Motor Matters

We live in an ever-changing automotive world. It seems nothing is as simple as black and white anymore. For example, look at a white car.

Is it bright white, pearl white, or simply off-white? OK, how about black cars. Most aren’t a solid black, they have some kind of metallic mix in the paint.

Vehicle selection isn’t simple either. There are many choices: four-door sedan, coupe, minivan, sport utility vehicle, station wagon, sports car, and crossover vehicle.

What is a crossover vehicle? That’s what they used to call station wagons years ago. Today, it would be a problem to call a station wagon a crossover vehicle.

Where did the SUV come from? I remember when the name Jeep made me think of winter and snow. My wife drives an all-wheel drive Jeep as an every day car, and it has never seen snow. The SUV, or Sport Utility Vehicle, is just a heavy-duty vehicle that has found its way into a lot of driveways.

Smart cars are next in line for us: Navigation; parking warning systems for both the front and rear to make sure we don’t touch bumpers while parking; cruise control warning systems that will actually keep cars a safe distance from each other; GPS systems that can locate the vehicle, unlock the door, and notify emergency authorities if the airbag deploys — not to mention if the vehicle is stolen. The vehicle position can be located almost immediately and tracked if needed. That should put car thieves out of business.

Next in the mix is front-wheel, rear-wheel, all-wheel drive, and part-time four-wheel drive. How many transmission speeds are needed? It depends on whether it’s an automatic transmission or a manual transmission. The two-speed power glide is still used in drag racing and other competition events. For today’s cars, the least acceptable is a four-speed automatic. Some high-line carmakers are working on six-speed automatic transmissions. Five-speed automatics will be more the norm in less than two years.

The semi-automatic with paddle shifters on the back side of the steering wheel is also becoming popular. But in my opinion, the firmness of the transmission shifting needs improvement.

There have been many changes in the design of manual transmissions. There’s the so-called manual shift mode for floor-mounted automatics. Remember the three-on-the-tree shifter, or the hot three on the floor? They gave way to the four-speed manual transmission that was very popular from the late 1950s into the early 80s. The four-speed graduated to the six-speed, and a seven-speed is currently undergoing testing.

Remember the dim yellow colored headlights? Then came halogen seal beams that were very bright and white by comparison. Now we have the small insert headlight bulbs. Is there still a need for better lighting? It depends on who you talk to.

Some will complain about the blinding headlights on some new vehicles. These are high-powered high-intensity discharge lighting systems that can carry an optional cost of up to $1,000.

Next is the horsepower competition, or bragging rights. If it’s a semi-performance sedan, SUV, or pickup truck, then 300 horsepower, 32 valves, low restriction exhaust is the minimum.

As we go into the 2004 model year, read any car-buff magazine and you will see that it is all about horsepower and performance. Five hundred horsepower is not just a dream, it may soon become a standard. Some import manufacturers have optional engines that have twin turbochargers, and superchargers that will pass the 600-hp mark.

How many cylinders are enough? Four- six- and eight-cylinders used to be enough, but not anymore. Ten and 12 cylinders are readily available now, and could very possibly be followed by a 16-cylinder engine with 800 horsepower as a starting point. These engines are emission legal and start up without blowing lots of black smoke. And they run very smoothly.

Did you ever wonder where the wide whitewall tires went? How about the very thin whitewall? They left along with the red line tires of the mid late 1960s. It seems the raised white letter tires are also in danger.

So where are we going? I am not sure, but one thing is certain. Time brings many changes, and the changes are for the better.