Slow fox or just me?

[25thmustang]

Hey guys,

I have a question or two with regards to a few fox bodies I have driven recently.

As some may know my car is not stock by any means, but it is not insane either. The heads are stock with a valve job, larger valves and rockers, there is a Cobra intake, TB, MAF, CAI, pulleys, long tubes, off road midpipe and mufflers, 3.73s and some other small misc items. Nothing radical in my eyes.

Recently a friend wanted me to drive his fox and give my opinion. His is an 89 GT, 5.0 with a full exhaust (shorties, catted H and a catback), Cobra intake, TB, Ecam, what felt like 3.55s and some other small supporting mods.

Now when I got in the car, I assumed it would be a bit slower than mine and in driving it around for a 10 minute ride or so, I got on the car a good amount. Rolling on it in 1st. Getting on it hard from a stop or two. Running it through the gears etc... The car went, but just felt sluggish to me. Ran it to 5000-5200 on the stock tach, hit 2nd gear and it went, but didn't break them loose and just seemed to get through the gear slowely. I felt the same thing when driving my sisters 89 GT with similar mods, intake, exhaust, 3.55s and smaller bolt ons. Both cars felt the same. I assumed my sisters was just slow, but now after driving his, I think they might be normal.

It wasn't until we got back and took mine for a drive I really saw it. Same roads, same condition exactly. I did some similar driving. rolling in 1st, from a stop etc... My car just acts 100% different. 1st-2nd into 3rd the tires spin, the car winds through the RPM 3x as fast. His car 1st - 3rd on a road you were going quick, but nothing terrible, mine on the same road had me feeling we were going way to fast and most of the time was spent spinning the tires. (BTW his and my sisters run 245 rear tires, mine runs 285s).

He asked my opinion and I gave him my honest one, in a nice way, but I'm starting to wondering if my opinion is useless. To me his car just felt sluggish, slow, weak etc... but it might actually be normal. Both his and her cars should be higher 13s, maybe low 14s cars and it could just be so long since I have driven one, that it's foreign to me.

I want to make sure his car is running to potential, and I know a dyno or track visit would tell the story, but then again I want to know what some of you guys with similar mods feel when driving your car. Rolling in 2nd gear at 3000 RPM will it spin the tires when floored? On decently quick shifts from 1st to second does it spin, bark, chirp the tires etc?

Sorry for the long winded post. I want to help my friend out, and figured I have been in and around these cars enough to know, but I just don't want the kid thinking there is something wrong with his car, if there isn't.

 

[82CapriRS]

mines got similar mods i would say. mods in sig. in first gear no matter what rpm it will roast the tires. 2nd gear at 3k usually breaks them loose to the point of wheel hop and if i let out of it an get back in its fine an wont spin till i hit 3rd where it will leave like maybe 2-3ft marks. from my experiance it has alot to do with the tires but dont we all know that? lol. now hopefully soon ill have my gt40ps an 1.7 roller rockers with port matched intake, maybe then ill have the spinning problem you have lol

 

[Makdaddymac]

mods in sig,
and i cannot brake them loose in second, i am po'd...although i am running some tall truck tires... i think i put my front tires on the back i could brake them loose....but my car does feel slow, and goes through the gears slow in my opinion....i am not happy with the gt40 mods.....

i think i want to go carb with a 600 and call it a day......

someone also put it to me like this, technically i should have 24lb injectors, considering my car is a budget 93 cobra that had the bigger maf,injectors...im not sure what cam was in the 93's but i could be at a fuel limit???

i need to go to the track if i cant run a 13.99 even with my rookie skills im carbing it or selling the motor and saving money for some serious displacement...

 

[25thmustang]

mods in sig,
and i cannot brake them loose in second, i am po'd...although i am running some tall truck tires... i think i put my front tires on the back i could brake them loose....but my car does feel slow, and goes through the gears slow in my opinion....i am not happy with the gt40 mods.....

i think i want to go carb with a 600 and call it a day......

someone also put it to me like this, technically i should have 24lb injectors, considering my car is a budget 93 cobra that had the bigger maf,injectors...im not sure what cam was in the 93's but i could be at a fuel limit???

i need to go to the track if i cant run a 13.99 even with my rookie skills im carbing it or selling the motor and saving money for some serious displacement...

