Not enough power?

[jaja6009]

Thing is, I suspect in this comparison it is bigger difference in a non-race environment. I bet a big part of the time you are getting in your baja is due to atomic clutch drops when in the 1/4? What is your trap speed? That will be more telling. I'd guess it is no anywhere near the mustang's 112.

And a second in the 1/4 mile is much more than a car or two.

On the street when you are rolling, the mustang should be significantly faster. I mean, maybe it doesn't feel it (it is definitely a 'refined' power), but that doesn't mean it isn't so.

Yeah I gotta agree. At the drag strip losing by a second is getting destroyed.

OP dont forget in these dog days of summer the weather is slowing down your car. You get a low barometer pressure, humid hot day with your car already being heat soaked and you can kiss a nice chunk of power goodbye. Add to it that tires like to hook better on hot days too and that might explain your feelings.
Wait for a nice cool night with high barometer pressure and then take her for a ride. Or even better and cheaper than a dyno goto a dragstrip. Trap times will tell you alot.

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[RoushCharged]

For me, it needs about 100HP more to feel "fast" stock in street use and alot more early torque. What you feel as "fast" in your baja is likely just the rear end gear ratio giving you tons of off the line torque. If you stuck a 4.44 rear in the Mustang, with appropriate sticky tires and half shafts, it'd probably work for you ... or put a PD blower in.

For me, the S550 GT feels "almost fast" ... but it's kind of what you are used to. I'm used to a 450RWHP/420TQ N/A quad cam Corvette and a (until recently) a 600HP/750TQ+ V12 turbo, so yeah -- it's not quite there right now until a blower goes on. Then I expect it'll be "fast enough" for a while, at which time its easy to upgrade to insanity if needed.

 

[Hawk296]

I have your answer: Buy a 2011 5.0. It doesn't have the refinement/isolation the new ones do. Put on some loud exhaust and you're there!

I'm probably just too used to that surge of power that comes in hard from the turbo. The v8 is more powerful at every point in the power band and the Dohc gets progressively stronger as RPM climbs, but it's so linear that you get a steady solid press back in the seat as opposed to Nothing... Nothing... BAM!

I appreciate your input! I'm not making any decisions until early 2016 so I have time to think about it. Until then I'll keep learning as much as I can about them.

 

[socalsnake]

I'm probably just too used to that surge of power that comes in hard from the turbo. The v8 is more powerful at every point in the power band and the Dohc gets progressively stronger as RPM climbs, but it's so linear that you get a steady solid press back in the seat as opposed to Nothing... Nothing... BAM!

I appreciate your input! I'm not making any decisions until early 2016 so I have time to think about it. Until then I'll keep learning as much as I can about them.

I know how you feel. The powerband in the 5.0 S550 is quite different from my twin turbo M4. It took some getting used to, but after 2000 miles, the Mustang pulls pretty hard after 4000 rpm - it feels like an even surge as opposed to the low rpm mule kick of torque on the M4. The M4 is modded so there's a bit of difference from stock. Next week the Mustang will get headers, intake and a dyno tune so it will put up a better fight!

Don't shy away from the GT 5.0. It has monstrous modding potential. You can mildly mod it by staying N/A (basically intake, tune, headers, maybe cams when available) or go FI with so many options - TT (Hellion, On3, build your own), Centrifugal (ProCharger, Paxton, Vortech), PD (Whipple, KB, Eaton/TVS, Roush/FRPP) - and many of those brands offer different levels of power.

Building your own monster is 90% of the fun!

 

[XDsm]

I'm probably just too used to that surge of power that comes in hard from the turbo. The v8 is more powerful at every point in the power band and the Dohc gets progressively stronger as RPM climbs, but it's so linear that you get a steady solid press back in the seat as opposed to Nothing... Nothing... BAM!

I appreciate your input! I'm not making any decisions until early 2016 so I have time to think about it. Until then I'll keep learning as much as I can about them.

