While the basics principles are the same and over 120 years old, the Combustion engine has been re-invented and re-engineered a gazillion of times...
Maybe some of you guys here are young, but there were cars (large SUVs, or Sports Cars), that would consume 8-9mpg, yet still be slow as molasses compared to today's cars.
So, yes while the basic principles of the combustion engine are the same... but it has been re-engineered (from scratch), a many times, and each time it would be slightly better and better.
Additionally, the process of doing the physical engineering has changed drastically -- computational tools, design space exploration, optimization methods. (recognizing that the grandparent comment stuck specifically to screw-tech, but it's interesting to think about physical-engineering-innovation in broad terms)
Then there are innovations in manufacturing enabling new designs. 3D printing is coming along. Not everybody has to pull from a catalog of shapes, thicknesses, etc, for structural design.
Gas, Diesel, Turbine, Rotary, in-line, V, Turbo, Carburated, SuperCharged, SkyActive-X etc.. etc..
While the basics principles are the same and over 120 years old, the Combustion engine has been re-invented and re-engineered a gazillion of times...
Maybe some of you guys here are young, but there were cars (large SUVs, or Sports Cars), that would consume 8-9mpg, yet still be slow as molasses compared to today's cars.
So, yes while the basic principles of the combustion engine are the same... but it has been re-engineered (from scratch), a many times, and each time it would be slightly better and better.
Same with planes, jets, tanks, etc...