A '79 (I believe he said) Firebird challenged me to race him today out on the streets (believe it or not I avoid this).. he said (verbatim) "Hey you wanna take that pony out to play?"... cocky little bastard.. so I say sure.. I mean hey the streets are empty no civilians around to hit & no other cars etc etc... so we meet on the street (I was coming outta walmart when he challenged me) and then he counts down from 3 staring at me like he was going to rape my bum... and i'll be damned if I didn't spin my tires like a mfer (not performance tires..just general cheapos).. and also note that this guy is a shit-talking redneck idiot ..saying he put all his money into the engine instead of the body (it looked like crap) and it was pushing
425rwhp.. I knew he was full of crap.. anyway i took off & he took off.. he was baaaarely ahead when I was in 1st & by the end of 2nd I was pulling ahead of him steadily.. shifted into 3rd & by the end of third I was a couple car lengths away then shifted into 4th & I was gone. He turned left & was never seen again the rest of the night ;). It was fun though. I think I'll continue my avoiding street racing though :P. Btw I've got a 98 Mustang GT.. not the fastest, but definitely a fun car =). Just thought I'd share that. Anyone here have a cool experience? I'd love to read a/b it.
Well, smack your hand for street racing then give yourself a hearty pat on the back for showing him who's got the better car.
I had some idiot pass me on a 2-lane road at the bottom of a dip yesterday. Now, this road is traveled heavily by 18-wheelers. He was driving an AWD Toyota and when I get up to the stop light that just had to get to first, all I could do was just shake my head. He was looking at me in his rearview mirror and saw that and gets the immature thing going by mimicking me then gesture with his thumb to forehead and the "Nnyah nnyah nnyah". That's when I lost it and just laughed at him.
Too bad I only had a 30min lunch break. Otherwise I'd got him on the freeway and blew his doors off.
Is your `98 GT stock? If not, what mods have you done to it?
That's cool that you toasted the old Firebird, but I wouldn't be too overjoyed since most of those old Birds out on the street are slow. Those cars are heavy... and poor weight distribution too.. they're pretty hard to make go fast unless you really set them up well... and chances are some local "redneck" does not know how to set one up well. Ummm... I had one... a `76 455 Trans-Am... I got mine running really well, but as fine tuned as it was, it was always difficult to get it to hook up... all the weight was over the front wheels (that was one heavy engine!), and the car was about
3,800 pounds... then factor in a leaf-spring rear... even with good rear tires, the biggest problem with that car was trying to keep from breaking the rear wheels loose... in any gear... too much torque, and too little traction. My new `03 Stang is far more agile, and lighter, and though I have not "raced" it yet, it's obvious to me already that it is a way more "balanced" machine... more refined, quiet, comfortable, smooth, etc. The old Firebird was a big old "bomb" really, it had it's good points, but was a dinosaur compared to the Stang. I just hope my new Stang has enough upper end horsepower to make me happy... I guess I'll find out once I finally stomp on the pedal and bring it up to 5,500 rpm or so... I have not done so yet since I'm still breaking it in... I've only had it up to 3,500 rpm max. One thing I've noted though... understandably, the old 455 Bird had WAY more torque in the 1,500 - 3,000 zone than the Stang.... the Stang feels like a total wimp by comparison in that range. The 455 would damn near snap your neck even at 1,800 rpm... just press into the pedal and get violently sucked back into the seat, that is if you could keep from spinning the rear tires. The Stang feels like it's going nowhere when you press into the pedal at
2,000 rpm, does nothing here... so, I hope and pray that when I finally bring it up past 3,500 rpm that the Stang will exhibit some serious balls and make me glad I bought it. I hope I don't regret selling the 455 for the Stang. One nice thing though is that I'm getting over twice the MPGs with the Stang, so... can't argue with that.
I am still looking for a toque curve chart for a stock late model Stang. I'd love to see how the torque and horsepower plots out across the rpm range for the SOHC 4.6 engine. I am hoping that there is a sudden steep slope upward from 3,500 to 5,500... I hope, I hope, I hope! Now my wife comes home today and says that some old lady she knows just bought a new Maxima, and the lady told her it has 265 horsepower. My wife says to me "isn't that more horsepower than our new Mustang GT?" Arrgh! I bought the Stang GT because I wanted a bad-ass hot rod... I hope the GT is indeed truly a hot rod.
