Why Petrol technology not improving much over the years?

I can show you many cars built even in the 50-70s era running without much of a problem.

How can elimination of carb help in better maintenance? Could you please explain?

1 big reason why we arent seeing more powerful petrol cars in India - MILEAGE.

The first question every buyer asks is 'average kitna?'.  Therefore there is little or no incentive for manufacturers to give you more powerful engines - this, couple with stricter emission norms results in same or in some cases lower output levels than before.

As long as 'mileage kitna?' continues, you cant hope for more powerful engines.  People are happy driving 70-80 bhp diesels and 80-90 bhp petrols, and they keep wanting more fuel efficiency rather than more power.

There is also a limit to which you can keep pushing sub-1.5 litre engines that make up an overwhelming majority of petrol powerplants in India.  There is no replacement for displacement, regardless of all the technology you keep cramming into smaller engines.  Every manufacturer who offers two petrol engine sizes will tell you that about 90% of their sales in petrol come from the smaller-engined model.  So where's the incentive for them to give you more power?

Technology isnt lagging - its just that the market does not want more power.

Just to reinforce the point, here's a classic example.  This is from the thread announcing the new SX4 (Himanshu Singh - no offense meant, I'm just using this as an example!)

Did someone here say

An engine of the 60's would perhaps not last more than 7 years even with meticulous care.?

I beg to disagree - the original engine on my '54 Landmaster was still running (in fact it was driven down from Pune to Bangalore for the restoration) when we replaced it with a 1.8 Isuzu Carb.  It was so smooth and silent that everyone would try to start the engine again even when it was running - and this was a 50-year-old engine with no 'mods' except for an upgrade to the electricals from the old Delco to an alternator.  It was so smooth that I decided to keep the engine and its now in storage!

@Rachit - you are right, there are engines of 50's/60's lasting even now...but compare which ones need regular and/or frequent maintenance? Your 2nd point regarding carb elimination, again it is related to maintenance.

I still differ on this. Don't the nozzles in fuel injection get choked more quickly compared to the carb if not maintained. The new engine designs have more factor of safety. However, if the older engines are used within limited they will definitely last. 

Personally I prefer the older petrol engines.  They had no sensors, no ECUs and no complex wiring to deal with - just simple mechanicals that drove everything.

Of course it also meant that it took a good mechanic to service them and keep them in good health, not a computer as is the case now.  Obviously computers are more predictable - therefore engines run and maintained by them will be more 'standardized'.  It also means that they are very predictable and do not differ from each other.

I'm lucky to have 2 old cars in my garage - they give you reassurance of how simple things really are.

Try explaining how a modern engine works to a small child, and try explaining how older engines work.  Thats when you will realize how much more logical the mechanical engine was - there is a very clear sequence of events happening, not a vague "the ECU then calculates based on various algorithms".

To Steeroid: I certianly dont take any offence, rather welcome your step as it brings me to this thread

As far as the discssion about engine development goes, I feel that requirement from cars have reduced significantly. i willnot comment on legevity of older engines, but how often did people cross speeds of 100+ then and now. even thought ehtraffic has simply exploded. You need higher power but only to a degree.

Take Formula 1 for e.g. This is the place whre all development take place. there too they have decided to focus more on reliability, efficiency and longevity rather than sheer power. With higher power there comes a compromise of safety. So in the era of big powerful cars in US, there were too many accidents and fatalities. That is when regulators became more strict regarding the safety features and car companies reached an optimum level speed and safety.

Cars that we see today give much better mileage for the same horse power. They require lesser maintainance than before, and are treated much more roughly (ACs mostly on, high revs, far greater use of brakes and clutch). still the engine and chasis feel much more comfortable and refined than ever before.

Last point is that developing a new engine is a very costly affair and returns on that high cost are no longer viable. This is not say that engine will not get developed further but the focus will be more on features, safety and efficiency rather than horse power. BHPs too will increase but at slower pace.

This rule is applied in Formula 1 not to increase efficiency, rather to reduce costs to attract more teams to race.

Thank You

Yes @Himanshu Singh todays engines are always pushed to the limit, and they fairs well. But the utlimate question is this it? Can we get more with same cost of fuel, engine capasity and strict efficient norms? If so why we are very slow in acheving this. In india we have a huge barrier from govt by taxes which accounts almost 40% of car costs when it finally hit the road. So manufactures will always try to give old wine in new bottle.

I started this thread when i noticed these facts while trying to upgrade my old car. Lets hope the quality of wine improves as it gets old.