7 ms·

In the Rockets' Red Glare: The past and future of hot-rodding in America

62 points by delichon 2y ago

johnea 2y ago
The article is mostly focused on race tracks, and especially drag racing. But to me "hot rodding" explicitly means street racing. And in street racing, and driving fast responsive cars in general, electric is the future. I just recently started owning one, and it drives better than any other vehicle I have ever driven. The instant acceleration, the very fine power control, and the weight distribution make it more responsive and better handling than literally any other car I've ever driven (and I've been driving for 50 years).
- hristov 2y ago
  You are absolutely right about electric cars and how fun it is to drive them. I just want to make the obligatory statement that street racing is very dangerous for innocent people and nobody should do it or encourage it.
- eropple 2y ago
  Yup--electric performance vehicles are unreal when you first give one a try. I test drove a Ford Lightning this week and it is ridiculous what a 7,000-lb vehicle can do with that powertrain (to the point where honestly maybe it should require a CDL to drive). Just for kicks I also tried a Mach-E, which was the same kind of zip but without the novelty of being in a three-ton monster. Both felt glued to the road and they were real pleasures to drive. I really wanted to pull the trigger on the Lightning, but it really was Too Big (won't even really fit in my driveway). Instead I picked a PHEV Escape SUV that'll become my wife's in 4-5 years (so we retain gas ranges on at least one vehicle) and I'll reevaluate what I can get in electric then. The Escape PHEV, however, has all the other advantages except the instant torque; I've never had a vehicle so able to finely control power and the eCVT smooths out the kind of lagging a conventional transmission has on hills and the like. Using zero gas for an hour-long drive is a nice plus, too. The future of cars, including and maybe especially fast cars, is exciting.
  - bluedino 2y ago
    Soemthing like a Tesla Plaid (or even a P120) is light years ahead of a Mach E in performance.
    - dexterdog 2y ago
      That's a bit of an overstatement, but by your gauge it's also light years ahead in cost.
      - bluedino 2y ago
        It's like 40+ mph faster in the 1/4 mile (almost 50%) It does cost double though.
      - heartbreak 2y ago
        Approximately the same brakes as the Mach E. Maybe worse.
      - bluedino 2y ago
        Also, Car and Driver had this to say about the Mach E Not as fun to drive as a true muscle car... acceleration zeal past 60 mph drops off quickly. Meanwhile they called the Plaid terrifyingly fast and blows away exotics, and it tied for the fastest 1/4 mile they had ever tested
        dexterdog 2y ago
        I didn't know the machE was supposed to be a muscle car. I thought it was just a small SUV that they oddly put the Mustang name on.
  - rootusrootus 2y ago
    As a recent (a few weeks ago, in fact) buyer of a Lightning, as well as a two-time Tesla owner ... I totally agree. My pickup weighs 6500 pounds and will hit 60 mph in 3.8 seconds. That is ridiculous. Technically that makes it faster than my Model 3LR (though traction on damp pavement is definitely better on the Tesla than on the Ford). It's easily the best pickup I've ever driven. Perfect (and I mean perfect) 50/50 weight balance, astonishing power, low center of gravity, etc. It simultaneously feels like a 6500 pound truck, but also doesn't. It feels like it defies physics sometimes. > The future of cars, including and maybe especially fast cars, is exciting. 1000% agree. We used to think that the horsepower wars of the 2010s was the pinnacle of performance, but EVs are just raising the bar even higher.
- roamerz 2y ago
  >>And in street racing, and driving fast responsive cars in general, electric is the future. Street racing is entirely too dangerous and of course illegal. You don't have to race to take part in the street scene, which in that scenario the actual power to weight ratio is somewhat irrelevant in itself. What is relevant to me, personally, is the ambience that surrounds a supercharged radically cammed V8 rumbling down the street. That will give me goosebumps every time. The power is in it's growl, not necessarily it's bite. I don't know how you replicate that in an electric vehicle and I think that feeling transfers to the racetrack as well. I would rather watch a 3-4 second top fuel race rather than a 2-3 second electric car race. Oh yeah if you ever do happen to catch one of those top fuel events don't miss watching them rebuild the engines and the 'let's make sure it runs' startups. The fumes will cause tears in your eyes and your lungs will hurt but it's as good or better than the actual race.
  - drmpeg 2y ago
    My mechanic told me the future of racing is hydrogen. You gotta have noise.
    - smileysteve 2y ago
      You really dont though, turbos cut the noise in half in the recent years and it's considerably nicer to watch a race. Recently, the gt3 Porsche cup at an F1 event; you need earplugs for the gt3s 1000' away, but the F1 cars you can have a conversation, not damage your hearing (because of the turbos)
  - ryandrake 2y ago
