Carburetors suck.
Put down the torches and pitchforks, Luddite!
Electronic fuel injection means the oil is still brown at 10k miles instead of black at 3k.
Never mind tame manners and a completely streetable 400+ horses.
I remember all the compromises that had to be done for carbs. You could choose one of part throttle performance, wide open performance or economy; and going for economy didn't really get you good mileage, just better than optimizing for wide open throttle.
Then there's the cylinder wash-down that made making it to 100k miles a real accomplishment.
Couple EFI with electronic engine management and suddenly you've got power, manners and economy.
I remember being thrilled that I got 259 horsepower and 18 miles per gallon (highway) on a small block 350 and a 650 Holly vacuum secondary 4-bbl.
I get 20 mpg in town with The Precious and it's got more than 450 horses! It's a heavier car too.
Great point, but at least we COULD fix the damn things ourselves, without a $500 dealer bill... sigh
ReplyDeleteAs in all things hot-rod and wrenching... you've got to buy the tools.
DeleteI have the tools to fix the computerized car.