Hot Rods Does Preformance Really matter anymore

Going off my comments made in my the Next Cheapest Engine post and porknbeaner's Best Bang For the Buck thread (Which seems to be inspired by my thread) it got me thinking. Does Performance matter anymore? Back in the day we started putting on the latest speed parts to get our Hot Rods all Souped,Hoped, or Gowed up. Then back in the 60's (Maybe late 50's) engine technology surpassed break and tire technology. Now days it seems Hot Rodder's only care if an engine looks good,has good street manners, dependability and barely enough power to get them back and forth to the car show. What say you?

 

YES

 

Hell yeah!

 

Not to a lot of guys. But it still does to some of us. At least for some of our cars.

 

That's another point I wanted to make, is that a lot of these vintage drag events like the Meltdown Drags are mostly just exhibition racing.

 

Yup, but in September I'm driving the Chevy II out to St Louis, then racing it on Drag Week. I guess I'm an anomaly.

 

It does to me but just like back in the day I can't afford all the power that I want.

 

Funny thing is, I built a kind of mostly period correct car that can run 10 flat, for under $15k. Yes, I put a lot of hours into it, but not a whole lot of money.

 

Christ, they cant even SPELL it on here...

 

Yeah, took a blast in my Son's Nova today.
Goin' along nice about 40 mph, nailed it, the thing breaks the tires loose, starts goin' sideways, yeah performance matters!
My '57 is next!
KK

 

Question is too broad, but let's look at a few things

Today Millenials aren't as interested in owning a car as they are in owning technology - car sales numbers are down for the 18-35 yr old mkt.

Fewer Millenials are interested in getting their license or deferring getting them. "back in the day" as you say, it was your freedom, also the status that came with having a hopped up car. There is a different set of values/statuses.

In the '60's more than 50% of men worked on their own cars, today less than 5% due to much more complex engines/systems and more disposable cash to get your vehicle fixed by someone else.

In the same vein, vehicles were very simple, so "simple" mods could produce good bang for the buck, today, efficiencies are built in.

Johnny Law was more lenient and there were more places to go with your car back then, now, they will crush/impound your car or slap you with exhibition of speed for even a minor tire squeal.

It was a car culture back then, with the Big 3 really were the Big 3, now it's a ME culture.

You could be looking in the wrong direction, todays version of hoping up a car is more likely in the tuner/ricer mkt

The car market is homogenized now where virtually every car just looks like another version of a honda accord, or when owning a hybrid is trendy.

Thankfully there are organizations like SEMA or Hot Rodders of Tomorrow Engine Challenge that are spreading the gospel of performance.

 

Preformance, I've done it. Right before the formance happened.

 

Age may play into it some. From age 15 to 60, I loved performance. Not quite as important now days. Last time I drove my '34 before I sold it, it just wasn't the same as when I was 20. Old age ain't all it's cracked up to be.

 

just another thought...

for those that are into "performance" it's far more sophisticated today

it's just not how fast I can go straight,... sure it's that but it's also handling, autocross you name it... they are looking at the whole car to push the limits on performance in every possible area

 

They are cranking out some pretty hot cars today. Some specifically for racing. stop at the dealer, trailer out and rip off a 9 second pass, kinda just like the old days only faster

 

So, well, was it good for you? No? Does it look like I give a shit??

 

It actually depends on what you're forming. Some times when forming an opinion, preformance can be very helpful.

 

Yes of course. It needs to be put into perspect of what was possible at the time. Look at drags now vs 20 year ago. Then think what could be done.

 

Nowadays the mom in the new AWD Audi turbo can leave my 454 '66 Corvette for dead at a stop light, and be texting while she's doing it, sipping a latte and getting 25mpg. That's assuming I'm ever first in line at a stop light anymore, and that there is open road ahead, which never happens. I do go to the drags about once a year but it's pretty much the same story (12.90s street trim) there.

 

BINGO ! Yahtzee !

....... and if I may add, the cost to do it today.

Is power important? Yes, to some of us.

 

My Falcon can hit 100mph. At 65, it gets 32mpg. It can lay rubber in the first three of its six gears.

I am happy with it. Stoplight to stoplight, it can take most vintage V8's.

The wife's VW TDI, modified, can see 150mph with the speed limiter removed. In the city, it gets 36mpg. At 65, it gets 50mpg (on $2.99 fuel). It can lay rubber in the first three of its six gears.

I am happy with that, too, and it can drop the Falcon like I was sleeping at the light, and missed two shifts, with the stereo and AC on.

There are no 1/4-mile open stretches of road, and tickets (with the attendant insurance increases) are very expensive.

 

"Exhibition of Speed" (at least here in Texas) is at minimum a Class B Misdemeanor, which is punishable by up to a $2,000 fine and/or 180 days in the county jail.

Having a fast car can be fun. But it doesn't take much for John Law to put you through the wringer that is our criminal justice / public fleecing system. Be careful out there.

Here's a little light reading:

(a) A person may not participate in any manner in:
(1) a race;
(2) a vehicle speed competition or contest;
(3) a drag race or acceleration contest;
(4) a test of physical endurance of the operator of a vehicle; or
(5) in connection with a drag race, an exhibition of vehicle speed or acceleration or to make a vehicle speed record.

