Mustang Weak Performance

[Elp_jc]

Yep, I wouldn't count the Mustang IIs either. And I had one of those. Ha ha. But I didn't have much of a choice back then; it was the least bad of a few options at an auction. And the 4-banger turned out to be bad, so could have bought a 'better' car. Had to replace the engine with a junk yard one.

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[hiccup]

I agree the '86 Mustang GT was a revival. I remember severely lusting for one of those back then.

I know right..I was a Pontiac guy back then and had old lemans/gto..great torque tire smokers but slow moving..My older brother got one those 84 h.o. Z28s and I thought that was modern muscle and they handled great..One night at work during dinner a coworker asked me to go for a ride in his 86 5.0 Gt . He was on the clouds about his new ride and bearing grins as the shift dragged along so i agreed..I guess back then I really didn't know real speed..didn't grow up around racing but the Gt seemed like a rocket..I just never experienced a car getting to 90mph that damm quick..So within a few months I was at the dealership ordering an Lx5.0..great memories ha!

 

[hiccup]

Yep, I wouldn't count the Mustang IIs either. And I had one of those. Ha ha. But I didn't have much of a choice back then; it was the least bad of a few options at an auction. And the 4-banger turned out to be bad, so could have bought a 'better' car. Had to replace the engine with a junk yard one.

Nowadays I think I could go for one of those mustang II King Cobras if priced right..as a kid in the 70's..so cool lol..

 

[Nate_V8]

Still my favourite out of all my mustangs. I'd still own an 85 if they were a better family car.

This 85 was a decent performer at it's time but like other said the 94 and up were pretty bland stock unless you owned a Cobra/ Cobra R. 2000 Cobra R was pretty awesome. 05-10 wasn't bad for the GT but nothing special. Could you imagine being the owner of a new 2010 GT when the next year the coyote came out? I wonder how many people sold their new 2010 for a 2011 lol

 

[1958cyclist]

I don't know what "making nice power" means...but my 1985 H.O. used to take down many a Corvette light to light of similar vintage back in the day. It's all relative to the time period you reference. And many horsepower ratings listed were very conservative for insurance purposes.

 

[Balr14]

I remember a friend brought his new Mustang II Cobra II over to show it off. That was like putting frosting on manure and calling it cake. Just pathetic! I had a stock 37 Chevy I was working on that would give it a good run.

 

[hiccup]

I don't know what "making nice power" means...but my 1985 H.O. used to take down many a Corvette light to light of similar vintage back in the day. It's all relative to the time period you reference. And many horsepower ratings listed were very conservative for insurance purposes.

That is a fact friend!..if those gatorbacks could hook the gt's and lx5.0's ruled..Now the grand national i would stay clear lol..

 

[Mustang5ohMan]

That is a fact friend!..if those gatorbacks could hook the gt's and lx5.0's ruled..Now the grand national i would stay clear lol..

I do like those and the old Montes...

 

[olerodder]

As was pointed out by a few of the older guys on the forum, there were some short comings regarding HP, although my 65 289/271 and 66 289/271 didn't take a backseat to many cars. A little work with the exhaust, cam, intake and a set of gears and I went hunting GTO's, Chevelle's of the day. I didn't always come away with showing my tail lights to them all, but I gave them one heck of a close race. I've had a few purpose built drag cars, both Chevy and Ford, and my 68-1/2 Mustang 428 SCJ showed its tail lights to many other SS drag cars. My 86 Capri 5.0l had a lot of FPP pieces on it and although not a great drag car in stock form, it could peg the "Ground Speed" needle between Seattle and Portland on many occasions, keeping up with so called "fast cars" of the day. My 97 Cobra, with a lot of mod's...naturally aspirated with not internal engine mod's...ran the Silver States Classic 3 times with a tech speed of 143mph in 4th. My 2014 GT TrakPak with many suspension mods was a real corner carver, although not so much in a straight line...My 2019 GT PP1/A10 has eclipsed them all in a straight line, doing 11.90's @ 117 in the quarter bone stock. So, from 65 until now, computers along with technology has given us some very fast Mustangs. Just don't forget, that back in the 60's and early 70's we didn't have the tools or technology you young guys have, we had to use our hands, ears, and the gray mater between our ears, and I think we did really great for what we had to work with...My 70 Maverick B/SM with Boss 302 and Liberty mod'd toploader turned low to mid 10's in the late 70's and early 80's...that was 40 years ago.

 

[Dave TBG]

I don't know what "making nice power" means...but my 1985 H.O. used to take down many a Corvette light to light of similar vintage back in the day. It's all relative to the time period you reference. And many horsepower ratings listed were very conservative for insurance purposes.

Beating an early C4 is not a big deal, I used to do it all the time in a 1980 VW Scirocco. Those vettes were slugs.

 

[luderiffic]

I wish the new mustangs sounded like the old 5.0's. I am not an expert, but a finely tuned exhaust on an old fox body sounded like heaven.

 

[Houston Kid]

My first ever car was a brand new 1989 notch back 4 banger with a five speed. 110 hp I think. May have been 97 hp. I wanted a 5.0 so bad but no dice. That car served me well. Owned it from when I was 17 until 22 years old. Never a problem and had 129,000 miles on it before trading it in on a 1994 F-150. I don’t know how I did not blow that engine up. If I mashed the gas to WOT and dumped the clutch, one wheel would peel out for a very short distance.

 

[Sevensixteen]

I can remember when I was a kid hearing the older guys in town banging gears & racing down river road in their late sixties & early seventies GT Mustangs, SS chevelles & GTOs thinking that’s gonna be me when I get my license ,only to find out that when the time did come the muscle car era was over . All that we had to choose from was smog dogs ! I’ll never forget when I drove my 90 LX 5.0 with a T-5 off the dealers lot how I didn’t miss the muscle era & today how we are truly living in the horsepower world of the Modern day muscle car !

 

[Flimflamman]

I can remember when I was a kid hearing the older guys in town banging gears & racing down river road in their late sixties & early seventies GT Mustangs, SS chevelles & GTOs thinking that’s gonna be me when I get my license ,only to find out that when the time did come the muscle car era was over . All that we had to choose from was smog dogs ! I’ll never forget when I drove my 90 LX 5.0 with a T-5 off the dealers lot how I didn’t miss the muscle era & today how we are truly living in the horsepower world of the Modern day muscle car !

Yeah times they are awesome with muscle cars nowadays. But a lot of things happen in cycles. Maybe not quite exactly the same but similar. I can see the ICE getting choked out again within the next decade (the political pendulum swings), but there will likely be more electrics to fill the gap. I'm not a hater of the EV, but get more thrills from the ICE for sure.

 

[Mustang5ohMan]

I can remember when I was a kid hearing the older guys in town banging gears & racing down river road in their late sixties & early seventies GT Mustangs, SS chevelles & GTOs thinking that’s gonna be me when I get my license ,only to find out that when the time did come the muscle car era was over . All that we had to choose from was smog dogs ! I’ll never forget when I drove my 90 LX 5.0 with a T-5 off the dealers lot how I didn’t miss the muscle era & today how we are truly living in the horsepower world of the Modern day muscle car !

this we are which is amazing! This is era is so far a bit over 10 years or so in the making. I hope it doesn’t end. There is political talk about killing the v8s and making things more fuel efficient. It’s why things are going towards all these turbo charged 6s and 4s now.

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