driftingmustang
Active Member
well, I'm a libran, meaning i try to look at things from a balanced perspective. lately I've been pondering why do some people like light weight four bangers.
I think, that I have as an unbiased view of this as a proud mustang owner can get. I am half chinese. I grew up a little bit around cars, and they were all imports. I have rapaired and/or extensively driven Mitsubishi diamantes, Mitsubishi 3000gt vr4, Acura 3.2TL, Toyota Camery and Honda civic (coupe) and when i was growing up, around the corner from my block, import racing scene was big. Also, my dad does come from the muscle car days of the 60's and early 70's (owning a 1965 mustang, charger, and challenger at diffrent points in time, and he street raced).
Now, I can understand liking the V-r4 (or even the diamante) and the 3.2TL is a realy nice car, the part that gets me are the guys who like Civics, integras, preludes, eclipses etc. (cars simalr to those).
I have a 1994 16 valve honda civic coupe (which was acquired for free from my aunt). It is the same generation as a 1996 civic and my Mustang GT is also a 96 so i think it can be somewhat of a fair comparison. Here's my Rundown an opinions of the 2 cars:
Honda civic is amazing on gas, but i am writing about performance cause civic fans like to brag. Th car is 16 valve but it's not a vtech. The car feels peppy off the line for the first 20 mph but The car has a slower 40 to 60 than my mustang has a zero to 60. Going up hill is horrible. peddle to the mettle, you acelarate 1 mph. per second after going beyond 20 mph. that is not very over exagerated if at all. now, many civic fans who acknoweldge the lack of speed say "i can actualy turn." as a civic owner, i will attest to the fact that they are not great handlers at all. The car has a 63% Front and 47% wight balance and it's FWD. Understeer is a gross understatement. at higher speeds, 60 and above, the car feels very unstable by comparison to everything else i have driven probaly because it's so light. a truck passes you, the car sways a bit back and forth, hell, it sways for no reason other than the fact the no road is perfectley even. the faster you go, the worst it feels, and yes, the tires are balanced. The muffler roted out and fell off the exhaust pipe, and muffler had to be replaced. engine runs great, but the automatic transmission is realy rough and takes a full 5 seconds to engage after you put it into drive. you know it's engaged with a nice thump. The car has been slightley lowered simply by putting slightly smaller wheels on the car (done before i got it)
My 96 mustang GT is a manual transmission. It's been lowered (bought it like that) and definatley handles better than the civic. i wouldnt know how a mustang feels around the turns stock. the car feels much more stable than the civic, and my the wheels DO need to be balanced. has a K/N intake, otherwise completely stock. from this point on, you guys know the rest.
Now, what is with these light weight fwd 4 banger car fans?! I am from the same generation as these numb nuts, I do like the first and third fast and the furious. I am half Asian, and have even lived in asia. I Love the supra, The S2000, and the skyline (not as much as the mustang), I am very much into drifting, and touges. I do have mad respect for great built cars no matter the brand or driveline. I think some body kits kick ass. (but not into vinyls, like my rides clean). I love the sound of a turbo and think 4 cylinders done right sound second best to 8 cylinders. and even with all this, I do not understand these Import car freaks. they seem to deny anything good about domestics and think their 4 bangers are fast naturally aspirated (only s2000 owners can say that).
By the way, I hate ricers, which i define as poser racers and or cars that has an overexgerated wing and a fart can and/or and ugly body kit and lots of stickers (or a couple inappropriate ones).i also define it as a import car fan so dumb that if you say "i have done in ls1 swap into my civic" while the hood is wide open, and he belives you and acts like he knows exactley what you are talking when in fact he has no idea what the LS1 is, and he never asks.
I think, that I have as an unbiased view of this as a proud mustang owner can get. I am half chinese. I grew up a little bit around cars, and they were all imports. I have rapaired and/or extensively driven Mitsubishi diamantes, Mitsubishi 3000gt vr4, Acura 3.2TL, Toyota Camery and Honda civic (coupe) and when i was growing up, around the corner from my block, import racing scene was big. Also, my dad does come from the muscle car days of the 60's and early 70's (owning a 1965 mustang, charger, and challenger at diffrent points in time, and he street raced).
Now, I can understand liking the V-r4 (or even the diamante) and the 3.2TL is a realy nice car, the part that gets me are the guys who like Civics, integras, preludes, eclipses etc. (cars simalr to those).
I have a 1994 16 valve honda civic coupe (which was acquired for free from my aunt). It is the same generation as a 1996 civic and my Mustang GT is also a 96 so i think it can be somewhat of a fair comparison. Here's my Rundown an opinions of the 2 cars:
Honda civic is amazing on gas, but i am writing about performance cause civic fans like to brag. Th car is 16 valve but it's not a vtech. The car feels peppy off the line for the first 20 mph but The car has a slower 40 to 60 than my mustang has a zero to 60. Going up hill is horrible. peddle to the mettle, you acelarate 1 mph. per second after going beyond 20 mph. that is not very over exagerated if at all. now, many civic fans who acknoweldge the lack of speed say "i can actualy turn." as a civic owner, i will attest to the fact that they are not great handlers at all. The car has a 63% Front and 47% wight balance and it's FWD. Understeer is a gross understatement. at higher speeds, 60 and above, the car feels very unstable by comparison to everything else i have driven probaly because it's so light. a truck passes you, the car sways a bit back and forth, hell, it sways for no reason other than the fact the no road is perfectley even. the faster you go, the worst it feels, and yes, the tires are balanced. The muffler roted out and fell off the exhaust pipe, and muffler had to be replaced. engine runs great, but the automatic transmission is realy rough and takes a full 5 seconds to engage after you put it into drive. you know it's engaged with a nice thump. The car has been slightley lowered simply by putting slightly smaller wheels on the car (done before i got it)
My 96 mustang GT is a manual transmission. It's been lowered (bought it like that) and definatley handles better than the civic. i wouldnt know how a mustang feels around the turns stock. the car feels much more stable than the civic, and my the wheels DO need to be balanced. has a K/N intake, otherwise completely stock. from this point on, you guys know the rest.
Now, what is with these light weight fwd 4 banger car fans?! I am from the same generation as these numb nuts, I do like the first and third fast and the furious. I am half Asian, and have even lived in asia. I Love the supra, The S2000, and the skyline (not as much as the mustang), I am very much into drifting, and touges. I do have mad respect for great built cars no matter the brand or driveline. I think some body kits kick ass. (but not into vinyls, like my rides clean). I love the sound of a turbo and think 4 cylinders done right sound second best to 8 cylinders. and even with all this, I do not understand these Import car freaks. they seem to deny anything good about domestics and think their 4 bangers are fast naturally aspirated (only s2000 owners can say that).
By the way, I hate ricers, which i define as poser racers and or cars that has an overexgerated wing and a fart can and/or and ugly body kit and lots of stickers (or a couple inappropriate ones).i also define it as a import car fan so dumb that if you say "i have done in ls1 swap into my civic" while the hood is wide open, and he belives you and acts like he knows exactley what you are talking when in fact he has no idea what the LS1 is, and he never asks.