Okay, so my story isn't quite the same, but I keep laughing about it. Last Friday after work, I'm heading out, and come to a three way where I can only go left or right. This ain't no highway, it's all single lanes either way. I plan on going left, and the light's green, but the traffic already ahead of me is stopped partway into the intersection. Now, in my experience, every time I get out into an intersection like that, and have to stay there for any amount of time, the freakin' light changes and there I sit blocking traffic. So I decide to leave a bit of the intersection clear, and stay put at the light until it opens up some. Simple courtesy to the other drivers, IMO. Anyway, the guy behind me just doesn't get it. He sees a green light, and I'm stopped, and it's killing him. So he blows his horn, and about that time a space opens up, and I scoot on out. What I fail to notice is that a$$clown behind me is TRYING TO GO AROUND ME ON THE RIGHT. All I see is a flash of black on my peripheral vision, but since I'm already out there, he's shut out. The really funny part for me is, now he's gotten himself out of line, so the car behind him just slides in behind me, completely blocking him out. He has to sit there with his butt hanging out until some kinder soul lets him back into the flow, which puts him further back than if he'd just waited the 15 seconds it took for that hole to open up. The car he was driving? A mid-90's Mitsubishi, be-stickered, fart-tipped and winged. Dill-weeds like that character are why some people absolutely loathe 'ricers'. I'm starting to feel the same way.
This is good for break in. As far as power, you'll get NONE below
3,500rpm. That's when they start to wake up--trust me. Been there.
You won't be upset. You'll sacrifice a little on the extra weight of the 'vert. Did you get a manual or auto?
dude, seriously, don't worry! :)
I may sound like a skipping record saying this over and over...but people *buy* horsepower, yet they *drive* torque. Remember what used to snap your neck in the 455 T/A? ;)
That's an awesome story. I love hearing of those damn ricers making an a$$ out of themselves (and there are LOADS of stories - but it never gets old).
BTW, I always do what you did - sit at the intersection as to not impede crossing traffic if the lights turn. It IS common curtesy - but, as usual, many people have no grasp of THAT concept.
Keep the stories comin'! ;-D
Greg Browne '96 Vee-Siques (With Tri-Ax first mod coming as soon as my savings hit the positive mark!)
I've seen many an ass do the same types of things in Mustang's, Camaro's etc. Also in Cary's, Accord's and other plain jane family Sedan's.
One of my neighbors is a ricer. While I certainly don't see him drive all the time, what I have seen of his driving, it is very courteous. He also does his own work on the car. Pretty industrious kid.
Wow put all the money in the engine and still got beat thats crazy . Firebirds are pretty vicious machines that are real easy to get a shit load of horse-power from, even the v6's are pretty peppy. Well my Birds all have great handling I guess it depends on the driver.
Yeah hearing racing stories are interesting as long as no one gets hurt I have ALOT of them but my speeds never exceeded 85mph really didn't need to they were pretty much smoked from 0-65..lol
1978 Pontiac Firebird 325hp for now
2002 Pontiac Firebird 500+hp
1998 Ford Mustang Cobra only 40,000 miles
2000 Dodge Avenger Winter weather beater
1998 Honda Civic - sold
1999 Ford Mustang GT - sold
I am very happy to read this.... thanks! I just had the car out before, and I floored it in 2nd gear between 2,500 and 3,500 rpm, then upshifted and let off it. The car did move some, but I was not overly impressed. I am glad to hear that this engine just starts to wake up at 3,500 rpm. I look forward to experiencing a 3,500+ rpm blast in the near future. I feel a little better now
My 98 GT is practically stock. Just air silencer removed (thinking about putting it back on :/). I saw him driving around tonight on my way home & he stared at me (we were driving opposite directions) with a real dirty look & nearly hit the car in front of him b/c he wasn't even watching where he was going. *sigH* idiot drivers. I'm on the search yet again for a 98 Cobra =). I've got a raise coming at my job very soon & so I'll finally be able to afford a Cobra =). Not a 2003 or anything, but I love the body style of 4th generation stangs (what I consider 4th gen. is 94-98--sorry if I'm wrong). Also, I _love_ Firebirds (especially TransAms..my lord they're fast), but this guy is a _PRICK_. Anyway... I love my 98 GT so I _KNOW_ you won't be disappointed with your Mustang =). And yes..my stang wakes up after 3500RPM or so also. You'll have a LOT of fun =). Btw, I normally shift at 5800RPM. I try to get as close to it as I can. Take it easy all.
Yep, I had one of those Trans Am's with the 455 with the big bird on the hood. Lot of fond memories (a time when Ford had forsaken us with just the Mustang II) and torque galore! I sold it in college for the same reason you state - it drank gas through a funnel and I could hardly afford it. And yes you will miss that torque. Us that have the 5.0 and the 4.6 debate as to which is best option. With the 5.0 you do not have to be on top of situation as it has more torque and thus if you get caught in the wrong gear you do not have to pay for it as you do with the 4.6. With the 4.6 you have to be more aware but when in the zone it does pull a lot higher than the
5.0. You will be modifying your driving style but I am sure you will enjoy it tremendously.
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