Harder and Harder to be relevant

[1997GT4.6]

Yeah, I'd agree that car payments would suck. I've bought the few cars I've owned solely with cash. I'd rather not be stressed about payments. Just wish I had the motivation to mod my B head 4V.

I know most of the regulars on here would have no issue with buying a new Mustang, they just don't want one. Just about every build thread on here has over $10,000 in parts being added to SN's because that is what we like, not just what we can afford.

Yes, there are many on here that I'm more than sure can swing one. I wish I could, as do a lot of us younger guys on here. That's all I meant. Once I finish school I'll be looking into one. Or a Focus RS, but right now I want an ST but would be hard to make those payments.

 

[DropTopPony]

Yeah, I'd agree that car payments would suck. I've bought the few cars I've owned solely with cash. I'd rather not be stressed about payments. Just wish I had the motivation to mod my B head 4V.


Yes, there are many on here that I'm more than sure can swing one. I wish I could, as do a lot of us younger guys on here. That's all I meant. Once I finish school I'll be looking into one. Or a Focus RS, but right now I want an ST but would be hard to make those payments.

Let me give some free advice to the youngins

After many years of being a successful car salesman the biggest lesson I learned is, cars are a bad investment!
Seriously I watched people bury themselves in debt every day for a very large impulse buy. Those same people were back 2 months later trying to get out of the car.

I do not finance a car unless they are offering 0% and then I will only do that if I have the money saved up.

When we do buy new cars we will drive them for at least 7-8 years if not longer depending on how they are holding up.

So for you youngins looking for the latest and greatest I would say WAIT... wait until you can honestly afford a car payment and everything that goes along with a new car.
Finding yourself a clean SN for a reasonable price and adding to it as you can afford to may save you money over time so that you can buy a new car with a large down payment.

 

[white95]

 

[DropTopPony]

Yeah, I'd agree that car payments would suck. I've bought the few cars I've owned solely with cash. I'd rather not be stressed about payments. Just wish I had the motivation to mod my B head 4V.

I almost bought a nice 4V vert a few months back but decided to keep my GT.

Throw a blower on there and you will hurt some feelings with an almost 20 year old car. That is what my plans were going to be. I was looking at a T-trim or Novi 2000 intercooled kits and then rebuild the short block to really crank up the power.

 

[DropTopPony]

It's like a running back coming through the offensive line.

 

[white95]

It's like a running back coming through the offensive line.

Right?

 

[DavidBoren]

Yeah, newer cars are huge and heavy. But they have to be for the safety equipment/features required to give 500hp to the untrained public.

It is not the other way around. The cars do not have 500hp because they are big and heavy. Technology is advancing, efficiency is increasing, power is going to go up. Every V6 made in the past decade makes the same power as every production small block V8 from two decades ago. As technology advances and power comes more easily, we have to build bigger cars because you can't give the public a 650hp direct injection supercharged LT4 in a 2500# tin can.

Be safe, have fun. If you want to be the fastest, do it right, and do it on the track. You are actually allowed to brag about winning races, light to light shit is dangerous and juvenile.

As for the four doors aren't cool comment, go drive a Cadillac CTS-V, then report back to me.

 

[1997GT4.6]

Let me give some free advice to the youngins

After many years of being a successful car salesman the biggest lesson I learned is, cars are a bad investment!
Seriously I watched people bury themselves in debt every day for a very large impulse buy. Those same people were back 2 months later trying to get out of the car.

I do not finance a car unless they are offering 0% and then I will only do that if I have the money saved up.

When we do buy new cars we will drive them for at least 7-8 years if not longer depending on how they are holding up.

So for you youngins looking for the latest and greatest I would say WAIT... wait until you can honestly afford a car payment and everything that goes along with a new car.
Finding yourself a clean SN for a reasonable price and adding to it as you can afford to may save you money over time so that you can buy a new car with a large down payment.

Thanks for the advice! Yeah, I've always been cautious with money even when I could afford a newer car. I chose to buy an older mustang so that I wouldn't be strapped making payments and have money for fun stuff. But man do I really want a focus st! Working in retail will not allow that though. I'll have to wait until I finish school.

I almost bought a nice 4V vert a few months back but decided to keep my GT.

