What is it about modern cars that makes them so soulless?

What is it about modern cars that makes them so soulless?

Is it the styling? The weak engines? The safety regulations?

Why did older cars from the 90s have so much more personality?

I would say weight.

Today cars have so much features, safety and general equipment, it makes them heavy. Older cars were deathtraps, yes, but the lightness made them nimble. Also all cars now are overstyled as fuck, 80's and 90's cars didn't have the obsession on efficiency as we have now.

They don't drive like what cars used to.

They all feel like a generic Corolla with differing power, options, NVH.

>hurr durr family and luxury sells better

I wouldn't say they are soulless.

They are just less raw. Engines are putting out more HP per litre than they have ever had, but with that comes more technology than they ever had. That lack of rawness makes people salty. Like they are being told what to do or something.

People hate change, so they put any other adjective other than "different" that they can to justify it. Half of this board wants to be stuck in the 90s.

Personally I think there's a lot of great cars coming out. I'm curious to see what the industry does with turbos now that the general public is more comfortable with them and less "muh cubic inches" now.

>In 10 years manual trsnsmission cars will be considered vintage

>The weak engines?
Seriously?
Engines are much better now than then.

Too much weight, uninspired styling, uninteresting suspension and electric power assisted steering.

You're just an idiot. Every decade we get bland econoboxes, because that's just what the general public needs.
Pic related is the 1990s equivalent of your Insignia - is its styling better? Is its range topping engine, a 3.0 V6 with 211 HP seriously more powerful than the Insignia's 2.0 R4 with 260 HP? They both weight about 1450 kg and Insignia is bigger, safer and has more tech on the inside.

>uninspired styling
that's debatable and depends purely on your preferences
>uninteresting suspension
what the fuck does that even mean you fucktard

despite what you think, cars made today are more powerful and safer than they were 20 years ago

Over 70% of cars sold outside the third world are manual.

Insignia = Vectra

Omega is big classic limo.

Insignia is much bigger than Vectra, bigger than Omega even.

Vectra->Insignia

Omega->Signum

Insignia is the same class as Vectra was, it's the size standards that increased

The safety regulations, primarily. Which were put into effect because America is too stupid to revamp its driving program. So instead of making people safer, they just make cars safer. And with all those safety regulations in mind, designers have a lot less freedom to create cars that really look unique.

Plus the way the engines are tuned. On paper they make more horsepower than the old ones, sure, but you have to rev to astronomical RPM's to get all of them. Older engines had peak output typically in the middle revs, where you need them in everyday driving. Not to mention the lack of torque. Older engines made more torque than horsepower. Now it's the opposite, which nullifies the "low-end grunt" feeling you get in older cars.

And the fact that older cars are becoming scarcer by the minute. Cash for Clunkers wiped out millions of perfectly running and drivable shitboxes from the era, and now that most states have safety inspections that check for things like rust and proper emissions equipment, people have to junk the few shitboxes that are left because they won't pass inspection. This lack of 90s cars makes us yearn for the good old days, i.e. when we could recognize all the cars on the road because each one looked drastically different from each other. It's nostalgia at its finest.

The lack of customization. Most cars have a black interior and no other choice of colors, most of them have similar feeling seats, controls, and cheap plastics. Adding one option often requires moving up a trim level or adding 27 other things nobody wants. It's as bad as cable TV or Ajit Pai's vision of the internet.

Lots of other stuff too but I've already bored you to death with my reddit spacing and blathering on.

Yeah a stock standard commonwhore from the 90's is sooo much more interesting...
i swear all you cunts that complain about shit on here have never been outside.

But tons cars these days are hybrid and little supercharged i4s with torque topping at 2000 rpm

>a stock standard commonwhore from the 90's is sooo much more interesting...
I like generic looking mundane shitlogs so for me, yes.

Remember that is the commodore that replaced pic

b-but this look like retarded sister of omega a, one of my favorite 90s euro cars.

It eventually ended up spawning pic if that counts

Ped safety regs
Cafe
Euro vi+
Crash testing and emissions
Median wealth and middle-class is basically dead at this point so it's either 10-40k econoboxes or 100k+ luxoboats
Safety regs cuck cars weight to be cursed to 2tonnes
And it gets worse women soybois and bugmen numales love suvs which means the end of interesting coupes sedans and aerowagons not to mention convertibles and small Utes.
Then the humble 40-90k shitbox has to compete with hybrids and EV braaptins with Better fuel milage and are also much faster in the straights where it counts.

Rwd sedans and coupes are even a dying breed since everything has to be semi autonomous awd nanny state crap I for one will never own a car made after 2008

Based opelomega poster.

