Modifying for nothing?

[low9sGT hahajk]

:nonono: I'm just curious how you guys feel about something that is sort of annoying me. I bought my 97 gt about 2 months ago and it seems like maybe it was a bad choice. I thought before i got this car that it would be a little easier to pull power out of it...I believe I was wrong. I knew mustangs were slower in stock form than almost every other muscle car, but for some reason I thought that it was underrated and would be easy as hell to put into even the mid 13's. I just don't know if I want to put 4,000 in the engine just to keep up with or barely beat other stock muscle cars(lets hope these guys don't modify their cars too). And it seems like all of these other cars are built like tractors and can hold so much power stock, whereas it seems the mustang can't. I prefer mustangs but speed is very high on my priority list. I don't know..I'm just curious to see what you guys say about this. Please, tell me I'm wrong and I just haven't found the hidden potential to pull easy 12's like all of the other damn cars (or so it seems). I guess maybe it's my fault since I've always always loved mustangs and when I was car searching I paid attention to stangs and stangs only.

Anyway, no harm meant by this post..just curious about others thoughts.

 

[AaRoN]

you will be that much more proud of you car. more accomplished. Ford didn't build these for plug-n-play power like alot of other cars out there. if you wanted something that takes as little as a couple swapped parts to pull 12's, your in the wrong car.

 

[Jrgunn5150]

Where are you putting your money exactly? If you drop 300 on a PI intake and cams, shed weight for free, another 350 for upper and lower LCA's, 150 for an offroad mid-pipe, whatever you can scrounge for a wheel/tire combo, you'll be in the mid 13's easy. Getting into the 12's will require a bit more extensive work and money, but that's the way it is...

A big dyno number on the other hand is expensive to get out of 281 ci with SOHC. A power adder is really the way to go there.

 

[FUK_N_JUNK]

I'm sorry to say it and they will probably ban me from here, but the only way to make a mustang fast is drop a SBC into it imp:

Other than that, you will never be able to keep up with an LS1 with the same mods/money spent as you in your stang.

 

[AaRoN]

If you don't like how the Mustang is built......get a different car.

 

[FUK_N_JUNK]

If you don't like how the Mustang is built......get a different car.

NAH, I'll just make it better...... :rollinglaugh:










J/K..... if I do swap for a carb'd motor, it will be a SBF for sure!!!

 

[DropTopPony]

What other cars are you comparing it too? Its a 10 year old car so comparing it to todays cars isn't really fair. Do your research and find out the best ways to get your car where you want it. You can do a PI H/C/I swap for about $1000 if you do the work yourself and gears/midpipe are gonna be another $600 or so...that right there will get you into the 13's if you can drive and get some traction.
The minor boltons do nothing for these cars and the stock Intake and Cams are just junk so ditch them.

 

[FUK_N_JUNK]

What other cars are you comparing it too? Its a 10 year old car so comparing it to todays cars isn't really fair. Do your research and find out the best ways to get your car where you want it. You can do a PI H/C/I swap for about $1000 if you do the work yourself and gears/midpipe are gonna be another $600 or so...that right there will get you into the 13's if you can drive and get some traction.
The minor boltons do nothing for these cars and the stock Intake and Cams are just junk so ditch them.

:thumb: There ya go...... nuff said!!!

 

[QTRHRSE]

the LS1 might be a stronger motor for the money... but thats it. The rest of the car is garbage compared to the stang. Power window motors go out like whoa!!!
Rear ends blow up, they dont handle or brake as well either.

The modular has plenty of potential, do your research and spend money wisely and i think you will be very happy.

 

[Goldmember]

Even though the GT's weren't really matches for the Z28's 10 years ago, they were still decently quick for their time.

Times have changed. Now we have these fugly WRX's and Evo's running absurd ET's with a minimum of work and whatnot... but before I get into that rant I will say that just the PI intake and Pypes manifold-back exhaust woke my car up quite a bit. Also, before you go throwing mods at it, make sure your basics are all well-tuned- fresh fluids, tune-up parts, etc.

It's also said that these 4.6's like a lot of gear- it is a relatively small-displacement motor- I remember my dad's 5.0's feeling quite a bit stronger off the line even with 2.73's.

Ultimately, it's your money and your call. Your Mustang enthusiasm got you this far... enjoy it!

 

[LJmagicJJ]

h/c/i, tune, sticky tires will get you where you wanna be.... check out the article in mmff about the 96 gt they built

 

[scarface]

sorry you are unhappy. Non PI cars arent very fast, sad truth. Forced induction will help you alot though.

