This an idea that I have in my head for quite some time and I would like to let it go out and discuss it with some other peeps. I propose: Modular thrusters, inspired by from the depths. This might be the next biggest thing since armored thrusters!

Have different nozzle sizes as base module and add upgrade modules and nodes, which increase the amount of upgrade ports. This enables having big parts of your ships, like nacelles, containing thruster modules and just one big nozzle equaling to many many vanilla thrusters. Modules should have negative side effects like increased energy usage or slower increase of acceleration (you have to hold the button until you reach maximum acceleration, just like real life jet engines need time to spool up).

Bonuses should add up to multipliers that modify the base stats of the nozzle size.

Problem: Which modul effects make sense?
"vanilla" thruster properties:
-thrust
-energy/fuel usage
-cost
-weight

This would make only modules sensible, which improve thrust and energy/fuel usage, which is a bit meager.

additional properties, which could improve module diversity:
-spooling up
-overheating, resulting in damage
-thrust depending on current speed (higher thrust at lower speed and vice versa as a penalty)
-effectiveness of dampeners (ability to reduce speed)
-built in capacitors

Rough ideas for modules:
Boost module: increases thrust with a high energy and fuel penalty
Thrust module: increases thrust with a lesser penalty than the boost module but increases the need for spooling up
Acceleration module: counteracts the the penalty of the thruster module
Cooling module
Efficency module: reducing power/fuel consumption up to a certain limit
Push module: increase thrust at low speed and decreases thrust at high speeds
reaction module: increases dampening effect for this particular thruster
capacitor: charge up while the thruster is not used, provides power to the thruster even if the grid cant power the thruster completely or at all.
connecting nodes also could have some balanced basic stats.

The modules themselves should be absolutely passive, adding their bonuses and penalties directly to the nozzles if they are connected and having their settings in the control panel in the nozzle, so they dont even have to appear there.
For example: you have a nozzle and a boost module connected to it. In the control panel of the nozzle there is an option to activate and deactivate the boost modules connected to this nozzle, but the boost module itself doesnt have an entry in the control panel.

The modules just give their bonuses to the nozzles if they are connected and remove the bonuses if they are damaged or disconnected from the nozzle. This means the modules will only have an impact on simspeed when they are connected and disconnected and dont have more of an impact than armorblocks otherwise.

This idea could also work for reactors, gyroscopes and probably also the production blocks to reduce the need for many individual functional blocks, resulting in rooms filled with gyroscopes or reactors to be replaced with just one really powerful custom made reactor or gyroscope and therefore less lag.