[curtis73]

Well, as someone who grew up in the 70s and started driving in the 80s... trust me, I'm looking forward to whatever they offer. I used to think my friend's 84 Corvette was FAST.

Let's compare. The year I was born (73), the most power you could get in a GM product was 245 in a Camaro. They offered a 400 V8 that had 6.5:1 compression and made a wheezy 150 hp. By 1981, the most powerful engine you could get in a corvette was 190 hp. My friend's 84 vette had the "cross fire" 350 with a whopping 205 hp. My first car was an 83 chevy celebrity. At least it had the V6, so it was smacking down a pretty respectable 125 hp to the wrong wheels. My second car was a 91 Beretta GT with the 3.1. By the standards then, the 140 hp it put down was pathetic. My third car was 1966 Pontiac Bonneville. Sure, the 325 gross hp was nice, but the car weighs 5000 lbs. Then I had an 87 Olds Cutlass with the 307. A V8 with 140 hp... moving in the wrong direction.

In 1971 you could buy an LT-1 camaro. It idled rough, needed premium fuel, required frequent valve adjustments, wouldn't operate power brakes, and made about 250 net hp. But today, you can walk into a Chevy dealership (I did say Chevy, who's name is synonymous with "lowered expectations") and plop down a large chunk of cash for a showroom-stock car that makes nearly 500 hp, idles smoothly, pulls close to 1 lateral g, and gets 30 mpg.

I'd say this is a pretty exciting time. Combine that with the fact that E85 and biodiesel can accomplish the same feats renewably without devoiding the earth of any breathable air, and that makes me really want to jump up and down.