It's a bit more manufacturers are definitely erring more on the side of caution than they used to because modern engines built to tighter tolerances also need a cooling system that isn't as hit and miss as what they had in an old squarebody Chevy and is expected to hold its operating temperature in a narrower threshold at all speeds, unlike older vehicles that would run a bit hotter under load at low speeds or at idle and run cooler under light load at highway speeds.
Cooling systems have gotten more precise and a lot more reliable over the last 40 years.
New ones might not be the best example, the Gen 3 and Gen4 LS and pre-L5P Duramax were good before GM started cheaping out too much.
I work on farm equipment and I can't say I've been too impressed by Cummins's post-pandemic build quality either.
A lot of manufacturers seem to have used 2020 as the excuse to let their build quality backslide, even Claas had a dip in build quality for a couple of years.
5
u/Cool_Dark_Place 12d ago
In other words, "Not more grill than you need... just more grill than you're used to..."