Hard disagree. The aftermarket is stronger than ever.

V8s have been replaced by turbo engines which respond much more dramatically to modifications than any N/A V8.

There are numerous enthusiasts cars to pick from across manufacturers.

Tuning companies operate globally. People get their tunes from obscure companies in Europe.

ECU protections are being cracked regularly. Even “unhackable” ECUs are getting tunes year after year.

Stick shift options are available on a lot of enthusiasts cars. They’re slower, but people can get them if they want.

I’ve been hearing talk about the death of the car aftermarket for a decade, but every time it’s really just someone lamenting that it’s changing. I think people just get upset when the car scene of their younger years is no longer the popular scene (Mustangs and Camaros with V8s and stick shifts)

> V8s have been replaced by turbo engines which respond much more dramatically to modifications than any N/A V8.

While technically true, it’s not the same. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve owned (and enjoyed!) both, but a highly strung big-boost inline 4 is not the same as a big V8. The instant throttle response, torque for days wherever you are in the rev range, the noise, nothing else can match it.

If you want concrete evidence of this, look at the sheer variety of cars that become more fun with a big V8. Yeah, a corvette is an awesome sports car, but the same engine turns grandpa’s Buick into a genuine enthusiast car (Impala SS). You can’t put a 300HP tiny inline 4 in a comfy sedan and expect it to become fun, it just becomes a bit faster.

And anyone who’s ever modified American V8s knows how easy they are to get power out of. Yeah, you can turn up the boost on a 2.0T for a few hundred bucks, but for double that you can take a 260HP 5.7L from the 90s (that costs $500 to buy a whole ‘nother engine, by the way, if you blow it up), slap on some heads and a cam, and make 400HP and 400lb-ft of torque - or more if you don’t mind sacrificing a bit of streetability. Or spend like $5k on heads, cam, an intake port job, and some eBay turbos & manifold and make 550/500 for a few years until you want more, turn up the boost, and blow it up. Or go even cheaper and spend a grand on eBay turbos & manifolds and do nothing to the engine, and still make like 400HP.

Anyways, long/rambling way of saying turbo 4s don’t replace V8s. Pretty much the only similarity in their behaviour is that they both ICEs. People that love V8s won’t be swayed by “but the turbo 4s make just as much power!” because that’s not what they care about.

I agree- I’m active on forums and in the “scene” of modifying turbocharged European cars. It’s alive and well and the DIY technology has come so far from 20 years ago- now with totally open source fuel injection systems, etc. People are doubling and tripling the power on cars you can buy cheap on Craigslist, and they still hold up well.

The American V8 was a high performance product at an entry level price. During the last couple years the Dodge twins got ridiculously expensive (the Challenger 392 is now almost as expensive as the Hellcat was in 2016).

The problem with the turbo engines is they are way more expensive to do anything with and they come in expensive cars. BMW, Audi really being the only things that are 'fast'. Subaru, Kia, VW are all pretty much low-level performance. And then you have really expensive stuff like the Nissan GT-R.

Turbo engines have been around for a long time, they're nothing new. And they have always been part of the car scene. But again, the lower price options aren't really competitive, they were at least close in the 2000's.

And again, the Ford ECU has been out for two years and nobody has cracked it.