High Powered New Cars

[Michael Yount]

"and you are right thats why he couldnt beat me"

Oh he could beat you - you just didn't race LONG enough....

General rule of thumb when weight of the two cars is about equal -- torque=acceleration potential; HP=top end potential

Speaking of AMG - I love the version of the motor that's in the Maybach -- 5.4L twin turbo V12; 500-550HP depending on the model; almost 600-650 lb-ft of torque with a peak that's almost flat from about 1800 rpm to 4500 rpm. Great street motor....

 

[cleanLX]

Talk to Evo and WRX/STi owners...

I am die'n for a WRX STi... I'll take mine in silver.
Wife is dead set on a new SUV to replace her age'n Cherokee...
Cannot justify 2 vehicle payments... Looks like I'm getting a hand me down Cherokee... LOL!

 

[5spd GT]

Just remember when in a race (from a stop) the cars with 6-7k redlines will be above 3,000 rpm in under a second most of the time where horsepower becomes the deciding factor more so than "torque" (as generally spoken of). So your using the power up top 95% of the time (racing to 100mph or so for example).

 

[Michael Yount]

cleanLX - see if you can talk her into the Forrester with the turbo motor; quickest car to 30 mph that C&D ever tested - 1.2 seconds; 13.9 quarter at 97 mph. And most/many WRX and STi parts bolt on -- an SUV for her; a turbo-subie for you.

 

[Michael Yount]

5spd - it's the shape of those curves that's most important. Many of the smaller displacement, high HP engines have pretty peaky torque curves as well --- it's average power/torque over the rpm range in question that does the deed.

 

[darthcual]

What are your mods to take one? They have 287 hp out of a v6 and trap close to 100mph in the quarter mile. They have plenty of torque. Broad and flat for a 6 cylinder. Was it a 6spd? Driver error could play a part in that...but it all depends on driver and mods.

Most cars are slightly underrated (today's cars). They are putting out the power claimed.

Wow i got alot of the major bolt ons such as pulleys and such. And out of the box twisted wedge heads. An E cam, roller rockers, cobra intake/ac/smog delete / lakewood 90/10s/ drag springs/ subframes/ summit rear controls/ dyno max dumps and other odds and ends but nothing ported or polished. And yes the driver has alot to do with it cuz he (Lee) only had his 350z for about four weeks and ive had my stang for almost 3 yrs and just paid it off the other day.

Oh and riding with him those things blow thru there power band very quickly. Dunno if that made the difference.

 

[The Shape]

The newer cars are definently getting more powerfull and there are plenty of choices out there. But (opinion) the styling gets worse each year. Ford did a good job on the new stang and I think the T-bird would have done better if the price wasn't so high. But the new dodge charger is horrible looking and the GTO isn't far behind it. The cars nowdays may be faster than the old muscle cars ,but the styling isn't even in the same league. Of course this is just my opinion, I may be the only one who finds chrome bumpers attractive

 

[5spd GT]

Michael Yount - You ain't kidding about the Forrester. Very nice. I raced one at the track (I was wondering why he put on a helmet because it looked stock). Well he pulled off a 1.8 60ft (it was a bit modded though) and I was behind but I was catching him at the end of the track and eventually passed him. It was a nice ride though (maroon). Cool guy as well.

Now I realize the torque matters...but I was speaking in general which I was hoping was implied. We don't have the typing time to go into every single detail and since most of the info in this thread is general I figured I would follow in it's footsteps with just a little bit of specifics. I was talking about stangs (especially the geared stangs). The 3,000rpm mark is quickly passed especially if your slipping the clutch. So horsepower takes up most of that time. You aught to know by now that I am all about that "daily driver torque" but just stating the obvious about how just because a stang might put out 300ft lbs. doesn't mean a 6 cylinder that puts out 250ft lbs will lose "off the line".

