.
