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Nov. 4, 2009 6:53 p.m. Carson Dork
When was the best decade for driving?

I was thinking about this on the drive home this evening and I decided it was the 80s. Now, I never actually drove in the 80s since I was born in the last week of 1985, so my opinion is really based solely on what I've observed and read.

Reasoning, in no particular order:
- Cars were small, light, fuel efficient.
- Everything was tossable,
- RWD and FWD was still pretty evenly split, as was FI and Carburetoration. Even Toyota had awesome RWD cars.
- Pretty much everything had sealed beam headlights. No HID things blinding you, not that sealed beams are the greatest thing ever, but everyone was pretty even.
- Turbo cars!
- No cell phones! No SatNav or DVD players or iDrive or anything to distract you. (This is actually what started me thinking about this, I narrowly avoided getting rear ended by a lady on her cell phone programming her Garmin)
- Porsche 911 was still air-cooled.
- Rad interiors. look no further than a Rabbit GTi's Recaros.
- They aren't/weren't the safest cars but they did have crumple zones and some had airbags, but definitely an improvement over the 70s.
- Great Styling. This one is more subjective than the other things I've listed, but I love the angular and boxy styling.
- BMW E30
- Lamborghini Countach LP500S.
I could go on and on and on, and I think I'm forgetting things I thought about on the way home. I know a lot of these features didn't originate or exist solely in the 80s, it's just that the majority of new cars on the road had these features.

The only thing that put a damper on the cars of the 80s was the National 55 MPH Speed Limit.

What do you think?
Nov. 4, 2009 7:02 p.m. JFX001 Dork

I got my license in '84.

I'll agree with you.
Nov. 4, 2009 7:03 p.m. iceracer HalfDork

I liked the '60's. You could get away with so many things on the highway,due to less traffic and slower cars, For example: There we three of us that used to drive up to a hull climb in northern NYS. We would leave early in the morning and "race" all the way. Of course, 85 mph top speed wasn't much,although my friends XK140 was considerably faster. He would go off and leave us,then wait for us to catch up.
Nov. 4, 2009 7:04 p.m. maroon92 UberDork

I have no comparison for you...I only have driven in the 2000's.
Nov. 4, 2009 7:05 p.m. mtn SuperDork

same here
Nov. 4, 2009 7:07 p.m. JetMech Reader
Carson wrote:
- Rad interiors. look no further than a Rabbit GTi's Recaros.
Appropriate use of the '80s slang word.

I'll restrict this to the two decades I drove (at least partially) through, having been born in 1978: the 1990s and this one. The 1990s win simply because fuel was less expensive, annoying electronic gear was less prevalent, and the past five years' plague of unacceptably hideous cars had yet to visually pollute the landscape.
Nov. 4, 2009 7:26 p.m. Carson Dork

Oh I forgot about trucks and SUVs. Trucks were work vehicles, even the most hard core of hard core truck lovers would have WTF'd something like an Escalade or a Lincoln Blackwood.

I got my license in 2001.

As for the '60s seatbelts weren't standard until '65 and dashes were steel. Also, 2 tonnes of car didn't stop all that great with 4 wheel drums. I have a '62 Chrysler for comparison.

Not that I'm disagreeing, I'm absolutely sure sports cars were different than full sized American sedans.
Nov. 4, 2009 7:51 p.m. JetMech Reader

Carson wrote:

Oh I forgot about trucks and SUVs. Trucks were work vehicles, even the most hard core of hard core truck lovers would have WTF'd something like an Escalade or a Lincoln Blackwood.

As for the '60s seatbelts weren't standard until '65 and dashes were steel. Also, 2 tonnes of car didn't stop all that great with 4 wheel drums.

An amen to the WTF on the Escalade and Blackwood! However, seat-belts weren't required by law until 1968, and dash padding was around well before then. But you are right about the 4-wheel drums; it's even worse when they're manual.
Nov. 4, 2009 7:53 p.m. Tommy Suddard SonDork

80s. Cars finally became "real" (waterproof, good a/c, reliable). But they hadn't gotten big and heavy like today. No driver "aids" or cellphones, either.
Nov. 4, 2009 8:03 p.m. Appleseed Dork

70s. They had the Canonnball.
Nov. 4, 2009 8:05 p.m. David S. Wallens Editorial Director

One downer part of the '80s: 55 mph national speed limit. It used to take forever to get from Georgia back home to New York.
Nov. 4, 2009 8:10 p.m. Keith PowerDork

I'm gonna say the 50's - at least from a hotrodder's perspective. A guy in his home garage could not only make significant improvements over stock, but could actually invent new tech.
Nov. 4, 2009 8:16 p.m. benzbaron Reader

I don't know but my grandfather sold welding supplies so he had to drive to cement plants, breweries, slaughter houses, etc and put 25,000miles a year on his car back in the 60's and 70's. I don't think you could do that now. You could drive from san diego to LA on a friday at 5pm and not get in terrible traffic. Another issue was in the mid 70's they adopted interstate speed limits.
Nov. 4, 2009 8:18 p.m. oldsaw HalfDork

The best decade is the one you're in now!

Be smart, be alert, pick your routes and you can have still have fun.

