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So I was thinking about all the performance cars that have come out since the modern performance era began in the mid 80's so I thought I'd throw out some interesting facts.

Who remembers when the viper was launched? I remember going to the autorama in Houston and seeing a '92 red RT/10 sitting there in disbelief at how wide and just completely insane it was. 400HP!

How about the ZR-1. 7000 rpm! In '89 it was as fast as a damn Countach.

The 90's Japanese sports car like the NSX with 270HP, the RX7 255 etc.

Funny thing that a brembo GT would smash all of these cars today.

Back then I had my trusty 5.0 and spent my time TERRORIZING the streets. I received no less than 4 drag racing tickets in that car over a summer. I think I went through 5 or so t-5s (It got to the point where I could swap on of those things in an hour it seemed). Oh how times have changed.

Think about this for a minute. We are about to receive mustangs with straight up race engines in them. 450 hp 7500 rpm and completely bullet proof that will have perfect street manners, get great gas mileage etc.

Who would have thought back then that we would ever see a time when Ford would develop a special edition mustang along side/within a race program and then actually let you buy it?
 
It really is amazing when you think about it. It's been a while but I've owned a couple of Porsche 911's and a 300 ZX TT. Adjusted for inflation a 2011 5 DOT 0 is downright cheap and would embarrass any of those cars in every performance measurement you can think of, be more reliable, and get better gas mileage. It's gonna be a long 3+ months before the first Boss 302's arrive. :'(
 
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1 BULLITT said:
I remember the great 60s Mustangs, yes aah doo...

... all power and drum breaks.


::) ::) ::)


;D

yup, had a 66GTO...scary!

The crazy thing is that they are still getting faster. Horsepower is getting to the point where I find myself asking if it is enough (never thought I'd say that).

The '13 GT500 that is coming is supposedly getting a BIG bump in power, all of the next gen supercars will have 600-700+ horsepower etc.
 
I know it's just absolutely incredible! I take my GT500 for granted, but it's an absolutely ridiculous street machine as well as a great track car. With a modest blower upgrade, an intake and tune I'm making 640 rwhp with the stock fuel system on pump gas! That's equivalent to roughly 750 crank horsepower and if you drive it like a grocery getter, you'd never know the difference. I actually get 21 mpg on the highway.

The other big factor is you can run these cars up over 160 mph and they stay planted. If you took one of the older Mustangs up to that speed you'd have a real hard time keeping on the road/track.
 
Mark said:
...I find myself asking if it is enough (never thought I'd say that)...
Enough or more than enough is the Boss performance. Having six or seven hundred HP and torque to match on a street car is a total waste.

A few months back I saw a GT500 ad on eBay with 1K HP and I asked myself why.
 
1 BULLITT said:
Mark said:
...I find myself asking if it is enough (never thought I'd say that)...
Enough or more than enough is the Boss performance. Having six or seven hundred HP and torque to match on a street car is a total waste.

600-700 is usable on the street and track properly driven.
[/quote]

A few months back I saw a GT500 ad on eBay with 1K HP and I asked myself why.
[/quote]
Agreed, especially on a rear wheel drive car. You're just going to break all kinds of parts and it will be down more than it's running. You absolutely can't hook it up unless it's just an all out drag setup and even then almost impossible to get the power down.
 

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