I'm not an engineer either, but there really have been some interesting as hell developments over the century. I half bet the biggest reason we've gotten as far as we have today is due to better manufacturing techniques allowing for tighter tolerances in components. That kind of precision has not only brought us more power, but more reliability and longer lasting parts as well. When you combine that with the fact that engines are an ass-ton more complex than when they first came about, that's actually pretty impressive. I think what might be a decent sign that we're starting to hit our peak is the resurgence of turbos in everyday commuter cars. Even mild forced induction is a great way to get more power out of an engine. I've shared it a few times before, but if you haven't seen it, check out some of the classic reviews on Motorweek's Youtube Channel. In the mid '80s, turbos were a pretty popular way to get extra power out of engines that were really the best of what manufacturers had at the time.
And I really didn't mean to discount the advancements of the last hundred years... OUR CARS KINDA KICK ASS. yep - turbos aren't necessarily a bad idea... but they are just one more piece of possible component failure... I feel like cars have become like mexican food... you pick the presentation and configuration of the parts... but they're all basically the same components arranged in a different way. [DRASTIC over-simplification... I admit] But part of me does feel that we are starting to stagnate. There are probably hundreds of engineers who would like to push me in the neck for the ingratitude.
Well, the nice thing is, even though cars are more complex these days, they're also way less finicky and way more reliable. The downside is, the complexity means they're much harder to repair and often more expensive too. As for stagnating? Eh. It's about creativity and what is and isn't viable. For example, turbo chargers and gasoline direct injection have been around since the early 1900s. Complexity and cost is what has kept them from being widely used until recently. I bet there's something absolutely crazy in development in some lab somewhere just waiting to be tested out on an F1 car or hyper car somewhere. I think the big question, the one that I actually worry about loving cars so much, is how much longer will cars be around for us to marvel at their developments?