    > I would rather watch a 3-4 second top fuel race rather than a 2-3 second electric car race. The car enthusiast obsession with vroom-vroom noises has always seemed pretty silly to me. Maybe I just don’t get it. Like heat, loud noises are just a sign of inefficiency and energy loss. A car that goes the same speed as another car, but 10dB quieter is objectively better and more efficient at delivering power to the wheels. A car that is both faster and quieter is even better and more impressive. Like a GPU that delivers high performance without getting hot and needing a fan. A noisy car is a worse car.
- Animats 2y ago
  Power hasn't been a problem in racing for decades now. All the major racing circuits, from F1 to NASCAR, have power limits in some form. It's maintaining ground contact that's hard. There was an electric dragster, the Lead Wedge, in 1969.[1] It was really crude but performed OK. There was enough unhappiness about an electric doing so well that the sponsoring battery company didn't do it again. Their main customer was auto companies. The fastest motorcycle is currently an electric.[2] Somebody took it up to Alice's Restaurant above Woodside and drove Skyline on it. Which is a scary thought, if you know the area. [1] https://www.hotrod.com/features/batteries-and-a-salt-february-1969-982-592-44-1/ https://www.hotrod.com/features/batteries-and-a-salt-februar... [2] https://newatlas.com/lightning-ls218-review-ls-218/36470 https://newatlas.com/lightning-ls218-review-ls-218/36470
  - angled 2y ago
    Loud pipes save lives… What will be the electric motorcycle equivalent? A standards based notification system for nearby vehicles?
    - wffurr 2y ago
      Vigilance and proper operation and safety procedures would save a lot more lives than any kind of noisemaker.
    - dexterdog 2y ago
      How much do they? The bulk of the sound is behind the bike where it serves no purpose other than angering people because of how overly loud they are.
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]
    - mrob 2y ago
      The probably kill more than they save by impaired health from the stress and sleep deprivation they cause.
- rascul 2y ago
  > The article is mostly focused on race tracks, and especially drag racing. But to me "hot rodding" explicitly means street racing. Hot rodding about fast cars. Racing doesn't need to come into the picture at all to have a hot rod.
  - serf 2y ago
    >Hot rodding about fast cars. the whole hotrod culture produced those fast cars in order to compete with the police, it then turned into in-group competition, and then formal racing. 'hot rodding' wouldn't exist without competition. The first SCTA style 'hot-rods' were 'souped up' ford flatheads that were lucky to have over 80 horsepower going for top speed runs. What i'm saying is that 'racing' was before 'fast' in the history of hot-rodding. p.s. this also applies to the almost-entirely-disconnected very early European car scene. It was racing events and famous individuals that drove the entire culture -- this then lead to 'fast cars'. The history of the Mille Miglia comes to mind.
- smileysteve 2y ago
  Amecdotally, I was behind a Tesla 3 performance at a recent track day; it was lowered on eibach springs, but had more mass than my stock height 2004 bmw 3 series. It couldn't handle the Gs on a slightly negative camber straight, as opposed to I could floor it there. I definitely expected it to clear me on the straights faster.
- jmb99 2y ago
  In my experience, they’re lots of fun... in a straight line, to a point. I haven’t driven one that turns or stops as well or as “connectedly” as pretty much any enthusiast ICE car. And yes they have instant torque off the line with very good traction control, which makes them much faster at drag strips than most ICE cars, until you get to purpose-built dragsters that are putting down just as fast 60 foots making the same (or more) power but while weighing a few thousand pounds less. Until batteries get waaaaay lighter (like, 2-3 orders of magnitude), I really don’t see them as the future of fun cars.
whartung 2y ago
If you have not been to a Top Fuel drag race, and have the opportunity to go, you should go. They are quite the spectacle. Being there, hearing, feeling, and seeing those 10,000HP monsters fly down the track is worthy of experiencing live, at least once. The kind of thing you can't watch on TV. I can say the same for a Monster Truck rally. Go there and embrace your inner 10 year old watching those machines Move. (And, boy, can they move!) Bring earplugs. There's more to the sports than the pinnacle of achievement. There are innumerable classes within drag racing, something for everyone. It's not a "solved" problem by any means. Folks will continue to try and master the start, getting traction, keeping that beastly powered thing straight in the lane, trying to not choke on their beating heart that has surged into their throat. Bracket racing is a hoot where folks bring whatever they like, and they're rated by time (i.e. a "time bracket"). Whether you're running a old 60's hot rod, a Jet Powered car, or anything else, if you can run within the time, it's pretty much fair game. And it can be fun to watch, and real fun to participate in. Racing of all kinds can be a fun culture to be around.
- mikeruiz 2y ago
