Another End of an Era

People too often use that declaration, but it strikes me that we truly are reaching the end of an era with respect to cars. Normally aspirated cars are becoming extinct.

Porsche 911s are all turbos now. With the exception of the GT3 and other specialty cars, so is the high winding normally aspirated big flat six. The shriek of the NA is replaced by the honk of the turbo.

My other favorite car company, BMW, is now pretty much all turbo now too. The E92 M3's incredible 8250 rpm V8 gave way to a turbo six in the F80 generation cars. They honk too, as I discovered tonight when a guy in an F80 decided we were racing at a light. I was in my E92 M3 and was unaware the gauntlet was cast. Even had I been in the game, my car's modest 414 hp would have been no match for his 500 or so, plus the fat turbo torque down low.

The honking turbos are, I suspect, merely a way stop on our journey to utterly soulless electric and then self-driving cars.

So we go from shriek to honk to hum. Sort of the way my sex life has as I've gotten older.

[KFC911]

It's depressing I tell ya...no use for the stickshift except on special occasions too .

....causes "headaches" too!

It's a beautiful day....go for a drive or go fishin'

[slow&rusty]

While I cannot comment on the decline of your sex life, the fact that engines are transitioning to turbos is a good (I mean "great") thing, I've been a turbo junkie now for well over 30 years and contrary to your opinion they transform engines from hum to shriek.

And the end of straight sixes has been happening for decades, people thought the sky was falling when Datsun \ Nissan went from the straight six to the V6 in the 240Z/280ZX to the 300ZX and also the Skyline. Even the same sentiment with Toyota when they no longer offered the straight six in the Supra.

I'm here if you need a hug.

[KFC911]

The turbo in my old Supra, a year older than my '88 911....along with 2nd and 3rd....made me ...

I wish I still had her.....

[Chocaholic]

Never drove a 930? Do so. Case closed.

[flatbutt]

Just look at MCs over the same time. Used to be a battery, clean plugs and points , some fuel and off you went.

Oh yeah, It's been awhile since a woman grabbed me by the ears and said "Holy S*** What is your name!?"

[dad911]

I don't mind the turbo as much as the extensive electronics. Too many sensors, cameras, restarts at traffic lights, etc. Mid to late 90's was about right. Good AC, reliable engine management & injection, safety with air bags & crash testing.

[944 S2]

End of an era.....soon we’ll be hearing the whine of electric motors everywhere!

[Por_sha911]

I'm declaring my internal combustion vehicles as "zero emissions" because they do not require a utility company power plant and transmission line system to generate electricity to power my car. It creates all the electricity on its own!

[McLovin]

Agree 100%.
These modern turbo engines are the last gasp of the internal combustion engine.
Yes, in specialized applications (like a 930) turbos are fine.
But a 2 liter turbo’d engine in a 3600+ pound daily driver BMW isn’t, at least as compared to a 3.2 liter NA 6.
I don’t care about Porsche being all turbo now, since I would never buy one anyways.
BMW makes me sad, though.

[McLovin]

Oh, and with no manual transmission available in the 3 series anymore, that’s another end of era, and another step towards electrics.

I thought the 3 series would cling to a manual transmission (at least as a special order option) for much longer than it did. That’s also sad.

[Zeke]

Buy an old classic and kwityerbtichin.

Originally Posted by McLovin

Agree 100%.
These modern turbo engines are the last gasp of the internal combustion engine.
Yes, in specialized applications (like a 930) turbos are fine.
But a 2 liter turbo’d engine in a 3600+ pound daily driver BMW isn’t, at least as compared to a 3.2 liter NA 6.
I don’t care about Porsche being all turbo now, since I would never buy one anyways.
BMW makes me sad, though.

I don't dislike turbos at all--the 1.8L turbo in my wife's VW Golf Sportwagen is a sweetie, and I have had lots of fun in various 944 turbi and 930s--but I do lament the coming demise of NA engines. It's kind of like the supposed coming demise of redheads, which some project to become extinct in 50 years.

[MMARSH]

Originally Posted by madcorgi

The honking turbos are, I suspect, merely a way stop on our journey to utterly soulless electric and then self-driving cars.

So we go from shriek to honk to hum. Sort of the way my sex life has as I've gotten older.

Although i can relate to the progression of your sex life. I dont feel the same way about the soulless electric.

I've recently sold my GT350. Which is a fantastic handling car and has a motor and sound that is unmatched. I sold it after having bought a Tesla Model S. P85D.

Like our sex life, maybe im just getting soft, but im really enjoying driving this car. People say they run out of steam on the top end. Not once on my way to work this past week did i go over 120mph. In realistic driving, there is nothing that can touch the quickness of this car....and that makes it fun to drive...i even beat up on a sport bike from a green the other day.....it was just fun.

Oh BTW, ask me about electric 2 months ago and i would say no thanks, boring, soulless, no sound yads yada yada. Im a convert now.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by MMARSH

Although i can relate to the progression of your sex life. I dont feel the same way about the soulless electric.

I've recently sold my GT350. Which is a fantastic handling car and has a motor and sound that is unmatched. I sold it after having bought a Tesla Model S. P85D.

Like our sex life, maybe im just getting soft, but im really enjoying driving this car. People say they run out of steam on the top end. Not once on my way to work this past week did i go over 120mph. In realistic driving, there is nothing that can touch the quickness of this car....and that makes it fun to drive...i even beat up on a sport bike from a green the other day.....it was just fun.

Oh BTW, ask me about electric 2 months ago and i would say no thanks, boring, soulless, no sound yads yada yada. Im a convert now.

Almost fell of my chair laughing.

[island911]

Yeah, I saw that too. oops

I don't hate the electric cars, just the owner's claims that they are somehow superiorly "green."

The iso-octane molecule is an amazing bit of energy storage. Yet some would rather use whatever hydrocarbon to mine heavy metals ship them (bunker fuel) around the planet for various processing steps, and then land them as a MASSIVELY large battery pack in a $140,000 grocery-getter. You know, to show everyone how progressively green they are. -ack.

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by dad911

I don't mind the turbo as much as the extensive electronics. Too many sensors, cameras, restarts at traffic lights, etc. Mid to late 90's was about right. Good AC, reliable engine management & injection, safety with air bags & crash testing.

Bingo on the electronics. I don't like the star trek dashes of today. But I suppose old crusty bastids like me aren't in the demographic that the car makers try to reach.

[KNS]

Mazda still has normally aspirated goodies up its sleeve. They’ve introduced the Skyactiv X engine in some parts of the world and it should be coming to the US. I’m afraid Mazda may be doing away with manual trannies as well though (except for MX-5).

[island911]

I like the star trek dashes of today... compared to the ipad dash of the Tesla. That's just lazy design.

I expect retro to be the go-to again, very soon. Even if in software.

[Evans, Marv]

I think bastids like you (pwd72s) have experience covering enough time and auto evolution to look back to when things were easy enough to operate and work on to identify where the happy medium was in terms of complexity, electronics, accessories, and so on. The ever upward spiral of doo dads to attract those interested in the latest gadgetry is out of hand.