 

[AaRoN]

sorry you are unhappy. Non PI cars arent very fast, sad truth. Forced induction will help you alot though.

PI's aren't much different but are better when it comes to responding to bolt ons

 

[low9sGT hahajk]

Wow, you guys are wayyy cooler about stuff than some of the other car boards I've been on. Some of the boards would've blown up and gotten pissed but you guys are straight forward. You all know the shortcomings of our cars, and at the same time embrace the good things without trying to act like they're some paranormally badass car and nothing else comes close. And I couldn't ask for a better response than suggesting setups that might put me where I'm wanting to be, rather than getting pissed. Anyway, just thought I would let you guys know that.

On the performance part of things: I've thought about it and I was kinda comparing the newer cars to my 97 which probably isn't logical. One thing I've realize is that the car price + modifications, and where I'd be at performance-wise is actually a pretty damn good deal. When it comes down to it I could easily have a good boosted setup for under 10k counting car price...I'm not going to complain. O0

BTW part of the source of my pessimistic mood that day was from my buddy and his damn srt4...FWD 4 banger and its beating slightly modded 03 machs and stuff...I was a little annoyed at me being the underdog with my 8 cyl RWD against his 4 cyl FWD neon...WTF

 

[scarface]

yup...srt-4s run really well. However thats where the other part of owning a stang comes in..They can be sooo sexy.

Not bashing the srt though, as most know, I owned one.

 

[vermilion]

anything done to change your car isn't done just for nothing. your car, your preference. i find it ridiculous for neon lights or anything distracting on the road. but its whomevers preference. im all about improvements though. have fun with your car

 

[Mr. OAM]

#1. Get an education.


Sounds like you are relatively new to the hobby, especially because of your age. It would be a good idea to get reading car magazine tech articles to get an understanding how your engine works as well as the principles of physics of how to make power in an engine. When you understand how your engine works and how power is produced you can then understand and plan how you want to go about achieving your goal.

....and don't think you will get an education from all the shiny advertisements in those magazines. Remember, they are trying to sell you something, not educate you. Some are selling snake oil too.

Steve

 

[96GT]

My gut feeling about the SN95 is that its an awesome car with plenty of potential.

My personal peeves about them are:
-They rides as high as alot of SUV's in stock form
-The ring and pinion ratio is meant for cruising
-The leather could have been better
-seriously, plastic coolant passages?
-15.1 second ET's for the 4.6 in stock form


However, they left so much room for improvement, you can reach low 13's like nothing. There aren't many cars that benefit drastically from a ring and pinion swap. Nor, do they gain damn near 30whp from a full exhaust swap and another 30whp for using the next generation's intake/cams. These days, those other cars are over engineered. Between the SRT4's staged mods from Mopar and the minute gains for exhaust/intake bolt-ons for the EVO and STI, there isn't much fun there.

Also, remember that those 4's are all turbocharged from the factory. If we get blown, do you think they can even hang with us? I left that world because after a while I learned the cliche a few thousands later, there really is no replacement for displacement.

 

[AaRoN]

My gut feeling about the SN95 is that its an awesome car with plenty of potential.

My personal peeves about them are:
-They rides as high as alot of SUV's in stock form
-The ring and pinion ratio is meant for cruising
-The leather could have been better
-seriously, plastic coolant passages?
-15.1 second ET's for the 4.6 in stock form


However, they left so much room for improvement, you can reach low 13's like nothing. There aren't many cars that benefit drastically from a ring and pinion swap. Nor, do they gain damn near 30whp from a full exhaust swap and another 30whp for using the next generation's intake/cams. These days, those other cars are over engineered. Between the SRT4's staged mods from Mopar and the minute gains for exhaust/intake bolt-ons for the EVO and STI, there isn't much fun there.

Also, remember that those 4's are all turbocharged from the factory. If we get blown, do you think they can even hang with us? I left that world because after a while I learned the cliche a few thousands later, there really is no replacement for displacement.

 

[Steven]

if you want to be like everyone else, and buy a fast car, just so you can ride to the track and act badass with a slightly modded mach/cobra/lsx car.. go right ahead. But theres not much to say about someone who pulls up in a lightly modded SS/z28 and cuts a high 12 low 13.. because they didn't do much to get there, kinda sad in a way because they have to buy a fast car just to be fast at all. A bought hotrod isn't much of a hotrod at all. atleast with a NPI/PI gt, when someone sees it fly down the track and cut a mid 12 time slip, they know you did something to deserve that time slip :thumb: in the end it's wether you want to act fast, or be fast.. fast is only defined by the cars original ability..