Ones in Aus UK and usa came with a factory 5.7 6.0 and t56 put out 350rwhp for 1998-2007 is fucking impressive and they are cheap as all fuck if you settle for a auto sedan or Ute manual swaps are common
Kys
The most over rated v body? Lol a modern w1 and a vt-vz with a few simple mods craps over that 350 Aussie v8 that didn't even spit out 250rwhp even the tickfords and shit had that thing licked

>muh more torque than hp
Get a 330d/335d, add a couple of simple mods and it'll tear your face off while still getting 5.5L/100km

This.

Just get a retune and fap in that sweet torque

Too much government regulation and safety.

Same reason why I prefer to drive my 1986 atc250r over my 2014 450r
Take a fuckin risk would ya

because the d segment has grown

omega b - 2,730 mm

vectra c - 2,700 mm

insignia a - 2,737mm

insignia b - 2,829 mm
___

scorpio II - - 2,770 mm

mondeo III - 2,754 mm

mondeo IV - 2,850 mm

mondeo V - 2,850 mm

My 1989 escort has doors that weigh about 5kg, they make that classic metallic sound when you close them. A fucking door on my car has (in my opinion) more "soul" than a lot of modern cars I've driven.
I've road tripped 1000km with everything I own inside the car, yet I can touch the passenger window if I stretch my arm out. On stock suspension it sits lower than most modern cars save some sportscars and it looks tiny when parked next to a VW golf even though it's a 4 door sedan/hatchback.
When I open the engine bay there is no plastic in sight, I can see and work on every part of the engine. It has personality, a lot of cars today lack that and try to make up for it by looking like a drawing I made when I was 15.

>What is it about modern cars that makes them so soulless?
mostly that the people buying and making them have no soul

they try to do to much all at once
look at how many requirements they have to fit now
regulations and economic condition's have shaped market demand
and anything hype gets paired back by committee and computer

So to you “personaility” and “soul” means “small” and “metal”. That’s a pretty weird metric

Soundproofing, cushiony suspension, and luxury features as standard make driving modern cars more like staring at a tv screen than being in control of 4000lbs of steel. Even gas and brake pedals are drive by wire so theres no response, and power steering has gotten to the point it gives as much resistance as an arcade steering wheel.

I don't even know how to reply to such a profusely retarded comment...

A car can have quirks which make it your own, make it interesting to you. I don't think a car can have personality but it can have a measurable extent to which it allows the driver to inflect HIS personality upon it, this is what makes older cars interesting, they allow a deeper connection with the driver through not having as many nannies and iPads and 500kg of safety features.

Safety regulations. You have to sacrifice a lot of styling and end up with something quite bloated looking.

Though engines are much more powerful and efficent than ever before. It's just hard to find ones that are easy to work on.

>tfw 2017 mid size car with every toy I can think of bar super '''luxury''' shit like self parking and still only weighs ~1350kgs

try buying good cars for once

rose-tinted glasses, alos japs dominate the car industry now and we all know how soulless and minimalist chinks are no matter what retarded genetically inferior weebs think

it's a combination.

styling has no passion put into it. everything is about aerodynamics, mpg, and how many layers of dick sucking pretentiousness the stylist is on at the moment. Instead of going for a simple straightforward inspiration, they need an entire wall of photos of women in plaid, coffee cups, silverware, etc for """inspiration""".

then everyone copies whatever is popular. Then safety regulations and convenience of manufacturing butcher whatever was left of anything remotely original.

They're also so loaded with gizmos and gadgets, and made of plastics and composites that they lose some of the primal essence of what a car is. They stop being cars and start being appliances.

it doesn't help that people's attitudes towards cars have changed. Most people today only see cars as a point A to B endeavor and nothing else, or a badge to show off at golf club outings. the public's passion for cars is as dead as the designers' are.

It's sort of like how cell phone design peaked around the late 00's when Smartphones took over and everything became an identical soulless rectangle with a screen.

but that is a good looking car. it's sleek without being pretentious or overly sporty. it's aerodynamic looking without having creases and curves everywhere, has good visibility and attractive styling for a shitbox.

i'd drive that any day over the op car

They're not soulless. The problem is that modern safety regulations are hard for designers to work around. Higher belt lines, thicker pillars, all of this stuff has to be designed around.

And then consider stuff like electric power steering which has been hard for engineers to make feel as good as hydraulic steering.

Then add on mountains of infotainment that has been a total clusterfuck for a ton of reasons.

None of this is impossible to overcome. But engineers and designers of the 90s had figured out how to make everything work which is why we think the cars of the time are great. Look at the 80s and you'll feel differently.