Thanks guys, I guess to me it just doesn't feel like these cars are high 13 low 14 second cars. Once again I haven't driven down the track to a pass like that other than botched runs in my car for a while now. My sisters fox we don't care about how fast it is, after all she might race it, but rarely if ever floors it.

My friends car I want to be quick. I am trying to steer him in the right direction on what to do, but if the car is running fine, it needs more power. If there are truly issues, I want to help him find and fix them.

Mak, I'm not sure if you need 24s yet. My combo works well with the 19s, my brother made 313/33x with 24s, and before that made in the 290 rwhp range with them. 93 Cobras had a different cam than the HO 5.0s from my understanding.

 

[82CapriRS]

i am glad i went carb'd, runs so much better an deff more power. from my understanding the 93 cobra had a different cam all together but im sure 25th can correct me if im wrong. i dont see how you wouldnt runn low 13s with ease, i have stock long block, no roller rockers or anything an run consistang 13.6-13.7s with 2.1 60fts. its kinda hard to launch with it so goddamn low

 

[Makdaddymac]

i want high 12's with my mods,especially if 25th is in the mids.......lol....even though he is way more track skilled, shoot i dont care if someone else has to put my car in the 12's it should do it......

yeah the injector limits of the 19lbs is more hp than i have,but why did the 93's have 24lbs?
im just slow, i want to take it to the track but idk how i will do or if i will break something....cause im still battling weird overheating issues..

 

[82CapriRS]

there probably low 14 second cars. mine with stock intake an fuel infected with 2.73s ran 14.6 or 14.7. a friends 87 ttop car with exhaust an 3.73s an slicks ran 13.88@96mph i think with a 1.8 60ft

 

[Shaolin Crane]

mods in sig,
and i cannot brake them loose in second, i am po'd...although i am running some tall truck tires... i think i put my front tires on the back i could brake them loose....but my car does feel slow, and goes through the gears slow in my opinion....i am not happy with the gt40 mods.....

i think i want to go carb with a 600 and call it a day......

someone also put it to me like this, technically i should have 24lb injectors, considering my car is a budget 93 cobra that had the bigger maf,injectors...im not sure what cam was in the 93's but i could be at a fuel limit???

i need to go to the track if i cant run a 13.99 even with my rookie skills im carbing it or selling the motor and saving money for some serious displacement...

i can break 1st loose, 2nd loose, and when i power shift its got spin all the way through to 4th and all i have are kooks long tubes and BBK mid pipe, but maybe its the 3.73's

 

[91ghp5.0]

Honestly man, I think your car is a bit of a factory freak. I've always thought that. My last car was 3.73s, stock heads, stock intake, and a B cam. It was a 14 second car. It would roast 245's in first gear, chirp second, and that was about it. The car fell flat on it's face (not literally, but it ran out of the high gear "speed" it had in first and second) at the middle of third. It had a T5, and I could slam gears pretty well.

I moved up to an HCI car. X heads, E cam, GT40 intake, MAF, TB, all that stuff with 24 lb'ers (3.73 gears as well). It's also a full suspension car with 275's out back and a 3550. The car runs really well, especially considering it never had a proper dyno tune. I can spin them in first, break traction in second, and chirp third. Can't shift as fast as the T5 (I usually out-shift the synchros). It pulls all the way through the top of fourth.

I think the issue here is the stock E7 heads. The car can't breath...plain and simple. I didn't think it was all that big of a difference, but hopping back and forth between stock long block cars (brother's vert) and my car, I can tell a huge difference. Sorry if this sounds retarded, I'm half asleep in class right now.

