Everything New is Old

[edhackett]

I just picked up a 1917 Fairbanks Morse 1 1/2 HP stationary engine. It has a roller lifter and platinum points on the igniter(analog of the sparkplug).

Alfa Romeo gave up on 4 valves per cylinder being necessary in the early 1920s (OK, they were using superchargers

). My 1982 2.5l SOHC, 2 valve NA GTV6 made more horsepower, torque, and got more MPG than my parents DOHC, 4 valve 2.5l Lexus. We won't talk about which one contained its bodily fluids better.

Anybody else have examples of the latest "high tech" automotive engineering that was in use 80 to 100+ years ago?

Ed

 

[Chris142]

The 46 year old Cummins diesel in my Peterbilt has roller cam followers.

 

[tom slick]

Duesenburg had OHC and superchargers. WWII planes had 4 valve heads, dual ignition, superchargers...

 

[OVERKILL]

British steam engines had "VTEC"

 

[oilyriser]

aerodynamic styling in use today was invented 80 years ago

 

[glennc]

I think you could say that practically any "idea" is not new. Only made more possible by new technologies and materials. For example the CVT has existed for decades as a matter of speculation but is now a reality because modern materials and controls make it practical. Aerodynamics have become more practical in importance because speeds have gone up and computer modeling allows it to be cheaply developed - but as oilyriser said, it was fundamentally understood many decades ago.

Suspension designs are in many ways less advanced today than they were decades ago for simplicity of assembly and cost. But cars handle better today, not because of the suspension designs, but again because computer modeling allows everything - cg, balance, geometry - to be optimized very well.

 

[lovcom]

My 1991 Civic wagon had CVT tranny....

 

[bar1]

So did the DAF 600, in 1958. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DAF_600

 

[glennc]

It was the need to handle larger amounts of power in a reasonably sized package that took a long time to develop. The Subaru Justy also had one fairly early.

Now Nissan is using them in ~300hp SUVs.

 

[PandaBear]

The main question is not whether these new technologies are new or recycled old idea. The question is: at what cost, last how long, and what problem does it solve?

I can assure you that an 80GB hard drive made 8 years ago are better quality than an 80GB hard drive made today, but they cost 5x back then. Same goes for Corolla made 10 years ago vs today, but they cost about the same despite inflation.

There are many cool/new exciting technologies out there, but until they drop in cost, you will not see them in everyday application. Sometimes you get lucky because new technologies actually cost less and improve performance at the same time, but in many cases they are not.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: PandaBear
The main question is not whether these new technologies are new or recycled old idea. The question is: at what cost, last how long, and what problem does it solve?

I can assure you that an 80GB hard drive made 8 years ago are better quality than an 80GB hard drive made today, but they cost 5x back then. Same goes for Corolla made 10 years ago vs today, but they cost about the same despite inflation.

There are many cool/new exciting technologies out there, but until they drop in cost, you will not see them in everyday application. Sometimes you get lucky because new technologies actually cost less and improve performance at the same time, but in many cases they are not.



Yes, but by the same token, that new 80GB hard drive will transfer data at twice the rate of the earlier drive and make substantially less noise.

 

[PandaBear]

Not necessarily, if you compare a 80GB enterprise SCSI drive vs a 80GB SATA drive. Maybe flash memory is a better example: other than cost, older drives are better.

 

[oilyriser]

Telecom started out digital, went analog, and is now back to digital.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: PandaBear

Not necessarily, if you compare a 80GB enterprise SCSI drive vs a 80GB SATA drive. Maybe flash memory is a better example: other than cost, older drives are better.


I have a pile of enterprise 10K Ultra160 drives that will get owned by a cheapo 7,200RPM SATA drive in throughput.

Seak-time on the 10K drive is obviously better, but overall throughput.... It gets it's clock cleaned.


Platter density plays a HUGE roll here.......

 

[Papa Bear]

Chevy "VOLT" ...

 

[01rangerxl]

Some 1960s Jeeps had SOHC engines, which were not very common then.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
Some 1960s Jeeps had SOHC engines, which were not very common then.


Yup. Ford made the 427 SOHC in '64 I believe, and the "Indy Cammer" (DOHC Windsor) in '62 or '63.

Many European companies had been using them well before that.

 

[eljefino]

My Dad's 1940 Ford coupe rolls on 16 inch rims.... Just looked up the Model T... 21 inchers.

 

[Lazy JW]

My brother had a 1954 Packard Super Clipper that had a lock-up torque converter

 

[Aldaris]

Originally Posted By: edhackett
My 1982 2.5l SOHC, 2 valve NA GTV6 made more horsepower, torque, and got more MPG than my parents DOHC, 4 valve 2.5l Lexus.
Not surprising. The ES250 was an abortion, a hideously bad badge engineering clone of an already marginal Camry. It absolutely paled next to its trend-setting stable mate, the then-new LS400.