Among the oldest engines still in production today is the small-block Chevy (SBC) V8, and you may have heard that GM recently took the covers off the latest entrants into the sixth-gen family — the 5.7-liter L76 and 6.6-liter L78. While the headline figures of more power and capability are all exciting news, the fact that these engines no longer feature the good 'ol dipstick might come as a bit of a letdown to ardent GM fans.

Although GM is not the first company to drop dipsticks, many enthusiasts consider it an unnecessary complication to engine maintenance. However, that's not exactly the sentiment that Ian Stahl, Assistant Chief Engineer of Small Block Engines at GM, has towards the idea. Speaking to YouTube's The Fast Lane Truck, Stahl was quoted as saying, "I've never been a fan of them." He likens the whole oil dipstick shebang to how many people didn't like seatbelts back in the old days. "Now, nobody thinks twice about [seatbelts]... so everything takes time to get accustomed to," according to Stahl.

Perhaps his rationale of not many owners checking oil or knowing how to check it correctly may hold water, but apart from that, the engine's packaging and other design considerations also played their part in the decision to ditch the traditional setup. Instead, what you find is a battery of sensors that rely on a number of parameters, including driving time, temperature, and miles driven, to check the oil pressure, oil level, and oil life.

While the video's comment section didn't spare Stahl or his remarks, it's worth noting that these sixth-gen small blocks do bring along several noteworthy upgrades over the outgoing 5.3 and 6.2.