I am coming from a tuned 2011 WRX. The power delivery from a turbo is a little sling shot like. Coupled with an AWD launch, the take off from a stop "feels" more violent than the GT I test drove. But the GT was certainly faster than my WRX. This was especially noticeable with passing acceleration. Going from 40 to 60 is worlds faster. The power delivery is also instant and constantly strong. No turbo lag or wheezing out on the top end.

Also you probably felt underwhelmed because you were expecting the 435hp to feel as it would in your lighter car. The GT is a much heavier car. 435hp in my WRX would pull much harder as the car is much lighter.

 

[bluebeastsrt]

Its never enough power! My 95 GT runs low 9s and will carry the front wheels 20 feet. I'm already thinking about adding a second nitrous nit. I remember when I used to think high 11s was fast. He'll back in the 80s I thought a 15 second car was fast.

 

[Apwrx]

Its never enough power! My 95 GT runs low 9s and will carry the front wheels 20 feet. I'm already thinking about adding a second nitrous nit. I remember when I used to think high 11s was fast. He'll back in the 80s I thought a 15 second car was fast.

You got a video of that beast? Sounds fun
Pm me a link if ya got one

 

[bluebeastsrt]

You got a video of that beast? Sounds fun
Pm me a link if ya got one

Videos coming soon. My camera man is my wife. She took up racing last year and lost interest in being the film crew. The 2015 GT is hers.

 

[Apwrx]

Videos coming soon. My camera man is my wife. She took up racing last year and lost interest in being the film crew. The 2015 GT is hers.

thats awesome! Glad my wife isn't into cars or we'd be broke:lol:

 

[WeinerDog]

I'm probably just too used to that surge of power that comes in hard from the turbo. The v8 is more powerful at every point in the power band and the Dohc gets progressively stronger as RPM climbs, but it's so linear that you get a steady solid press back in the seat as opposed to Nothing... Nothing... BAM!

I appreciate your input! I'm not making any decisions until early 2016 so I have time to think about it. Until then I'll keep learning as much as I can about them.

Heh, heh I know what you mean. That can be very entertaining. I recently drove an EcoBoost Escape and it was actually a fun ride. You almost have time to say "Hey, y'all watch this!" before the...BAM!

 

[Raider]

93 Octane. Hoping she wakes up after 1k miles or so. A lot of you guys seem to notice that change.

 

[5starr0]

I was killing it on the way to work today, yes she has enough power. Could i use more...well i'm not going to say no but a huge step up from my 09 GT.

 

[foghat]

You are exactly right. after 100 mph it's all over in my car, but on the street, not racing, how often is that? My Trap speed is no where close @95mph. And no atomic clutch drops, about 4k with some clutch slip to preserve the expensive bits. It does have a 4.44 final drive also which helps the off the line acceleration.

I really didn't mean to get this off track. In a thread questioning if there was enough horsepower I was really just stating that the mustang does not feel as quick as it actually is, and that is one of the few things I'm apprehensive about personally before spending my pennies on a car strictly for fun. I simply wished the 1/3 more HP Would be more appearant than it is based on seat of the pants feel.

I guess my point was that with a 18mph difference in the 1/4 mile, it is not just a case of the mustang being faster after 100mph.

Take the awd launch out of things and your 1/4 mile time would likely be a fair bit lower. If you are talking stoplight to stoplight things may be somewhat close due to the awd launch (but even then, I doubt it), but from roll (i.e. when passing), where the bulk to 'street' driving lives, the mustang will be much faster.

Fwiw, I started a very similar thread to this one after first getting my car. Mind you I was coming from a 135i that was putting 406/460 to the wheels and weighed about 300lbs less. As noted earlier in the thread, the car did seem to wake up a fair bit after about 800-1000 kilometers or so.

 

[Asharus]

if you want it to feel faster (this is mostly to the guy who has that Baja) i think the scat pack auto would fit you perfectly. here's why

http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/features/a25271/fool-your-butt-dyno-for-fun-and-profit/

 

[neodark]

Cool article, thanks!

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