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| (Image courtesy of Motor Trend) |
The Automotive Industry's Double-Edged Sword
The good and the bad of higher limits, continuous
advancements, and the nonstop power war
Exactly nobody was
surprised when photos of the first wrecked Challenger Hellcat went
viral, and it surprised even fewer that it was damn-near minutes
after deliveries began. Out from all corners of the internet came
cries of “it's too much power for the street and the average
driver!” and along with it the car with the best name in recent
history has forced us to wonder: how much is too much, where does it
end, and is this the right path for cars to continue? This isn't
just about the ultra-high horsepower monsters but rather the industry
as a whole as it develops and advances at the sprinting pace it's
maintaining. Making extreme power widely available and on the cheap,
the Hellcat is just one example of this; it's a vehicle that
single-handedly raises concern as to the general automotive trend and
the subsequent good and bad that can and will come from the nonstop
push for more power, speed, and flair.
And yet this is about more
than just the Hellcat; seemingly every manufacturer is taking a turn
in the headlines with an audience-capturing “wow factor,” be it
any of the statistics or lap times or price figures that were once
unthinkable; it's
a time when every
aspect of the car world is tapping into depths we have yet to prove
positive or negative in the long run. But where will we find
ourselves as the crossroads of “it's enough already” and “there's
no such thing as too much” finally come together? Read on and
let's explore this automotive conundrum. Oh, and to contrast the
above-mentioned crash pictures almost poetically, a video of Ralph
Gilles' first-through-third burnout from the same car's press event
caused much drool and a widespread checking of bank accounts. Not
that I'm guilty of either.
Jump with me and let's explore...