Throw a blower on there and you will hurt some feelings with an almost 20 year old car. That is what my plans were going to be. I was looking at a T-trim or Novi 2000 intercooled kits and then rebuild the short block to really crank up the power.

A GT with a blower is a fun car too. Cobra is just for the cool factor and the 4v.

Depends on what you are racing. A blown B head cobra will still struggle with a coyote. And rarely win. Now, if you are racing factory boosted 4 cylinders then yeah. A nice T-trim would be awesome on your car! Would be a lot of fun, and once you build the short block it'll be a lot more fun.

Sorry for the late reply, just seeing this and haven't logged on as much as I used to.

 

[wnyman10]

I might be a tad biased but I drove a 2012 Camaro SS and dont get me wrong its quick and its fun but there is something missing. It sits to nice its to quiet. I have a 1995 Gt has 3.73 gears off road x and some bolt ons and its much more fun to me, not as fast but more fun. Its noisy it creeks there is no doo dads on the dash that I gotta turn off the clutch is stiff and the shifter is notchy. If I wanna drive a quiet smooth riding car Ill drive my wife's car, When I wanna tear around and have fun I wanna feel it and hear it. I also dont feel bad when I want to do something cheap.
I took some of my interior panels out and resprayed them gloss black and put them back in they weren't perfect but looked good and was a major improvement over the sun faded scratched up old ones. If I bought a brand new one I wouldn't do that I would never take a spray bomb to a 2015 Mustang GT interior I would feel bad. I love my 1995 and wouldn't trade it, its mine its unique and I think its cool. A nice looking SN catches my eye way faster then another Challenger SRT8 or Camaro SS they are a dime a dozen.

 

[1998cobrasvt]

They love to advertise those new hp numbers! They are impressive, however chevy and dodge almost try to ignore the fact that the extra hp is compensating for the added weight of their cars... atleast ford keeps weight in mind at 3700-3800 lbs. The zl1 is 580 hp but weighs approx 4,300 lbs with a single driver and no items in car.. in that car its hard to brake 12s...but its 60-75 grand!? the previous generation camaro (as much as i think they were ugly) was better simply due to weight...approx 1000 lbs lighter and hell you can own 3 of um all getting into the 11s for the same price lol. Never forget the weight! Your Rwhp to weight is solid op!

 

[V8RUMBL]

I bought my car because its cheap and looks neat. Not trying to win races.

 

[DavidBoren]

Mustangs are pig heavy, just like everyone else. And have been comparable in weight and stature to the GM/Mopar equivalent since the beginning of the pony wars. Don't kid yourself that 4300# is so far and your 3800# is so svelte and slim. I can't attest for Mopar, but the camaro more than makes up for the weight with its suspension. The mustang hasn't been able to hold a candle to the camaro (handling-wise) in 30+ years.

I think that people need to look at their SN's like resto-mod type builds. Everyone loves a classic mustang with a coyote swap. The SN95 is a classic this year, is it not?

People dump tens of thousands of dollars into '69 camaros in the pro-touring scene. They buy rusted shells and spend hundreds of hours repairing and modifying them for modern road race suspensions. They drop in $10k LSX crate motors. And all of this is done as a matter of course, no questions asked, it's just what needs to be done to make a classic camaro relevant.

We need to start looking at the SN the same way if we want them to be relevant. People hold on to craps Windsor motors for novelty's sake, or nobody is willing to dump real money into their SN, and then ***** about it not being relevant today.

You have to pay to play. If you want to be relevant today, then you need to be equipped with the technology of today. It takes time, money, skill, ingenuity, patience, and above all else determination/commitment to put today's relevant technology into yesterday's irrelevant equipment.

 

[1998cobrasvt]

Mustangs are pig heavy, just like everyone else. And have been comparable in weight and stature to the GM/Mopar equivalent since the beginning of the pony wars. Don't kid yourself that 4300# is so far and your 3800# is so svelte and slim. I can't attest for Mopar, but the camaro more than makes up for the weight with its suspension. The mustang hasn't been able to hold a candle to the camaro (handling-wise) in 30+ years.

I think that people need to look at their SN's like resto-mod type builds. Everyone loves a classic mustang with a coyote swap. The SN95 is a classic this year, is it not?