  I wholeheartedly agree: Monster truck stadium shows are once-in-a-lifetime events—as in, see one, and you’re good for life. That said, they’re hugely entertaining, and I’m glad I went. Other things I would recommend in the “see at least once and you’re good” category: 1/ A major sporting event where the fans believe something is at stake, like the run-up to the playoffs. In the U.S., baseball tickets can be had for reasonable prices in small markets late in the season, and the seats don’t matter. You want to experience the emotion and energy firsthand. Unlikely to turn you into a fan, but the experience will be one you think on for years to come. 2/ A live sporting event where the outcome makes no difference, like your local minor league team. Again, seats don’t matter—you want to feel the buzz and sense of community. 3/ Amateur musical theatre. The on-stage talent is often top-tier, while the rest of the production is endearingly amateurish. But the enthusiasm, honesty, and agenda-free earnestness of the production will make you love people a little more. 4/ Opera… You get the point. Any endeavor where a group of people dedicate huge energy—often their lives—into making a show, along with their incredibly enthusiastic fans, is worth your time. Also, sometimes you can get corn dogs or drink wine out of a plastic cup.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
julianeon 2y ago
I was impressed by the author they managed to find for this piece, Rachel Kushner. She's an accomplished novelist who writes with deep knowledge about motorcycles, as in her novel The Flamethrowers (how I was introduced to her writing). She's at the level that you might expect to find a long interview with her in the New Yorker. To learn more about her, see this article. https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2021/04/13/on-memory-and-motorcycles-an-interview-with-rachel-kushner/ https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2021/04/13/on-memory-and...
- frutiger 2y ago
  > She's at the level that you might expect to find a long interview with her in the New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/04/30/rachel-kushners-immersive-fiction https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/04/30/rachel-kushner...
bluedino 2y ago
The article seemed to go on and on and not have a real point...but on the topic: Hot-rodding is dying. Let's think about that. V8's are dying. Dodge was the first to stop putting them in cars. Mustang sales are at low levels. The Camaro is gone. Ford doesn't allow tuning of the current Mustang (asterisk for approved Whipple/Ford Racing parts). GM tried locking people out of the new Corvette but they eventually got into it. Tuning hardware+software companies have been raided by the US government. Most of this is due to the diesel truck crowd. The manual transmission is pretty much dead. Sure, the current 8/9/10 speed automatics are faster and get better mileage, but a lot of people still prefer a stick shift. Drag strips are closing. Housing gets built near them, the events make too much noise, and the land is too valuable to be used as racetrack which doesn't really make much money. Lastly, the younger generations aren't into cars as a hobby/culture like the previous ones were. They don't drive as much and view cars as more of an appliance.
- keyle 2y ago
  There is a reason the younger generations aren't into cars. There are less places to go to, shopping is online now, car parks and shopping malls are dying. Public transport is getting better or less worse than it used to be, owning a car is getting a lot worse with taxes and higher cost, insurance through the roof, particularly for the models you've pointed out. Finally, their buying power is a lot lesser than it was 1 generation ago when it came to "projects". Demand is lower for ludicrous vehicle, mostly because of the rest, leading to ever less silly cars being produced or designed. Overal, sadness.
- Aurornis 2y ago
  Hard disagree. The aftermarket is stronger than ever. V8s have been replaced by turbo engines which respond much more dramatically to modifications than any N/A V8. There are numerous enthusiasts cars to pick from across manufacturers. Tuning companies operate globally. People get their tunes from obscure companies in Europe. ECU protections are being cracked regularly. Even “unhackable” ECUs are getting tunes year after year. Stick shift options are available on a lot of enthusiasts cars. They’re slower, but people can get them if they want. I’ve been hearing talk about the death of the car aftermarket for a decade, but every time it’s really just someone lamenting that it’s changing. I think people just get upset when the car scene of their younger years is no longer the popular scene (Mustangs and Camaros with V8s and stick shifts)
rapjr9 2y ago
Most gasoline has alcohol in it now. How has that affected it's flammability?
- willis936 2y ago
  Increased it? If you want more power you tune for E85. Hell ethanol is rocket fuel.
  - GaryNumanVevo 2y ago
    E85 also has a ton of particulate in it as well. I'd recommend anyone to install an better inline fuel filter if you're tuning your engine and running on E85.
- m3047 2y ago
  Own a 1990-1991 motorcycle (own two actually, same model) which came from the factory with 10.5:1 compression (drive train from a different bike, they upped the displacement slightly and that also contributed to the increased compression). In the winter it warms up faster on the cheap lower octane gas with ethanol (can't use it in the summer, can't use it for highway riding). On the highway it runs better / better mileage with higher octane gas with ethanol than without. YMMV (had to say that!)

