[ilikehurdles]

There have been significant mechanical improvements under the hood. Dual clutch transmission enabling things like (very quick) paddle shifting has trickled into a lot of cars over the last decade. Gasoline Direct Injection has also seen rapid adoption. Hybrids were a small niche not too long ago, let alone EVs. Turbos seem a lot more common as well.

[magduf]

Dual-clutch transmissions have had a lot of reliability problems, and not many automakers actually use them. CVTs are probably used much more often.

GDI on the other hand has basically taken over; I doubt there's any new gasoline car sold without it now.

Hybrids haven't been doing well, outside of the Prius. EVs are getting more adoption now than hybrids. The problem with hybrids is the cost: you have a gas engine plus a big battery pack and motor, basically two powertrains in one vehicle.

Turbos however have become very, very common as everyone is downsizing engines and using turbos to get more power, while improving fuel economy.