 

[5spd GT]

Wow i got alot of the major bolt ons such as pulleys and such. And out of the box twisted wedge heads. An E cam, roller rockers, cobra intake/ac/smog delete / lakewood 90/10s/ drag springs/ subframes/ summit rear controls/ dyno max dumps and other odds and ends but nothing ported or polished. And yes the driver has alot to do with it cuz he (Lee) only had his 350z for about four weeks and ive had my stang for almost 3 yrs and just paid it off the other day.

Okay now I know why you beat him

Especially under traction those drag spring/shock combo should have him "off the line" easily as well as you putting out more power and lightened stang that you can take him like you did.

 

[darthcual]

Okay now I know why you beat him

Especially under traction those drag spring/shock combo should have him "off the line" easily as well as you putting out more power and lightened stang that you can take him like you did.

actually what sad cause i'm not that great of a driver, is it was pretty much neck and neck off the line but his shift points brought me to the lead and his third was no match for mine. The weird thing is compared to most of you guys i think my combo is really mild so i seriously doubt i'm making more than 250hp and 310ft lbs of torque. So possibly it is the driver was the problem. And I whole heartedly agree with your statement about it not mattering v6 or yikes shall i say it v4 when F/I is present. I'll never forget my first race was against a porsche 911 turbo. I was good till about 2nd gear and his turbo spooled up and he was gone. It was an older one too. Like maybe a 93-94.

 

[Michael Yount]

I drove a modded 911 Turbo - bigger intercooler, lower compression, 3.8L, bigger turbo, modded computer/engine management system - car made about 500 rwhp. I can't find words to describe how quickly it accelerated. But if you really want to impress someone - you stand on the brakes in one of those - unbelievable stopping power with the engine in the back - you can actually use the brakes on all 4 tires...

 

[darthcual]

Yes i plan not to race one again unless i have F/I on my car. I might try one of them boxters if they'll give me the jump
^^
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[live2ride204]

Sure, on one hand it sucks to get blown away by a soccer mom w/ a car full of kids laughing at you, but it really comes down to apples and oranges.
If any one of us took the kind of money that is spent on these newer cars and properly applied it to any of our cars, we would handle tighter, stop shorter, look better, out-run, and out-show any of those cars.
But the bottom line, it is what it is. Some of us have $8,000 in our cars. Some of them will spend $80,000 on theirs by the time interest, insurance, and work is all done.
Ultimately, it doesn't matter. We all have to live within our means, and maybe the guy who just smoked you in his caddy is jealous of the guy who just smoked him in his viper, who is jealous of the guy who just smoked him in his bentley, who might even be jealous of the guy who just smoked him in his $12,000 budget build-up 9 second "street" car!
Get the point?
It's all in the eye of the beholder.
Ferraii, viper, Mustang, Evo, escort, Grand Prix, it doesn't matter: Maybe it's the sound of an exhaust, the plush beauty of an interior. The bare bones, stripped to the core interior. The soft lines of the body. The hard lines of a body. The "shake" and burble of a lopey cam. The whisper quiet whirr of 300 horses. A hood ornament. A status symbol. A name. A brotherhood. A work-in-progress; a project. The pride of making something from nothing, with your own blood, sweat (and sure, sometimes tears!).
Whatever it is that does it for you, be happy and grateful for what you've got, and if you want more, go for it! Nothing in this life is free (for most of us), and certainly, "you've got to pay to play"!!!

Keep in mind, too, the grass is not always greener on the other side

until you're completely contented, don't ever settle.
(oh, and p.s., don't ever be contented)


I'm sorry - did that rant go off-topic?

Well said man, i totally agree. I have had my car for about 7 years, i paid 8k for it way back when and i have got every penny out of it. Yeah it has problems now but there older cars. I think most people that have 5.0s are enthusiast and love there cars, hopefully, i know i do, the sound, the looks, everything . My GSXR blows it away but its also 11 yrs newer and cost the same for 2 wheels, lol. To bad i cant tear down a whole 5.0 in a day like my bike but i am learning

My 2 cents.