62 points by delichon 2y ago

The article is mostly focused on race tracks, and especially drag racing. But to me "hot rodding" explicitly means street racing. And in street racing, and driving fast responsive cars in general, electric is the future. I just recently started owning one, and it drives better than any other vehicle I have ever driven. The instant acceleration, the very fine power control, and the weight distribution make it more responsive and better handling than literally any other car I've ever driven (and I've been driving for 50 years).

hristov 2y ago
You are absolutely right about electric cars and how fun it is to drive them. I just want to make the obligatory statement that street racing is very dangerous for innocent people and nobody should do it or encourage it.
eropple 2y ago
Yup--electric performance vehicles are unreal when you first give one a try. I test drove a Ford Lightning this week and it is ridiculous what a 7,000-lb vehicle can do with that powertrain (to the point where honestly maybe it should require a CDL to drive). Just for kicks I also tried a Mach-E, which was the same kind of zip but without the novelty of being in a three-ton monster. Both felt glued to the road and they were real pleasures to drive. I really wanted to pull the trigger on the Lightning, but it really was Too Big (won't even really fit in my driveway). Instead I picked a PHEV Escape SUV that'll become my wife's in 4-5 years (so we retain gas ranges on at least one vehicle) and I'll reevaluate what I can get in electric then. The Escape PHEV, however, has all the other advantages except the instant torque; I've never had a vehicle so able to finely control power and the eCVT smooths out the kind of lagging a conventional transmission has on hills and the like. Using zero gas for an hour-long drive is a nice plus, too. The future of cars, including and maybe especially fast cars, is exciting.
- bluedino 2y ago
  Soemthing like a Tesla Plaid (or even a P120) is light years ahead of a Mach E in performance.
  - dexterdog 2y ago
    That's a bit of an overstatement, but by your gauge it's also light years ahead in cost.
    - bluedino 2y ago
      It's like 40+ mph faster in the 1/4 mile (almost 50%) It does cost double though.
    - heartbreak 2y ago
      Approximately the same brakes as the Mach E. Maybe worse.
    - bluedino 2y ago
      Also, Car and Driver had this to say about the Mach E Not as fun to drive as a true muscle car... acceleration zeal past 60 mph drops off quickly. Meanwhile they called the Plaid terrifyingly fast and blows away exotics, and it tied for the fastest 1/4 mile they had ever tested
      - dexterdog 2y ago
        I didn't know the machE was supposed to be a muscle car. I thought it was just a small SUV that they oddly put the Mustang name on.
- rootusrootus 2y ago
  As a recent (a few weeks ago, in fact) buyer of a Lightning, as well as a two-time Tesla owner ... I totally agree. My pickup weighs 6500 pounds and will hit 60 mph in 3.8 seconds. That is ridiculous. Technically that makes it faster than my Model 3LR (though traction on damp pavement is definitely better on the Tesla than on the Ford). It's easily the best pickup I've ever driven. Perfect (and I mean perfect) 50/50 weight balance, astonishing power, low center of gravity, etc. It simultaneously feels like a 6500 pound truck, but also doesn't. It feels like it defies physics sometimes. > The future of cars, including and maybe especially fast cars, is exciting. 1000% agree. We used to think that the horsepower wars of the 2010s was the pinnacle of performance, but EVs are just raising the bar even higher.
roamerz 2y ago
>>And in street racing, and driving fast responsive cars in general, electric is the future. Street racing is entirely too dangerous and of course illegal. You don't have to race to take part in the street scene, which in that scenario the actual power to weight ratio is somewhat irrelevant in itself. What is relevant to me, personally, is the ambience that surrounds a supercharged radically cammed V8 rumbling down the street. That will give me goosebumps every time. The power is in it's growl, not necessarily it's bite. I don't know how you replicate that in an electric vehicle and I think that feeling transfers to the racetrack as well. I would rather watch a 3-4 second top fuel race rather than a 2-3 second electric car race. Oh yeah if you ever do happen to catch one of those top fuel events don't miss watching them rebuild the engines and the 'let's make sure it runs' startups. The fumes will cause tears in your eyes and your lungs will hurt but it's as good or better than the actual race.
