Sign of the times

[YarisOwnersDad]

Old codgers like me remember when we talked about how many horsepower a car had, how long of a patch of rubber it would lay, what its top speed would be in the quarter mile, and how many seconds it would take to run a quarter mile from a standing start. We would speculate on which of our friends' cars would win when put up against other friends' cars in drag races.

We didn't have Internet back in those days, but if it had been available, we would have been posting about the things above, NOT about MPG.

Not knocking these MPG discussions at all, because nowadays, it really is important that we maximize our gas mileage. I was just making an observation. I'll bet most of the folks who come here cannot relate to the things I mentioned in the first paragraph, because not too many old farts like me hang out around here.

Tom

[ChinoCharles]

Tom, it still happens. This just happens to be one of the few cars in the US market that is really geared toward fuel economy through and through, but there are a select few that track their Yarii. I promise we're here!

[nemelek]

I have belonged to TDR (Turbo Diesel Register for Dodge owners) since 2002. Even then there were many types of owners. The one’s for mods will spend what 2 Yaris cars would cost ($30,000) in order to get 600 HP and 900ft/lb of torque. The one’s for looks with the lift kits and tires. The one’s for mileage either empty or pulling trailers. Last year the gas mileage took off.

I kept my 2004 truck stock 325Hp 610torque. I can pull a 7% grade with a 5,000 pound trailer at 70mph. Pulling I’ll get 13mpg highway or 19mpg empty. They have like YarisWorld been a valuable resource to me.

[NJBob]

From one old codger to another. Back in the day My brother's 68 Olds 442 would do the quarter in the 14s from the factory...This is a 400hp 4brl w/ Ram air ....My 98 Dodge Neon R/T would match it from the factory( 150hp). With a few mods like CAI, UDP , headers etc...My Neon would blow his doors clean off! (and still get 30 mpg) LOL Cars have changed quite a bit.

[1NZYaris1]

Bunch of old fart's , next you will start up about how fast your horse
draw wagons went just joking .

[YarisOwnersDad]

Originally Posted by NJBob

From one old codger to another. Back in the day My brother's 68 Olds 442 would do the quarter in the 14s from the factory...This is a 400hp 4brl w/ Ram air ....My 98 Dodge Neon R/T would match it from the factory( 150hp). With a few mods like CAI, UDP , headers etc...My Neon would blow his doors clean off! (and still get 30 mpg) LOL Cars have changed quite a bit.

Well, good to know that I am not the only Old Timer here.

On another message board that I frequent, someone posted some stats on a a 1965 Impala with a 409 engine in it. It listed the 0-60 MPH time as 8.0 seconds. Man, there are a lot of cars today that would beat that, and, like you say, they would have much less HP and would get a whole lot better MPG.

I still like those old muscle cars, though. I was born in 1949, so I was a teenager and young adult during the height of the muscle car era. Those were some GREAT years in MANY different ways. I would like to go back to those days and relive them. I wouldn't change a thing!

Tom

[ChinoCharles]

I'll be saying the same thing about this decade in, oh, 5 years.

[YarisOwnersDad]

Originally Posted by 1NZYaris1

Bunch of old fart's , next you will start up about how fast your horse
draw wagons went just joking .

Yes, they were a big step up from our dinosaurs.

Tomster

[SailDesign]

Originally Posted by 1NZYaris1

Bunch of old fart's , next you will start up about how fast your horse
draw wagons went just joking .

Dood - there is no fart like an old phart.

[tomato]

Originally Posted by YarisOwnersDad

Well, good to know that I am not the only Old Timer here.

Tom

I highly doubt that. Most Yaris owners are young but not all.

In your thread alone, I noticed some posters that were ahem.. more mature than others (to put it diplomatically!)

Remember, people in your age group INVENTED COOL.
We're just following in your footsteps and some of us are not too far behind you

[tomato]

Personally, I would like to ride in a 1957 Chevy at least a mile or two.
I know I'll have to take out a loan to fill up the tank but I guess that's part of the charm ;)

[PreciousPups4U]

My first car was a 1978 Camaro, brand new off the showroom floor. Black with white interior, very cool and unique. Loved that car. My daughter could not believe I sold that car to marry her dad 5 years later. What was I thinking?

Sad thing is I turned down a 1978 Mustang Cobra, white with the bright green racing stripes and t-tops because the dealer pissed me and my dad off. That's how we ended up at the Chevy lot. Had to be the easiest sale that salesman ever made.

Still love my Yaris, but it's certainly not the same.

[yaris prime]

Things have surely changed. I grew up near Detroit in a neighborhood of gearheads. There was always an engine in pieces in one of our driveways; Mustangs, Camaros, dunebuggys, gocarts- you name it.
I don't see many of those guys anymore, having moved away 20 years ago. I bet many of them would cringe if they saw what I was driving today. I am content, however, as I get as much pleasure from seeing how many miles I can get from a tank as I do from how hard I can get pushed back into the seat.

[YarisOwnersDad]

I was never fortunate enough to own a 60s or 70s muscle car. It was sure fun to watch them as they drove around town, though, and it was fun to talk about them. I enjoyed the arguments I overheard and the ones I participated in about whose car would blow whose car away. There were the big brand name debates, of course, with some favoring Mopar, some favoring GM, and some favoring Ford.

My best friend in high school had a 66 GTO in silver gray, and it was a blast to ride around with him. That car was a beauty! It was FAST, too. It had the 389 CID engine with an AFB four barrel carburetor. I will always remember being in the car with him when he ran a '66 Ford Fairlane GT with a 390 in it. It was a super close race, but my buddy beat the guy in the Fairlane.

Ah, the good old days!

Tom

[GeneW]

Originally Posted by YarisOwnersDad

Old codgers like me remember when we talked about how many horsepower a car had, how long of a patch of rubber it would lay, what its top speed would be in the quarter mile, and how many seconds it would take to run a quarter mile from a standing start. We would speculate on which of our friends' cars would win when put up against other friends' cars in drag races.

Tom

My younger brother's 350 Chevy 79 Camaro is parked thirty feet from where I'm sitting. Damn thing lopes and smells rich as all get out. He only drives it on weekends and only for short distance because of gasoline costs.

He claims that the speed limiting factor is the rear end, which would "fly apart" if he stood on it.

Some us remember the good old days.. today it's just a different world out here.

Gene

[Loren]

While fuel economy might not have been the hot topic back in the day... here's a little food for thought:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobil_Economy_Run
http://www.roadandtrack.com/article....article_id=745
(and there's more info out there about it if you dig)

[TLyttle]

Hm. I'm an OLD fart, but I guess I come across weird on this because fuel mileage has always been a factor for me. Had my Mustangs, pickups, even had a 53 Ford with a 365 Cad & 4-speed hydro in it, Packards, yet at the end of it, my favourite cars were the ones that went around corners: Morris Minors, Minis, Volvos, Fiats, all that. SUs never scared me, used to make my beer money on Saturday mornings tuning them; the lineup was a block long on some days...

In the 60s, our club used to run an event called an "Economy Run", and I was either volunteering or running. Back then, fuel was so cheap that no one paid much attention. Something that DID occur to us was that all that stuff couldn't be good for us; we had Los Angeles as a role model for what could happen to the Fraser Valley. I never got over that, and have run the most economical vehicles I could afford ever since.

Yup, just weird, I guess...

[jambo101]

Another elder here (61).Todays mini vans will take out most 50's and 60's muscle cars but they sure dont sound as good as a 300-400hpV8. I
recently had the expeirience to drive my Bro's restored 62 Ford Galaxy 500
400hphttp://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g1...1/DSCF1221.jpg