As we all know, the Philippine Daily Inquirer was born of a need for social change in a rather dark time. The motoring scene and the technology available to buyers at the time is an indication of that as good as any other.
In 1985, buyers were at a loss for cars. Most companies had left the country. Mitsubishi had stuck it out, providing what it could in a cost structure that still made things viable and buyable. The car available at the time is now a cult classic, the beloved Box Type Lancer. You could get it with a 1400 or a 1600 engine. The 1400 produced 90 horsepower run through a 4-speed manual transmission. The 1600 engine produced 85 horsepower or up to 101 horsepower depending on whether it was mated to a 3-speed (remember those?) automatic or a 5-speed manual transmission. All cars had carburetors.
The technology at the time was pretty mainstream, but the 1600 Lancers used the 4G32 engine with what they called Silent Shaft. This was a rather big deal technology even though it was introduced the decade previous globally. Mitsubishi was credited with developing properly the two balance shaft method that helped tame the vibration in many engines. This system was so good that companies like Porsche licensed it, using it in their non-Boxer power plants and cars like the 924.
The ability to tame vibration is more important than ever today, especially with cars taking out increasingly more power from increasingly small engines. Three-cylinder engines were historically vibration-prone if not shaky because they were inherently unbalanced. One cylinder can’t offset the other if there is an odd number of cylinders. Modern three-cylinders such as those in the 1.2 liter Mitsubishi Mirage are smoother and calmer and far more suitable to an increasingly demanding buying public.
By comparison, what is Mitsubishi’s best-seller now and what technologies does it have? Year to date it is the Xpander. It isn’t a car, it’s an MPV. It uses a 1.5 liter engine (right in the middle of the 1400 and 1600 powerplants available in 1985) that produces 104 horses. That engine powers not a sedan but a seven seater workhorse/family van that has flexibility barely imagined 36 years ago. No carburetor of course, it uses an electronically controlled injection system with multi-point injection.
Now about those Lancers from 36 years ago. They are considered cult classics, much beloved by the latest set of enthusiasts. That Lancer was the platform with which Mitsubishi went racing, running two liter turbocharged engines in rallies such as the Acropolis Rally in 1981 and the 1000 Lakes Rally in 1982. Something much appreciated by modern enthusiasts, buyers and restorers? Parts for these engines are still pretty easily available. Sadly, it will be hard to believe that the modern cars we buy today will have the longevity of these older vehicles what with electronics taking such a heavy role. This is not a bad thing, because it is the electronics in modern engines and transmissions that allow us efficiencies and flexibilities previously impossible. It is the electronics in modern safety systems that keep us and our families alive. Still, it would be nice to keep cars more user-fixable and less quickly-obsolete as they seem to be becoming.
There is hope though. Modern laptops and computers are, in many markets, being told to become more service-friendly. Make parts more easily swappable and more easily sourced. Even the car engineers have said they have been told they can sacrifice the production efficiency and lightness of using a single part or system in favor of using the more traditional multi-part pieces that allow you to replace a portion rather than a whole. May all the new brands and products be as able to be kept going for so long.
May the next generation care enough to make it matter.