- drmpeg 2y ago
  My mechanic told me the future of racing is hydrogen. You gotta have noise.
  - smileysteve 2y ago
    You really dont though, turbos cut the noise in half in the recent years and it's considerably nicer to watch a race. Recently, the gt3 Porsche cup at an F1 event; you need earplugs for the gt3s 1000' away, but the F1 cars you can have a conversation, not damage your hearing (because of the turbos)
- ryandrake 2y ago
  > I would rather watch a 3-4 second top fuel race rather than a 2-3 second electric car race. The car enthusiast obsession with vroom-vroom noises has always seemed pretty silly to me. Maybe I just don’t get it. Like heat, loud noises are just a sign of inefficiency and energy loss. A car that goes the same speed as another car, but 10dB quieter is objectively better and more efficient at delivering power to the wheels. A car that is both faster and quieter is even better and more impressive. Like a GPU that delivers high performance without getting hot and needing a fan. A noisy car is a worse car.
Animats 2y ago
Power hasn't been a problem in racing for decades now. All the major racing circuits, from F1 to NASCAR, have power limits in some form. It's maintaining ground contact that's hard. There was an electric dragster, the Lead Wedge, in 1969.[1] It was really crude but performed OK. There was enough unhappiness about an electric doing so well that the sponsoring battery company didn't do it again. Their main customer was auto companies. The fastest motorcycle is currently an electric.[2] Somebody took it up to Alice's Restaurant above Woodside and drove Skyline on it. Which is a scary thought, if you know the area. [1] https://www.hotrod.com/features/batteries-and-a-salt-february-1969-982-592-44-1/ https://www.hotrod.com/features/batteries-and-a-salt-februar... [2] https://newatlas.com/lightning-ls218-review-ls-218/36470 https://newatlas.com/lightning-ls218-review-ls-218/36470
- angled 2y ago
  Loud pipes save lives… What will be the electric motorcycle equivalent? A standards based notification system for nearby vehicles?
  - wffurr 2y ago
    Vigilance and proper operation and safety procedures would save a lot more lives than any kind of noisemaker.
  - dexterdog 2y ago
    How much do they? The bulk of the sound is behind the bike where it serves no purpose other than angering people because of how overly loud they are.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
  - mrob 2y ago
    The probably kill more than they save by impaired health from the stress and sleep deprivation they cause.
rascul 2y ago
> The article is mostly focused on race tracks, and especially drag racing. But to me "hot rodding" explicitly means street racing. Hot rodding about fast cars. Racing doesn't need to come into the picture at all to have a hot rod.
- serf 2y ago
  >Hot rodding about fast cars. the whole hotrod culture produced those fast cars in order to compete with the police, it then turned into in-group competition, and then formal racing. 'hot rodding' wouldn't exist without competition. The first SCTA style 'hot-rods' were 'souped up' ford flatheads that were lucky to have over 80 horsepower going for top speed runs. What i'm saying is that 'racing' was before 'fast' in the history of hot-rodding. p.s. this also applies to the almost-entirely-disconnected very early European car scene. It was racing events and famous individuals that drove the entire culture -- this then lead to 'fast cars'. The history of the Mille Miglia comes to mind.
smileysteve 2y ago
Amecdotally, I was behind a Tesla 3 performance at a recent track day; it was lowered on eibach springs, but had more mass than my stock height 2004 bmw 3 series. It couldn't handle the Gs on a slightly negative camber straight, as opposed to I could floor it there. I definitely expected it to clear me on the straights faster.
jmb99 2y ago
In my experience, they’re lots of fun... in a straight line, to a point. I haven’t driven one that turns or stops as well or as “connectedly” as pretty much any enthusiast ICE car. And yes they have instant torque off the line with very good traction control, which makes them much faster at drag strips than most ICE cars, until you get to purpose-built dragsters that are putting down just as fast 60 foots making the same (or more) power but while weighing a few thousand pounds less. Until batteries get waaaaay lighter (like, 2-3 orders of magnitude), I really don’t see them as the future of fun cars.