(b) In this section:
(1) "Drag race" means the operation of:
(A) two or more vehicles from a point side by side at accelerating speeds in a competitive attempt to outdistance each other; or
(B) one or more vehicles over a common selected course, from the same place to the same place, for the purpose of comparing the relative speeds or power of acceleration of the vehicle or vehicles in a specified distance or time.

(2) "Race" means the use of one or more vehicles in an attempt to:
(A) outgain or outdistance another vehicle or prevent another vehicle from passing;
(B) arrive at a given destination ahead of another vehicle or vehicles; or
(C) test the physical stamina or endurance of an operator over a long-distance driving route.

(c) [Blank]

(d) Except as provided by Subsections (e)-(h), an offense under Subsection (a) is a Class B misdemeanor.

(e) An offense under Subsection (a) is a Class A misdemeanor if it is shown on the trial of the offense that:
(1) the person has previously been convicted one time of an offense under that subsection; or
(2) the person, at the time of the offense:
(A) was operating the vehicle while intoxicated, as defined by Section 49.01, Penal Code; or
(B) was in possession of an open container, as defined by Section 49.031, Penal Code.

(f) An offense under Subsection (a) is a state jail felony if it is shown on the trial of the offense that the person has previously been convicted two times of an offense under that subsection.

(g) An offense under Subsection (a) is a felony of the third degree if it is shown on the trial of the offense that as a result of the offense, an individual suffered bodily injury.

(h) An offense under Subsection (a) is a felony of the second degree if it is shown on the trial of the offense that as a result of the offense, an individual suffered serious bodily injury or death.

Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 165, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995. Amended by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 535, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.

http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/txstatutes/TN/7/C/545/I/545.420

 

performance for some is different than others. o-60? 0-300? actually getting getting from point A to point B in one piece is a good performance too. always someone quicker/faster.

 

In the twenties there was a BIG difference between a Model T, top speed 45, and a Chrysler, top speed 75 - 80.

By the mid fifties you could buy a Chev, Ford or Plymouth V8 that would top 100 or a Cadillac, Lincoln or Imperial that would do 110 - 120.

This was purely academic because you didn't get the chance to go over 60 or 70 anyway.

After that the emphasis was on acceleration. Now how fast do you want to go? Meant a drag race, on the street or on the strip. By the late 60s you could buy muscle cars that were faster than anyone needed to go.

We get questions on here all the time about how to put some 600HP big block monster engine into some innocent car. I feel like asking them how much time do you spend now, with the gas pedal to the floor, wishing for more HP? Do you really need a 600HP engine? Probably not.

You can buy a car today that has the performance of a sixties muscle car, with air conditioning and all the luxuries, and gets 25 - 35 MPG. Performance is standard equipment these days, like air conditioning and carpets on the floor. So where is the sense of building a hot rod, unless for the race track? Let me tell you.

There was a little interview in a car magazine a few years ago. The guy said he built a 32 Ford roadster with blown Chev big block, $20000 custom paint job, the works. He said "that car wore me slick with expenses and I hardly ever took it out of the garage. So I sold it, bought a lil ol 51 Chev coupe, rebuilt the six with dual carbs, painted it flat black and put Mexican blankets on the seats. I can drive it anywhere without a worry in the world, and have more fun than anybody".

 

I guess I wasn't thinking about millennial's not wanting to own a car or get their license I was thinking about guys building Hot Rods nowadays with basically stock 350 and a dress up kit Vs. 40 years ago building a 327 with six Strombergs or a Man A Fre manifold when Johnny law was more lenient and wouldn't impound and crush your car for squealing the tires. He would just ask you where you were from and tell you to go back their!

 

For someone who goes for traditional rods, there's a limit to performance...are you really going to build a 3/8 x 3/8 flathead, with expensive porting and a good crank, and a cam that "sounds wicked" even at idle? Man that costs more than buying a good SBC.
Then...are you going to use that motor to its full potential? It's rough to see a flathead block with a rod through the side, but- "well, that's racing".
There are a lot of real nice traditional rods with a stock flatty, maybe nice heads, with not even a mild grind. A stock flathead pulls a roadster around real nice, satisfying car to drive, pretty reliable.
But building for performance is a real costly deal. I really admire the deep flathead builds on the HAMB, people who put serious time, money, and engineering skills into their motors...
The great rods I see here, Caddy and Nailhead and Olds powered, well built blueprinted motors, carefully assembled, great to hear one run, hope there will always be folks around who will build for speed, despite the costs and social pressures...

 

Both my cars will have full hoods, and hoods look best closed. Bob

 

Was that a rhetorical question? Performance in car is like good sex! Anyone that says it doesn't matter has not done it right!

 

It still happens. Roasted the tires on my aerodynamic of a 57 panel ford (292block, ecz heads) a half a block from the cop shop. 1 block later one behind and one on my side. Straight headers... I pulled off slowly they waved after checking my tag and I went home.

I think beaners post was more in line with going fast isn't always about bolt shit on, but things you can do that is inventive and creates hp.

Fast is good.

 

An LS motor can probably out run my built up 283, but it doesn't sound near as good.