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Some high performance cars of the mid 70s to mid 80s were lucky to squeeze out a 7 second 0-60 time. For some, an 8 second time was fast. Some family sedans and economy cars took 14 to 30 seconds to reach 60. Check out what today's family sedans are capable of doing today.
I like the older cars with the big V8's but technology has gotten to the point in the past 10/15 years or so that with computers controlling everything almost every drop of fuel is being utilized, making considerable more power out of considerably smaller engines. Also, because of computers and 5/6/8 speed auto transmissions a modern car can utilize the correct gearing to keep that engine running in it's "sweet" spot for maximum performance and efficiency.
Now in defense of the 70's and 80's era cars, they were very anemic in those years with crude smog systems robing power and too tall gearing that wouldn't let a vehicle get out of it's own way!
I have seen this in the large marine performance diesels as well, where they are cranking out almost twice the horsepower then they did 15/20 years ago for the same cubic inches/liters. And it is reliable power!
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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The 70s and 80s brought the end of the factory muscle car, so this is not a good comparison. With the unleaded gas, primitive smog equipment, insurance costs, and safety requirements adding a lot of weight, even the SS396 Chevrolet had barely 300 hp. Back in the mid to late 60s, the small blocks were getting 400hp. Still, one would expect technology to improve over 35-50 years,
so better performance with cleaner engines and better fuel economy is not a surprise. I still love the sound and smell of a carbureted V8 with free flowing oversize dual exhaust.
Your thread title says "faster", but the link says "quicker", do you understand the difference between faster and quicker? Best bang for the buck in the 70's for a fast car was the Datsun Z car series, they were not quick off the line, but they were fast. I dropped a 5 speed trans from a 280Z into a 260Z, you had to run up to 90mph before dropping into 5th, and engine was loafing at 120mph, and the speed limit was 55
Of course modern cars are much, much faster than 30-40 year old ones.
Ferrari GTB (1975): 0-62 mph in 6.5 sec
VW Golf GTI (2015): 0-62 mph in 6.4 sec
BMW 328i (2015): 0-62 mph in 5.9 sec
Ferrari 488 GTB (2015): 0-62 mph in 3.0 sec
I've got a youtube video of my Infiniti G35x sedan racing an early 90's Mustang at the dragstrip...and winning.
It's just the progression of technology. We have V6 engines these days putting out almost 300HP and nearly as much torque. Transmission technology has progressed to the point where we can use 5-7 gear automatics with optimized ratios. Plus cars are light as advances in using aluminum and other materials to meet CAFE standards.
To compare apples to apples, modern muscle cars are putting down 400+HP and running 12's these days.
This is why I laugh when the Mustang debate comes up and you have people defending the V6 stang by saying it's faster than the 5.0's/V8's from years ago. Well no kidding! Its called technical advancement. My laptop today is MUCH faster than my desktop from 10yrs ago.
I actually think we're almost at the point where manufacturers will start sandbagging their cars performance.
Case in point, the top speed wars. None of the 3 hypercars (Porsche 918, McLaren P1, LaFerrari) were meant to go after top speed records. The 918 can do 212, the LaFerrari has said it's 217, but only 206 has been verified, and the P1 is electronically limited to 217, well below what their F1 did over 20 years ago. All of them are probably capable of 250+ if ungoverned or geared differently.
And now we have some cars in the 0-60 range in 2.5 seconds, and a lot of cars dipping into the 3's.
McLaren refuses to give the time on the Nurburgring for the P1, saying it doesn't want to escalate the "oneupmanship" for the manufacturers.
I think we're going to start seeing cars pull back a bit from all out performance and focus more on being lightweight, safer, and with better gas mileage.
Recently, the CEO of Mazda said that the Miata will not get any more horsepower. The first Miata did 0-60 in like 10 seconds. The current ones do it in 6 seconds. Their goal is to make the most balanced car they can.
I just don't see this trend continuing indefinitely, I'm sure there will be a tipping point somewhere.
I love watching old Motorweek videos with road tests from the 80's. In one of them and I forget what car it was they made the comment "leaps from 0-60 in a lightning fast 8 seconds" (or words to that effect)
SOOOO If I'm reading this right we have faster quicker cars today than in the 1970-80's BUT today we have more traffic which means you can't go that fast and worse is we have all kinds of technology to distract the fast drivers and get into more accidents.
In the 70's we popped in a 8track, occasionally talked on the CB and cruised. In the 80's it was a cassette tape and a few had those "brick" cell phones.
As others have pointed out cars back then were saddled with ridiculous pollution controls that often broke down or didn't work at all but they all robbed power. The gas crisis in the 70's changed things.
What is amazing is how much more power is being made from smaller engines today but there hasn't been really big advances in fuel economy.
Decades ago I had a 1972 chevy van with a 5.7 350 in it and it got about 15 MPG. Today I have a 2002 F150 with a 5.4 and it is upwards to 18 mpg. On the Ford dealers lot are new F150's with gobs more HP and Torque but they are still under 20mpg.
It seems you can have either fuel economy or power but not both and the public has spoken. We want to go FAST !
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