Mr. Rustypwnz
Advanced Member
In the 1/4 no, but on a road course it'll humiliate even a new Evo or STi with a few minor suspension upgrades (basically urathane bushings) and good tires. They didn't make enough torque to run what i'm running in the 1/4 but on the highway from a roll or something like that it would definitely be close, no contest at all in the corners. My Merkur is probably putting down around 190-200hp, maybe 240tq. The US cars came with an open diff IRS rear end so they're really not suited for drag racing.
There's a guy local to me who auto crosses one and he's got race rubber 275/17's all around and that car hooks so hard in the corners that it almost tips on 2 wheels if he's not careful.
wanna run my gs-t? 18psi of intercooled boost baby!!! its got about $200 worth of work and it traps at 97-99mph it trapped at 95 with a f'd boost controller and making around 13psi with lots of boost creep..
but the 2.3's are fun, a good t3/t4, ported head/intake, and a big ic will make really good power for the money..