It's interesting that the world is finally doing what the Japanese have been doing since the 80s!
Diesels are Europe's bread and butter, and they're gaining a foothold... but yeah, small displacement with boost is the trend.
We've gone through another HUGE leap in expected horsepower numbers. 15 years ago, 160hp from a V6 was considered reasonable. 220hp was acceptable V6 output for pricier cars. 280-300hp from a v8 was what you got in performance vehicles. Anything over 300hp was special.
Now, you can buy a V6 Hyundai with 350hp for well under $40,000. It's hard to find a V8 that makes less than 400hp. In fact, I'm not even sure you can buy a new V8 equipped car with under 400hp anymore (trucks maybe, but they focus on low-end power rather than peak horsepower.) Turbo 4 cylinder engines are expected to make 260-300hp right out of the box these days.
We appear to be reaching a plateau now in terms of engine output. As the owner of a 400hp car, I can say that there really is little use for all that power on public roads. I'd imagine it'd be difficult to make much use out of 300hp, honestly. Now that we've gotten practically un-usable power from damn near every commonly used engine (in the US, anyway), we're off to start making them more efficient and reliable.
I could see 50mpg in the next decade. Then again, I also foresee a sharp rise in electric vehicles. Tesla alone has gone from making a modified Lotus to creating their own legitimate luxury vehicle that offers everything you'd get from a V8 luxury sport sedan (or more, honestly) for roughly the same price... all in less than 10 years. Once others follow in their footsteps, and technology increases due to that added participation, we're going to see EVs competing with traditional gasoline-powered vehicles left and right. The Tesla Model S is already nearly as practical in terms of range as comparable vehicles (it'd probably get more miles on a charge than my CTS-V gets to a full tank...)
Imagine what we'll see in the next decade, as fuel cells grow smaller and lighter, charging options become more practical and abundant, and new applications are devised.
Diesels are Europe's bread and butter, and they're gaining a foothold... but yeah, small displacement with boost is the trend.
We've gone through another HUGE leap in expected horsepower numbers. 15 years ago, 160hp from a V6 was considered reasonable. 220hp was acceptable V6 output for pricier cars. 280-300hp from a v8 was what you got in performance vehicles. Anything over 300hp was special.
Now, you can buy a V6 Hyundai with 350hp for well under $40,000. It's hard to find a V8 that makes less than 400hp. In fact, I'm not even sure you can buy a new V8 equipped car with under 400hp anymore (trucks maybe, but they focus on low-end power rather than peak horsepower.) Turbo 4 cylinder engines are expected to make 260-300hp right out of the box these days.
We appear to be reaching a plateau now in terms of engine output. As the owner of a 400hp car, I can say that there really is little use for all that power on public roads. I'd imagine it'd be difficult to make much use out of 300hp, honestly. Now that we've gotten practically un-usable power from damn near every commonly used engine (in the US, anyway), we're off to start making them more efficient and reliable.
I could see 50mpg in the next decade. Then again, I also foresee a sharp rise in electric vehicles. Tesla alone has gone from making a modified Lotus to creating their own legitimate luxury vehicle that offers everything you'd get from a V8 luxury sport sedan (or more, honestly) for roughly the same price... all in less than 10 years. Once others follow in their footsteps, and technology increases due to that added participation, we're going to see EVs competing with traditional gasoline-powered vehicles left and right. The Tesla Model S is already nearly as practical in terms of range as comparable vehicles (it'd probably get more miles on a charge than my CTS-V gets to a full tank...)
Imagine what we'll see in the next decade, as fuel cells grow smaller and lighter, charging options become more practical and abundant, and new applications are devised.
I'm also leaning towards the Automatic....that ZF 8sp seems to shift just as fast as an Audi DSG, it even rev matches when braking. As much as I love driving my 5spd cars, this new 8sp shifts so fast that I think there is enjoyment to be had, in concentrating on driving in general.
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