I didn't buy my V8 Tundra because of how it sounds. I bought it knowing that it will last me a long time with basic maintenance. While I may be lucky to get high teens in terms of MPG, I haven't seen much better from the likes of the newer twin-turbo V6. It wouldn't be practical to be a daily but I only drive around 5K miles a year.
Very similar experience. Bought a v8 GMC for RVing and while turbo v6s can handle similar payloads, the turbos themselves break very often. The v8 sound and feel is a nice extra benefit.
Bit of a dishonest statement, "They don't want to give it up". As if it's a given that everybody has to drive electric in the future. But the WSJ is filled with what Washington wants I guess.
I have a pilots license and most of the engines are from the 70's, and they're huge and heavy and high displacement and hardly make any power. Engines have come a long way since then.
I'd admit the T-bird is ugly but my son wanted a "classic" car to go with his '95 Park Avenue daily driver and the price was right so he got it. It does make you royalty at the gas station!
> At a certain price for gasoline and diesel, sustained, I'm sure they will change their mind.
I'm not. My first car was a used late-70s Ford V6, which got 15mpg on a good day. The car was made 5 years after the first Middle East oil shock, and clearly Detroit was still making boats for millions of people who wanted them.
n=1. Consumers are under stress with car payments at $500-$1000/month and credit cards maxed out. I have no doubt folks like you will keep your car to the end (as long as you can afford it), but in the aggregate, high fuel prices will destroy demand for combustion vehicles simply out of the total cost of ownership economics as it relates to fuel costs.
You can see this today in the recent increase in used EV sales prices and gas guzzler repo rates over the last 90-120 days.
How High Are Car Repossession Rates in 2026? - https://americandefault.org/guides/car-repossession-rates/ - June 25th, 2026 ("Car repossessions are climbing fast, back near the levels the U.S. last saw coming out of the financial crisis. There is no official national repossession rate, so the clearest live gauge is the share of auto-loan balances that are seriously delinquent, and it is near record highs. Repossession is the step that comes after.")
> The high monthly car payments — coupled with other changes in her household budget, including higher rent — caused Dickerson to fall deep into debt. “Now I’m relying on the credit cards to live, to pay for things that I can’t pay now,” she said. “Food and stuff you need — the electric bill, phone bill. You think you’ll be able to pay them off next month and then you can’t.” Record-high car prices coupled with high interest rates are leading to huge monthly car payments for many Americans. A record share of Americans — more than 20% — agreed to pay more than $1,000 per month for a new car loan at the end of the year, according to car sales site Edmunds. High monthly car payments are putting tremendous stress on household budgets already struggling to deal with a higher cost of living. But many Americans need a car for everyday use, like commuting to work and grocery shopping.
Reading the article, it's hard to believe that Stellantis didn't know that American pickup truck drivers love loud engines from endless market research, prior to introducing the V6 version of the Ram "which sounds like a Honda" according to someone quoted in TFA.
I mean, every car manufacturer engineers the sound of the freaking doors closing. How can they not appreciate the importance of engine sound?
The GR86/BRZ added those in 2022+ but didn’t offer a way to control loudness, using a small board attached to both the canbus and the audio system. It is, in online enthusiast communities, disliked for providing ‘fake’ horsepower and for being ‘too’ loud. So: they can, but if the manufacturer gets it wrong, then it’s much worse.
This solution also misses that for many folks in the U.S., imposing the emissions of a V-8 engine upon their environment is not just about how it sounds in-cabin, it’s about marking territory, and V-8 engines are quite good at that. You would need a subwoofer to broadcast it properly and you would likely run into amplified sound laws in many regions that are not applicable to engine noise.
They can and do. Since at least the 10s automakers have been using tricks like pumping the engine sound into the main cabin or using speakers playing an audio file. The speakers usually toggle when the car is in "sports mode" or not. Car enthusiasts typically don't like it because they know they're being lied to. Average drivers don't even notice it because we all grew up with "car goes fast, cat gets loud." Automakers started doing this to make inline 4s sound growlier and also because most of the time you want your car to be as silent as possible. Obviously as EVs appeared around the same time, they did the same thing with EVs (eg the BMW i8 is a notable example).
I didn't buy my V8 Tundra because of how it sounds. I bought it knowing that it will last me a long time with basic maintenance. While I may be lucky to get high teens in terms of MPG, I haven't seen much better from the likes of the newer twin-turbo V6. It wouldn't be practical to be a daily but I only drive around 5K miles a year.
Very similar experience. Bought a v8 GMC for RVing and while turbo v6s can handle similar payloads, the turbos themselves break very often. The v8 sound and feel is a nice extra benefit.
Bit of a dishonest statement, "They don't want to give it up". As if it's a given that everybody has to drive electric in the future. But the WSJ is filled with what Washington wants I guess.
Funny my son has a '79 Thunderbird with a 5.8ℓ engine which sounds great... but I can smoke it in a drag race with my Honda Fit.
I have a pilots license and most of the engines are from the 70's, and they're huge and heavy and high displacement and hardly make any power. Engines have come a long way since then.
Damn they're both ugly cars!
Quiz: when did the t-bird turn into a t-turd?