 

[jaymac]

Definitely Bro - I started out 7 years ago w/ a 4 banger LX and did some suspension, exhaust, interior, any stupid little thing I could. I was a Stangnet member back then, in the 4 cyl. forum, of course
When the car was T-boned, I started to take the motor apart, piece by piece, just cuz I wanted to learn what it was all about and how to do it!
All these years later, on my 3rd (and nicest) Mustang, I still love taking things apart and learning how they work and how I can make them work better.
By no means is my car the fastest, loudest, best stopping or cornering thing I come up against every day. Most likely the opposite in many caes - BUT THAT'S OK!! To me (IMO), driving the car and the cars performance is only part of the love of it all. By no means am I be-littling people who don't work on their cars themselves; There's nothing wrong with it, and I've paid to have stuff done to my car several times. But working on my car myself and saving up for the next big (for me) purchase gives me such a sense of fulfillment that I don't mind getting smoked by something $30,000 more expensive than what I can afford - heck, even $2000 more than what I can afford. If I had the money, I would smoke THEM! But that's life!
I love my car, I love working on it, I love driving it, I love looking at it (I love OTHER people looking at it), I love listening to it, and I'm very grateful for everything that I have.
That being said--I will always be in a quest for more power, better handling, and more overall performance. If I wasn't, I wouldn't be a "hot rodder".

 

[HighMileage]

At idle the GTO sounds like any other V8 Camaro or V6 Grand Prix. I wouldn't pay for such wimpy sounding car, if it had 600 horsepower.

There's a lot of Grand Prix's that are starting to have the GTO hoods, but I don't see many drive a GTO. I guess that's what they think of the GTO.

 

[ramjetlx]

TJM - have you been completely asleep? There's never been a greater HP war than right now. The new Eclipse even at 3500 pounds is running 14.5's at 100 mph with a 260HP 3.8L naturally aspirated V6. Makes the V6 Stang look rather wimpy by comparison. Comes close to the V8 Mustang's performance with 40 less hp and 2 less cylinders. Heck, the new 4 door Toyota Avalon with a 280HP V6 runs mid-to-high 14's. That's your grandparents 4 door sedan. The fact is that if either of these cars, or the many others that have similar performance, get 1/2 - 1 second jump on you (reaction time alone will account for that) you wouldn't catch them in the 1/4. Heads up, they'll run right with many older Stangs. It's even worse for some of the more expensive performance sedans/models that are available. And worse still when you consider that most of these cars stop better, handle better, are more reliable, get better fuel mileage and are cleaner emissions-wise than the older injected cars.

Ain't technology great??

Sure its great, but lets be real, most people cant drive like the pro's who run these tests. For the real world I would add about half a second to what the experts quote. I never believe what they say, sometimes they leave out additional mods that were made to get the times, just like some manufacturers in the 1960's. I have yet to see an STI over here run the supposed low 13's stock, most here are low 14's-high 13's. Im sure it can, but as I said before, a pro was driving it.

 

[nito88stang]

yeah, it kinda sux to put so much work in ur car and still get worked by some of the newer cars.

 

[jaymac]

from what I've seen, the Grand Prix's are slow anyway. I've put down better times than both the Grand Prix's at the track. Are they supercharged? One of them had an audible blower whine....

 

[darthcual]

Some of them were supercharged jaymac. I dont know about the newest models tho. Maybe someone else could chime in.

 

[bluray]

yeah, it kinda sux to put so much work in ur car and still get worked by some of the newer cars.

vvv Bottom line vvv

2005 Mustang ~$25,000.00 = Payments for 7 years bone stock with good power off the showroom floor.

1979-1993 5.0 Mustang ~$1200.00-$5000.00 = Payed off then and there with ~$22,000.00 that you saved on buying the new stang to put into mods.

Conclusion: With the ~$22,000.00 saved on buying a new stang put into mods, there is no way that much of anything out there will keep up with ur fox, new or old. You also get the satisfaction of saying that your car is fairly unique on the road with all the changes made, and you made it that way (whether you do the work or someone else, it's still your vision). I see millions of new stangs and I very rarely see a fox done up nice.