If that's not enough fun for you, take it to the track.
Nov. 4, 2009 9:58 p.m. David S. Wallens Editorial Director

oldsaw wrote:

The best decade is the one you're in now!

Be smart, be alert, pick your routes and you can have still have fun.

If that's not enough fun for you, take it to the track.

I'd second that. Today we have the best tires, the best technology, the best cars and the best opportunities to have safe, legal fun. Don't forget all of the recent advances that have made our world safer, faster and just more fun: Megasquirt, Miatas, HANS Devices, carbon-metallic brake pads, track days, 24 Hours of LeMons and so forth. You want to relive the days of air-cooled Porsches? That's today. They cost a mint when new. Today they're the same price as a new econobox. And when there's a problem, we fire up the old computing machine and ask it a question.
Nov. 4, 2009 10:13 p.m. Carson Dork

I can see that. The internet (and this forum) have become an invaluable resource for figuring things out in our hobby. And, you're right David, I can have the '80s right now, I'll have to look harder but once I find it, I can give it the modern conveniences like megasquirt and today's rubber (just maybe not in 13" anymore).

After all, hot hatches and pop-up headlights are still the dog's bollocks to me.

Pickups with HID lamps that are the exact height and width as my Miata's mirrors still aggravate me to no end.
Nov. 4, 2009 10:15 p.m. JetMech Reader

David S. Wallens wrote:

And when there's a problem, we fire up the old computing machine and ask it a question.

Assuming you're talking about OBD and the like--I wouldn't say that's an improvement. I just look at that as more unnecessarily complicated stuff that can backfire. Right up there with having to remove half an acre of plastic just to change out anything in the engine compartment--the antithesis of the KISS approach I prefer.
Nov. 4, 2009 10:20 p.m. Carson Dork

I assumed he was referring to the computer/internet. I've had a few OBD blinky light 80s cars, carb'd even!
Nov. 4, 2009 10:23 p.m. mad_machine UberDork

I agree on pop up headlights.. miss them.

I got my license in 88, but I do think that today is the best time to be driving. Granted we have more traffic and some hidious vehicles on the road (every decade has had those) Cars are safer, faster, and handle and stop better.

This is the best time
Nov. 4, 2009 10:30 p.m. Trans_Maro HalfDork

1964 - 1974

Long live the muscle car horsepower wars!

Ten glorious years of Pontiac Super Duty engines

Shawn
Nov. 4, 2009 10:34 p.m. mad_machine UberDork

Another vote up for thei decade.. you can STILL drive all those cars from previous decades
Nov. 4, 2009 10:39 p.m. VanillaSky Reader

I still keep around old pop-up headlight Hondas. I wish I had been born about 15 years before I was so that I could fully enjoy the 80's.
Nov. 4, 2009 10:47 p.m. oldsaw HalfDork

mad_machine wrote:

I agree on pop up headlights.. miss them.

My '86 Prelude Si has pop-ups, with the original wiring and motors - still going strong after all these years.

I love them, at least until they fail.
Nov. 4, 2009 11:08 p.m. Keith PowerDork

OBD-II is great. Got a problem? Ask the car what's bothering it!
Nov. 5, 2009 12:12 a.m. friedgreencorrado Dork

I'd like to do the 80s again..but with urethane bushings, Megasquirt (or at least with OBD, like Keith said), a Valentine One, and modern tire compounds.

Seriously, though..the biggest difference I see between "back in the day" and now (I was born in 62, got my licence in 77) is the congestion and the speed differential. In the 70s and 80s there was a real difference in technology between "sports" models and the "civilian" vehicles. The congestion has increased, and the speed differential has actually decreased.

Even something like my old beat up Triumphs & BMWs were much better cars than the Chevy Malibus, Ford LTDs and Dodge Polaras back then (especially after I'd modified my own with stuff like Konis, and the best tires of the time). In the 80s & 90s I pretty much drove 75mph or so on the highway, and I was the fastest thing on the road. Not anymore..I took the green Corrado to work today, running my usual 75 (not that I'm any slower in the Golf, which kind of proves my next point!), and was probably at the "75th percentile" highway designers talk about when they plan routes, etc. But I have to admit..the 25% passing me weren't Porsches, Ferraris and Astons..it was non-enthusiasts in SUVs, Minivans and Kias.

The technology in modern vehicles has just become so advanced that they any damn thing can run 75-85 without breaking a sweat. Our buddies who make GRM understood this kind of thing when they wrote "Soccer Moms' Revenge".

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/articles/soccer-moms-revenge/

To copy the speed differential between enthusiast vehicles and the "civilians" I saw back then, I'd have to be running almost triple digits. IMO, that's dangerous on the street.

I'm not saying that being an enthusiast today is any less rewarding than it ever has been...I'm just saying that it's different. I guess I should ask how you'd define "best".

Aside to Dave Wallens: I survived the 55mph era (spit) with only about three tix from 77 to 82. Long live Cincinnati Microwave!

The original Escort:

And the Passport:

That thing probably saved me a thousand dollars (fines & insurance rate hikes combined..in 80s dollars, of course) until the 55 was recinded.

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