whartung 2y ago

If you have not been to a Top Fuel drag race, and have the opportunity to go, you should go. They are quite the spectacle. Being there, hearing, feeling, and seeing those 10,000HP monsters fly down the track is worthy of experiencing live, at least once. The kind of thing you can't watch on TV. I can say the same for a Monster Truck rally. Go there and embrace your inner 10 year old watching those machines Move. (And, boy, can they move!) Bring earplugs. There's more to the sports than the pinnacle of achievement. There are innumerable classes within drag racing, something for everyone. It's not a "solved" problem by any means. Folks will continue to try and master the start, getting traction, keeping that beastly powered thing straight in the lane, trying to not choke on their beating heart that has surged into their throat. Bracket racing is a hoot where folks bring whatever they like, and they're rated by time (i.e. a "time bracket"). Whether you're running a old 60's hot rod, a Jet Powered car, or anything else, if you can run within the time, it's pretty much fair game. And it can be fun to watch, and real fun to participate in. Racing of all kinds can be a fun culture to be around.

mikeruiz 2y ago
I wholeheartedly agree: Monster truck stadium shows are once-in-a-lifetime events—as in, see one, and you’re good for life. That said, they’re hugely entertaining, and I’m glad I went. Other things I would recommend in the “see at least once and you’re good” category: 1/ A major sporting event where the fans believe something is at stake, like the run-up to the playoffs. In the U.S., baseball tickets can be had for reasonable prices in small markets late in the season, and the seats don’t matter. You want to experience the emotion and energy firsthand. Unlikely to turn you into a fan, but the experience will be one you think on for years to come. 2/ A live sporting event where the outcome makes no difference, like your local minor league team. Again, seats don’t matter—you want to feel the buzz and sense of community. 3/ Amateur musical theatre. The on-stage talent is often top-tier, while the rest of the production is endearingly amateurish. But the enthusiasm, honesty, and agenda-free earnestness of the production will make you love people a little more. 4/ Opera… You get the point. Any endeavor where a group of people dedicate huge energy—often their lives—into making a show, along with their incredibly enthusiastic fans, is worth your time. Also, sometimes you can get corn dogs or drink wine out of a plastic cup.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