Get a brz
Anything you can complain about it is also a "problem" on old cars

Drivers are fucking nuts these days you have minorities that use their cars as a weapon almost. Fucking roaming packs even at least down south, like those motorbike atv gangs in cities like atlanta

Like everything niggers have to ruin it until self driving cars replace private car ownership

Cars are also more heavy now then ever

It's your rose tinted glasses and poverty

That doesn't solve the weak engines aspect of OP's post, though.

You being a contrarian. Every car is soulless, they're fucking objects. Just because you can't afford a new car doesn't make them more of an appliance than your shitbox.

New cars have more hp than old cars

Engines are more powerful than ever, you can buy a Camry that makes over 300hp with regular gas and gets like 35mpg easily
And not a meme 35mpg where Corvette owners would reset their mileage computer while cruising downhill

Corvettes get high gas mileage through cylinder deactivation and multiple overdrive gears

A BRZ makes more hp than a lot of V8s from the 50s-80s.

Only the C7 has cylinder deactivation, and even then they're barely cracking 30mpg in ideal conditions

Hell it makes the same hp as a 1993 Mustang GT. I don't think people realize how shitty old engines are.

>What is it about modern cars that makes them so soulless?

Nothing, you just think older cars have more personality because you are going through a "They don't make them like they used to" phase like half of this board is going through. Unless you can define exactly what you mean by personality (you can't) then it's literally nothing but rose tinted glasses looking at the past.

This is the only correct answer.

If I want to experience what I’m truly missing, what old car should I get that isn’t going to be expensive? NA Miata? Anything else?

an OG Fiat 500

You just prefer the older styling. I usually prefer the look of cars made in the past 5 years, though there are some older cars that I like as well.

Corporate focus on fuel economy and standardization.

Fuck the 90's, muh dude! '60's to '70's are where it's at! Give me back my 429 Cobra Jets! Who needs the environment, right?

Yeah boy dem 200 hp big ol v8s that get 12mpg YEEHAWW

Not really, other than expensive high end cars they all use weak atkinson cycle engines that make less power/liter but are more efficient.

You can't afford them so you have a sour grapes mentality.

Jesus Christ it's bigger than my commo

Americans aren't responsible for pedestrian safety regulations or draconian CO2 regulations forcing everyone to switch to Turbo engines.

>cylinder deactivation
Does this bullshit actually work?
I have a friend who owns an Impala SS, he actually got improved gas mileage when he disabled that stupid shit.

Blame eurofags
This afm is dogshit

This, modern diesels are great for driving around town at low rpms without spending much on fuel

i think its just non americans user. average engine power is way up across the board stateside, and has been increasing since ever. the automakers think bigger hp numbers sell cars so they keep upping it. its my theory as to why road deaths are increasing, in addition to just the increased average miles driven.

How is that soulless? That looks good.

Please don't tell me they're going to put an SS badge on it. It's bad enough they're calling it a commodore, this is just salt on the wound.
The top end V6 won't even have a turbo and will cost similar to the VF anyway

Hsv is gonna import 2019+ Camaros and rhd convert them

Better than nothing. I wonder what pricing will be like. What do they go for in burgerland?

>Like they are being told what to do or something.
it's the endless electronic nannying desu

and FUCKING CVTs that are smoother yet even more soulless than regular automatics

>Who needs the environment, right?
not an issue, all those old pollutionfest cars would cost a small fortune to drive now so they'd only be wheeled out once a month on a sunday

>I wonder what pricing will be like
far too much, no doubt

and cunts will still buy them

i'd be interested if they brought over some of the big seppo truccs and didn't want $100k for the fucking things

Safety requirements have made every car pigfat and every car looks the same.

>far too much, no doubt
Very true. The Commodore was pretty well priced when you consider what it had

They’re too “clean” regardless of condition. Very sterile feeling. Not enough raw connection of just driving a car. There’s too much between yourself and the road.

I drove a VW polo for years, a corsa and some super quick and agile ford hot hatchback.

No matter the speed, location or whatever... no driving has been more enjoyable than driving my 50 year old Land Rover for the last few months I’ve had it.

Looking to borrow my mothers 81 year old car for a blast through the countryside.

It’s little things too:
>heavy door slams
>metal
>louder
>that gorgeous fucking smell older cars have.

>What is it about modern cars that makes them so soulless?
all cars are souless, kirby isnt real dumbass
The driver breathes life into the car its never the other way around

Mazda seems to be the only car manufacturer these days that seems to successfully balance making a car with soul while also trying to meet current overbearing safety standards.

Top ten ways to point out a biased post.
>number 1

I mean keep in mind the SS and especially the group A was a pretty crazy looking car