People dump tens of thousands of dollars into '69 camaros in the pro-touring scene. They buy rusted shells and spend hundreds of hours repairing and modifying them for modern road race suspensions. They drop in $10k LSX crate motors. And all of this is done as a matter of course, no questions asked, it's just what needs to be done to make a classic camaro relevant.

We need to start looking at the SN the same way if we want them to be relevant. People hold on to craps Windsor motors for novelty's sake, or nobody is willing to dump real money into their SN, and then ***** about it not being relevant today.

You have to pay to play. If you want to be relevant today, then you need to be equipped with the technology of today. It takes time, money, skill, ingenuity, patience, and above all else determination/commitment to put today's relevant technology into yesterday's irrelevant equipment.

Hold a candle? 30 years? i think not... At laguna seca the Boss 302r and the z28r went head to head with other cars....the naturally aspirated z28 came in first then the 302r by .5 sec... i wouldnt call that track destruction... the gt350 was made specifically for this problem, looking forward to seeing the results in the following months. Im sure that will give them a run for there money... me personally im not impressed with the camaros, if i was ever in a position where i was considering throwing 75k into a chevy car it would be a corvette over a camaro hands down. 1,000lbs is a difference... also that 3700 on the new mustangs can be shed to race weight if so desired, the 4300 can go to what... 3800 if your lucky before it gets challenging? why not just buy a vette?...

As for the rest i agree!

 

[DavidBoren]

Oh man, I'm not impressed by the camaro, either. I am, however, a huge fan of the corvette. If I buy a V8 car that weighs anything close to 4000#, it's going to be a CTS-V.

I want to build a V8 240Z as a hooning/daily driver simply because it's my favorite of the sub-3000# cars. A first generation miata is lighter, but I'm a man.

 

[DropTopPony]

I don't know my friends ZL1 is pretty god damn badass and insanely fun to drive around. If I had a spare $75k I would be in serious consideration for one and I also am not a fan of the new Camaro but it is a week done machine.

 

[1998cobrasvt]

Oh man, I'm not impressed by the camaro, either. I am, however, a huge fan of the corvette. If I buy a V8 car that weighs anything close to 4000#, it's going to be a CTS-V.

I want to build a V8 240Z as a hooning/daily driver simply because it's my favorite of the sub-3000# cars. A first generation miata is lighter, but I'm a man.

Agreed, fan of the corvette and i would also choose the ctsv over a camaro, saw a Hennessy cts-v last summer 1200hp. Oh man the body kit on that car made it look like the bat-mobile.

The v8 z would be badass! that thing would move out, and lawlz at the miata comment :grin:

I don't know my friends ZL1 is pretty god damn badass and insanely fun to drive around. If I had a spare $75k I would be in serious consideration for one and I also am not a fan of the new Camaro but it is a week done machine.

Dont mind the looks of the zl1, actually i think looks-wise they win hands down over the 02 gen 4's. im sure they are extremely fun cars! Im just not impressed with the fact that at 580 hp it struggles braking out of the 12's. The base model 60K z51 vette has no problem braking 11s stock as well as the hell cat is low 11's to 10 sec car for the same price. If i was going track it would be a vette maybe a gt350 if i was going drag racing i would consider a gt500 or maybe a hell cat as with just an e85 convert from the factory it will put down 886 no problem.

 

[Carnage281]

I dunno, I have always been a fan of taking old cars and making them into complete monsters. Nothing like the pride of driving something you built and put together.

 

[1998cobrasvt]

I dunno, I have always been a fan of taking old cars and making them into complete monsters. Nothing like the pride of driving something you built and put together.

I was talking new cars for a second but yeah i hear you, thats why im building my 98

 

[DavidBoren]

Anyone can buy a new performance car and perform. Not everyone can take yesterday's performance car(s) and make them perform today. That really is something to be proud of.

Not that anyone here really cares for camaros, but "big red", a 1969 'maro, went 238mph in the mega mile. So it is VERY possible to take irrelevant equipment and make it contend with even today's top performers.

 

[1998cobrasvt]

Anyone can buy a new performance car and perform. Not everyone can take yesterday's performance car(s) and make them perform today. That really is something to be proud of.

+1, i bought my sn95 because i love the car, not because i couldn't afford a 2010-2015. I cannot wait for the day when my resto mods are complete. Aiming for a full build.