julianeon 2y ago

I was impressed by the author they managed to find for this piece, Rachel Kushner. She's an accomplished novelist who writes with deep knowledge about motorcycles, as in her novel The Flamethrowers (how I was introduced to her writing). She's at the level that you might expect to find a long interview with her in the New Yorker. To learn more about her, see this article. https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2021/04/13/on-memory-and-motorcycles-an-interview-with-rachel-kushner/ https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2021/04/13/on-memory-and...

frutiger 2y ago
> She's at the level that you might expect to find a long interview with her in the New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/04/30/rachel-kushners-immersive-fiction https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/04/30/rachel-kushner...

bluedino 2y ago

The article seemed to go on and on and not have a real point...but on the topic: Hot-rodding is dying. Let's think about that. V8's are dying. Dodge was the first to stop putting them in cars. Mustang sales are at low levels. The Camaro is gone. Ford doesn't allow tuning of the current Mustang (asterisk for approved Whipple/Ford Racing parts). GM tried locking people out of the new Corvette but they eventually got into it. Tuning hardware+software companies have been raided by the US government. Most of this is due to the diesel truck crowd. The manual transmission is pretty much dead. Sure, the current 8/9/10 speed automatics are faster and get better mileage, but a lot of people still prefer a stick shift. Drag strips are closing. Housing gets built near them, the events make too much noise, and the land is too valuable to be used as racetrack which doesn't really make much money. Lastly, the younger generations aren't into cars as a hobby/culture like the previous ones were. They don't drive as much and view cars as more of an appliance.

keyle 2y ago
There is a reason the younger generations aren't into cars. There are less places to go to, shopping is online now, car parks and shopping malls are dying. Public transport is getting better or less worse than it used to be, owning a car is getting a lot worse with taxes and higher cost, insurance through the roof, particularly for the models you've pointed out. Finally, their buying power is a lot lesser than it was 1 generation ago when it came to "projects". Demand is lower for ludicrous vehicle, mostly because of the rest, leading to ever less silly cars being produced or designed. Overal, sadness.
Aurornis 2y ago
Hard disagree. The aftermarket is stronger than ever. V8s have been replaced by turbo engines which respond much more dramatically to modifications than any N/A V8. There are numerous enthusiasts cars to pick from across manufacturers. Tuning companies operate globally. People get their tunes from obscure companies in Europe. ECU protections are being cracked regularly. Even “unhackable” ECUs are getting tunes year after year. Stick shift options are available on a lot of enthusiasts cars. They’re slower, but people can get them if they want. I’ve been hearing talk about the death of the car aftermarket for a decade, but every time it’s really just someone lamenting that it’s changing. I think people just get upset when the car scene of their younger years is no longer the popular scene (Mustangs and Camaros with V8s and stick shifts)

rapjr9 2y ago

Most gasoline has alcohol in it now. How has that affected it's flammability?

willis936 2y ago
Increased it? If you want more power you tune for E85. Hell ethanol is rocket fuel.
- GaryNumanVevo 2y ago
  E85 also has a ton of particulate in it as well. I'd recommend anyone to install an better inline fuel filter if you're tuning your engine and running on E85.
m3047 2y ago
Own a 1990-1991 motorcycle (own two actually, same model) which came from the factory with 10.5:1 compression (drive train from a different bike, they upped the displacement slightly and that also contributed to the increased compression). In the winter it warms up faster on the cheap lower octane gas with ethanol (can't use it in the summer, can't use it for highway riding). On the highway it runs better / better mileage with higher octane gas with ethanol than without. YMMV (had to say that!)