File this one under: No kidding!
Yes, new cars have evolved significantly over the last 15 years, a point that really resonated with us after we discovered a guide to 1998 model year cars lurking away in the Leftlane archives. Spending entirely too much time poring over a detailed Consumer Guide print guide that lists specifications and pricing information on then-new 1998 models, we discovered a few themes that merit their own list.
In fact, after sorting through the facts and the figures, we'd argue that the new car market has evolved more in the last 15 years than it did in the 15 year period before that. Why? A variety of factors – namely the fact that the computer you're staring into right now is probably vastly more capable than the best machines that sat in the engineering departments at the world's automakers 15 years ago.
The list of ways new cars are different is endless, but we thought you'd enjoy these 10 particularly salient points, listed here in no particular order.
Enjoy the journey back in time.
1. Navigation systems were a $2,500 option. And they weren't very good. The trickle-down effect of vehicle features is perhaps more obvious in the proliferation of navigation systems than anywhere else. Now, just about every subcompact offers a touchscreen GPS system, but they were reserved only for a handful luxury cars in 1998. And if navigation isn't standard, it's usually less than $1,000 today.
2. There were just three crossovers to pick from. If you wanted to sit up high in a vehicle with virtually no off road pretensions, you had to buy a Lexus RX 300, a Honda CR-V or a Toyota RAV4. Today, only a handful of body-on-frame SUVs exist. As much as we like mud plugging and scrabbling up a trail, we think that's a good thing for most buyers.
3. Where are all the airbags? Drop $12,000 on a base model Chevy Spark today and you'll get 10 airbags. In 1998, some luxury cars had four airbags, but only a few non-premium models – GM's minivans, plus a few Toyotas, Volkswagens and Nissans – offered side-impact airbags. Ford, Chrysler, Honda and Hyundai didn't offer anything with more than two airbags. For the most part, the democratization of passive safety restraints has been a serious boon since driving fatalities are at rates not seen in decades, back when fewer cars were on the road.
4. That myth that cars are so much heavier today? Debunked. Kind of. Enthusiasts often cry foul about how much heavier cars have gotten. In reality, weight-saving efforts like exotic steels and extensive aluminum have kept cars remarkably toned even though they've almost all gotten bigger dimensionally. The Hyundai Elantra, Toyota Camry and Honda Accord all weigh in about about 150 lbs. more in 2013 than in 1998. That doesn't seem bad given their larger footprints and significantly higher content levels.
Still, there are some outliers. Take the Chevrolet Malibu – it's up 500 lbs. And the Jeep Grand Cherokee, a staggering 750 lbs. plumper than before.
5. Fuel economy wasn't a very big deal. Sure, there were a few cars for fuel misers – the 49 mpg Chevrolet Metro and Volkswagen Jetta TDI (it's worth noting that the EPA test has since become more stringent). But by and large, consumers just didn't care all that much about using less gas. And who can blame them? Gas was as cheap as a buck a gallon in 1998 (about $1.40 today), which helped fuel – literally – an interest in SUVs that struggled to hit 20 mpg on the highway. In the unlikely event that the average fuel price in the U.S. dips below $2 again for an extended period, you can well bet that Ford will sell a lot of Expeditions.
6. Eagle. Isuzu. Mercury. Oldsmobile. Plymouth. Pontiac. Saab. Saturn. Suzuki. Rest in peace.
7. Detroit is not good at holding onto nameplates. Nearly every higher-volume Asian and European nameplate is still around today, but that's not something we can say about offerings from the Big Three. No Cadillac, Chrysler, Dodge, or Lincoln car nameplate has survived the last 15 years. Trucks and SUVs are another story – Detroit was pretty good about keeping its bread-and-butter relevant over the last decade and a half. But cars? Not so much.
8. The 300 horsepower club was very small. Inexplicably, the editors at Consumer Guide left out most cars above $50,000, as well as some specialty sports cars like the Toyota Supra and the Mitsubishi 3000GT. Still, we only counted 10 vehicles listed in the book available with over 300 horsepower – the Jaguar XJR (370), the Chevrolet Corvette (345), the Chevrolet Camaro SS and Pontiac Firebird Ram Air (320), the Ford Mustang SVT Cobra (305) and the Cadillac Seville STS and DeVille and Lexus GS 430 (300).
Today, all three pony cars' base V6 engines crank out more than 300 ponies, and while there's no Jaguar XJR currently, the leaping cat brand's XFR-S will boast 550 horsepower.
9. Coupes were king. Well, maybe not, king, but non-sporty two-door cars were plentiful back in 1998. Remember nameplates like the Acura CL, the Chevrolet Monte Carlo, the Chrysler Sebring, the Dodge Avenger (well, the original), the Lexus SC, the Lincoln Mark VIII and the Mercury Cougar? All are long gone. Today, buyers interested in something not too sporty with two doors have very few choices – the Honda Accord and Civic and Nissan Altima come to mind.
10. Korean cars were terrible. Not just bad. Terrible. Just looking at photos of 1998-vintage Kia Sportages and Sephias and Hyundai Sonatas and Accents makes us dry heave just a little bit. These were cars bought solely because they were cheap transportation, not because they were even remotely appealing. The fact that the modern day versions of those cars are class competitive (and even class-leading in some cases) is not at all lost on us. We'd argue that the Koreans have shaken up the industry more than anyone else over the last 15 years. LINK
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