 

[82CapriRS]

i want high 12's with my mods,especially if 25th is in the mids.......lol....even though he is way more track skilled, shoot i dont care if someone else has to put my car in the 12's it should do it......

yeah the injector limits of the 19lbs is more hp than i have,but why did the 93's have 24lbs?
im just slow, i want to take it to the track but idk how i will do or if i will break something....cause im still battling weird overheating issues..

your car is capable of 12s if tuned. then again some cars hit 12s without head mods, im pretty confident that my car would be high 12s or damn close. cannot wait for the gt40ps, 1.7rr's the port match intake and some more fuel pressure lol. once i run a couple good times on that setup then im gonna try the 175 shot on slicks b4 it starts to snow lol. hopefully the t-5 holds together for a single run

 

[cenok is family]

i dunno, my car isn't that much different than 25th's, biggest difference being my cam, and mine drives like 25th says his does. roasts them through ALL of first AND ALL of second, burns them going into 3rd and depending on how hot they are, will chirp into 4th sometimes. standing on it from 3k in 2nd gear roasts the tires, even THIRD gear will break them loose doing the same thing. i have a 275 on the rear too. my car runs pretty damn hard for what it's got though, especially since i've fixed my rich issue. there's more to your car mackdaddymac, just need to get a tune done to it.

 

[Flavadave4]

My car will blow the tires (275's) out anytime in first, and if you are beating on it, it will spin 2nd as well, a chirp out of 3rd is about it.

I just bought a 2004 Mustang GT 5 speed all stock and it makes my car feel like a John Force mustang...okay maybe thats a bit much but its definatly a difference. I thought I would like the 04 but its kind of boring.

 

[25thmustang]

Maybe I'm expecting what I thought my car felt like back when it had an intake, exhaust and gears. Back then it was going 13.0-13.1 @ 102-103 mph. Neither of these cars feel anything close to low 13s @ 100+.

They sound about "par for the course" I guess. Maybe I can talk the kid into hitting the dyno after he passes emissions and see if the car truly is making the power it should.

I'm sure I can talk him into hitting the track come spring time to get some real world numbers.

 

[90lxcoupe]

i just bought an 89 lx with an auto, and im with ya man, it feels slow. but its also got stock gears, stock motor, and a BBK cold air thats coming off the car in favor of a stock box.

I'm kinda jaded from driving my notch, but this car wont spin the tires from a standstill if i floor it, if i powerbrake it, it will haze the tires like a champ though, and alot of times it will bark second gear.

I've only been driving it for less than a day now though and im gonna do a tune-up and try and free up a little HP, i really could care less if its fast, its gonna be my DD for now, i picked it up for half nothing and its pretty clean.

 

[Makdaddymac]

okay lets talk specifics here.....

what do you guys mean blow first and roast second.......

all of us manual guys can roast first i hope??/....im no talking about dumping or spinning with the clutch.if i do a 3k dump im sure i will blow my tires off, and ride 2nd........what i do is roll to about 3k in first then stab it to 5k, i hear my tires braking loose but not like smoke show or wheel hop....then i shift second and no chirp....?? i cant chirp my jetta, but i aint going half as fast..

i think it has something to do with my clutch? i still don't think im engagin properly.....

 

[Shaolin Crane]

if im chugging through in first at 1k i can fry them by romping on it, same goes for 2nd if i dump it i can roast 3rd

 

[82CapriRS]

we mean what you said, 1st gear at any rpm you should be rippin the tires off without dumping the clutch, and when you hit 2nd gear hard like at the track 2nd gear should spin alot. mine spins a good amount an you have more power. might have something to do with your clutch or maybe you just drive differently then some of us, if you shift slower it might just chirp 2nd or nothing at all since the rpms dropped to much. i think every stick car i ever drove spun 2nd gear lol...including my YUGO!!! but i beat the piss out of that thing lol. hope this helps with the confusion makdaddymac

 

[1990Coupe]

My car is a DOGGGGGG.......

Then again its basically stock... All i have for "mods" right now are full exhaust (shorties, catted X pipe, mac cat back) and a K&N filter panel.

I'm hoping once i put the GT40's, rockers, explorer intake, U/D pullies and 3.55's i have lying in the garage on, she really wakes up? I hope cause i'm starting to get REALLY bored

 

[nick6690]

Running through the gears with my stock motor, some bolt ons and 3.73's 1st would spin no matter what RPM and 2nd would spin for a little bit, and sometimes I could get 3rd to chirp.

 

[Makdaddymac]

okay well its not my driving i drive manual everyday since i have had my license........i did t5 swap for a reason

ok then i am right when i say my car is a dog....im going to check my gears....maybe i was lied to about my rear end. maybe i'm rocking 2.73's still

im runnig 255/60/15 on the turbines out back.....

or i need a maf and tune......besides the carb,i am the only speed dense in this thread..right??