WantRice?

I know that the Fourmula and Z28 are very similar but I know that the mustangs are different. After thinking maybe buy a new V6 car I changed my mind to look for one of the 3 in 98-99 model and looking for the 8 cyl...I know people that have formulas and like them but i dont have any good friends that have Z's or GTs...I dont want the car to be the fastest I like how they all look and another thing that i want is a nice deep v8 rumble. what has better capabilities of hitting 13s in the 1/4 mile cause that is my goal. Any help would be apprectiated. Thanks

Angel5

A '99 GT Mustang and '98+ 8cyl F-bodies all hit 13's in the quarter mile.

The Mustang coming in at high 13's-low 14's, and f-bodies coming in at low-mid 13s.

So if that's your goal, buy a stock Mustang GT(because it's better looking ) and put on 3.73's and that's it.

WantRice?

Angel5 How much work did you do to your car to get it in the 12s...how much money approx and what type of mods?

Angel5

I have a '94, so it's not a fox or anything.
I spent more money on making my car well-rounded, instead of just a dragstrip slut. Saying how much money I spent to get it to there would make it sound like I spent way more than I had to. I don't have a power adder or anything though.

If you just want to hit 12's easily, put on some 4.10s and squeeze the bottle a little.

WantRice?

Its cool to find someone else that wants whats best for the car and not just how it looks on the drag strip...anyone else have opinions of the three cars?

Derek

if you want all out speed buy an F-body... they make roughly 300 rwhp stock... if you want a balance of an enjoyable driving experience and speed (in my opinion) get the Stang. The fbodies don't have the best visibility, and they're pretty uncomfortable inside. Kind of like riding around on a board, a very fast board. Also, their engines sit halfway under the dash so working on them is a bitch too.

ShadyDave

I'd say get the 'Stang. The GT's SOHC 4.6L doesn't really have the potential of the LT1, but as long as all your looken' for 12's/13's in the strip, it really doesn't matter. Both can get there without much work. None of these cars are made with autocross in mind, but they all can become decent around the corners. Again, my vote goes to the Mustang. It just seems like it has the better chassis for suspension upgrades without a completly hellish ride. All three of these cars are wonderful, with the potential to become truly nice all-around race cars. As for a nice deep V8 rumble, short of buying a car thirty years older, it's mostly a muffler and piping choice that will determine that.

WantRice?

I forgot to mention that this car will be my daily driver and maybe once or twice going to the track nothing more just want the best well rounded car

Angel5

Mustangs are more comfortable as a daily driver.
Better interiors and not such a pain to drive.
They get pretty good gas mileage too.
The seats aren't as low as an f-body's so getting in and out isn't as big of a pain.
They're smaller too, so parking is easier.

SLOWASSPONY

if you want a car that will put decent 1/4 mile times, be a blast too drive, and looks great, id personally go with the stang.. the 94-95 is a great yr. they can be picked up for less then 10k all day long. but wil lhave higher miles. it came with a 5.0 pushrod motor. a wider aftermarket is available for this motor.. cold air induction, throttle body, fuel pressure regulator, thermostat, 3:73, chip, and short throw shifter and your hauling ass. the 96-98 gt's are nice and have the 281 ci. modular sohc motor. they however lack torque and hp. you can swap the heads and intake for the 99+ pi(performance improved) and gain approx. 80 hp. now that will run you about 2k for everyhing on that mod. if it were me personally, id buy a 95 gt, cold air induction(115$, b303 cam$150, throttle body/spacer. 250$, 3:73, $175, short throw shifter(if 5spd)$160, xpipw/no cats or high flow$250,headers$200, fuel pressure regulator, $100, thermostat ???,chip about $200,underdrive pulies$100...so right t here you have about 1500 worth of parts that you can instal yourslef. depending on your ablilities and knowledge, you may need help with the cam/exhaust... right there you can easly gain 115-150 hp. and with the cam and chip and exhaust, a shit load of torque. get stiffer springs and a panhard bar plus some sticky tires and your set. for a few more hundo, you can get a kit from holley that makes 350 hp... upper/lower intake, port matched alum heads, roller cam, pushrods, double roller tim. chain/gears. 2100$$$ im not too familiar wit hthe mod motors, but i know there is a growing aftermarket for the 4.6L.. good luck. imo, the fox bodies are the way to go. but to each their own

ShadyDave

Gas milage. I love hearing people who drive pony cars discussing gas milage.

SLOWASSPONY

<-- gets shitty gas milage.. 10mpg

HungryHippo

my 94 5.0 got 22mpg average when stock, it even managed 28mpg on long trips
its gets 16mpg now and its not even that fast!
ls1's get about 20mpg average and run 12's!

Angel5

If you drive an LS1 nicely, it gets over 20mpg in the city.
Only bad thing is, it's a V8 and nobody wants to drive it nicely.

SLOWASSPONY

haha.. what fun would that be???

silver_stripes

any v-8 is like that with gas mileage. the LS1 is one of the coolest engines though, with headers, exhaust and intake you can run 12's all day.

then again I'll be hitting low 13's (traction permitting) before the summer with a total investment of around 15k. And 3 1/2 of that was spent on the body.

ShadyDave

Ah, all you greenie, tree huggers with your gas milage...22 mpg...I can't even manage double-digits unless I'm crusing in fifth or sixth on the freeway at the speed limit, or near it, anyway. Of course, that's mostly my fault for buying the car, and the mods to the motor didn't help. Ahh, the fun of a daily driver that has to stop at the gas station every 75-150 miles...

SLOWASSPONY

buy a motorcycle and put a yoshimura pipe on it and blow em all away... lol. im buying a 02 f4i next week, after i get the money from insurance if they deside to total mine i dumped last night

ShadyDave

Yeah, you blow 'em all away up to 'bout 90-130 MPH. Then they get to play catch up, if the're in the elevens/twelves...at least that's the way it goes for me...

ElDudorino

Smoothness of ride and gas mileage - both deserve mention when we're talking muscle cars, naturally. ... Wait, what?

Last time I checked I recall the LS1s having more gas mileage and a shitload more power. As far as looks I can't say I'm extremely fond of the newer Camaros but newer Firebirds with ram air hoods can look pretty god damn badass. Visibility is not horrible in a Firebird, and the ride is not that rough. Then again I'm used to long trips in old Camaros so I'm not entirely sure what a smooth ride feels like.

I guess what it comes down to is you should take a good look at all three cars and test drive them all. You may say to yourself "Hey, this car not only looks the best, it drives the best too!" and it won't really matter what any of us have to say. In the end they're all new V8s be they sohc dohc or nohc and they're going to put out a fair amount of power. The Mustake puts out a lot less power but from what I hear it's not too difficult to get more horsepower out of those crazy ohc motors. Just go for some test drives and find out what you like.

ShadyDave

Yeah, but he said Camaro Z/28 and Firebird Formula, and those have the LT1 motor, not the LS1...still, point made. The GM duo of our comparison make more power than the Ford end.

ElDudorino's point about the test drives is certainly correct. In the end, it really is up to you and your preferences.

Second that.

Z28PHREAK

All the V8's put into 98 and later f-bodies are LS1's.... LT1's ended in 97.

ShadyDave

Sorry...

Z28PHREAK

No problem

MauriSSio

theres still a little thing called insurance...