Ans. 1958 and yet again in 1969:
https://zicmoto.com/history-of-the-ford-thunderbird/?gad_sou...
In contrast, here's a true sports car: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MG_T-type#/media/File:MG_TA_si...
I'd admit the T-bird is ugly but my son wanted a "classic" car to go with his '95 Park Avenue daily driver and the price was right so he got it. It does make you royalty at the gas station!
At a certain price for gasoline and diesel, sustained, I'm sure they will change their mind.
US Fuel Prices Will Stay Painfully High for a While - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2026-08-13/us-fue... - August 13th, 2026
Americans Have Never Paid This Much for Fuel So Late in The Year - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-12/americans... - August 12th, 2026
US Sees Iran War Oil Supply Disruptions Lasting Through 2027 - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-11/us-sees-i... - August 11th, 2026
US refineries are already at maximum utilization (~96% as of this comment).
https://web.archive.org/web/20260813174516/https://thevaultr...
https://web.archive.org/web/20260813174447/https://www.eia.g...
> At a certain price for gasoline and diesel, sustained, I'm sure they will change their mind.
I'm not. My first car was a used late-70s Ford V6, which got 15mpg on a good day. The car was made 5 years after the first Middle East oil shock, and clearly Detroit was still making boats for millions of people who wanted them.
n=1. Consumers are under stress with car payments at $500-$1000/month and credit cards maxed out. I have no doubt folks like you will keep your car to the end (as long as you can afford it), but in the aggregate, high fuel prices will destroy demand for combustion vehicles simply out of the total cost of ownership economics as it relates to fuel costs.
You can see this today in the recent increase in used EV sales prices and gas guzzler repo rates over the last 90-120 days.
Car prices continue to rise. Auto lenders compensate with long-term loans - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49236530 - August 2026
US credit card debt climbs to $1.26tn, nearing last year’s record high - https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/aug/12/credit-card... - August 12th, 2026
Used EV prices climb as demand grows - https://www.axios.com/2026/07/22/used-ev-prices-gas-demand - July 22nd, 2026
Half of Americans struggle to afford groceries and gas, exclusive poll finds - https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jul/07/cost-of-liv... - July 7th, 2026
How High Are Car Repossession Rates in 2026? - https://americandefault.org/guides/car-repossession-rates/ - June 25th, 2026 ("Car repossessions are climbing fast, back near the levels the U.S. last saw coming out of the financial crisis. There is no official national repossession rate, so the clearest live gauge is the share of auto-loan balances that are seriously delinquent, and it is near record highs. Repossession is the step that comes after.")
Soaring car insurance premiums force many low-to-middle income Texans to do without - https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/economy/affordab... - April 1st, 2026 ("Approximately 12% percent of Texas car owners are uninsured.")
$1,000 car loan payments are on the rise, stressing household budgets - https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/27/business/1k-car-loan-payments... - January 27th, 2026
> The high monthly car payments — coupled with other changes in her household budget, including higher rent — caused Dickerson to fall deep into debt. “Now I’m relying on the credit cards to live, to pay for things that I can’t pay now,” she said. “Food and stuff you need — the electric bill, phone bill. You think you’ll be able to pay them off next month and then you can’t.” Record-high car prices coupled with high interest rates are leading to huge monthly car payments for many Americans. A record share of Americans — more than 20% — agreed to pay more than $1,000 per month for a new car loan at the end of the year, according to car sales site Edmunds. High monthly car payments are putting tremendous stress on household budgets already struggling to deal with a higher cost of living. But many Americans need a car for everyday use, like commuting to work and grocery shopping.
Reading the article, it's hard to believe that Stellantis didn't know that American pickup truck drivers love loud engines from endless market research, prior to introducing the V6 version of the Ram "which sounds like a Honda" according to someone quoted in TFA.
I mean, every car manufacturer engineers the sound of the freaking doors closing. How can they not appreciate the importance of engine sound?
Because they are the logical dutch
Why can't there be speaker systems in electric cars to give the driver the V-8 experience?
The GR86/BRZ added those in 2022+ but didn’t offer a way to control loudness, using a small board attached to both the canbus and the audio system. It is, in online enthusiast communities, disliked for providing ‘fake’ horsepower and for being ‘too’ loud. So: they can, but if the manufacturer gets it wrong, then it’s much worse.
This solution also misses that for many folks in the U.S., imposing the emissions of a V-8 engine upon their environment is not just about how it sounds in-cabin, it’s about marking territory, and V-8 engines are quite good at that. You would need a subwoofer to broadcast it properly and you would likely run into amplified sound laws in many regions that are not applicable to engine noise.
They can and do. Since at least the 10s automakers have been using tricks like pumping the engine sound into the main cabin or using speakers playing an audio file. The speakers usually toggle when the car is in "sports mode" or not. Car enthusiasts typically don't like it because they know they're being lied to. Average drivers don't even notice it because we all grew up with "car goes fast, cat gets loud." Automakers started doing this to make inline 4s sound growlier and also because most of the time you want your car to be as silent as possible. Obviously as EVs appeared around the same time, they did the same thing with EVs (eg the BMW i8 is a notable example).
https://www.wsj.com/business/autos/ram-truck-pickup-v-8-f150...