The Lycoming aero engine was first designed in 1932 - its a seriously old bit of kit.
It is also heavy, fairly inefficient, noisy and vibrates a lot. The cylinder heads crack, they are prone to shock cooling, often have carburettors that ice up and fail often enough to be a continuous problem in any given year.
On the other had they are proven, easy to maintain and operate, and fitted to almost everything.
Contrast though the more modern engines like the Wilksch and the Jabiru and you can see there are plenty of improvements to be made.
Your car engine of even a few years ago is likely to be much more advanced, especially in terms of noise and vibration.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it - well my cart works fine thanks, think I'll ignore these shiny new "motor carriages" - they'll never catch on.....
