98gt versus 89 5.0

NikwoaC said:

I was giving this some thought and I pose a new pondering for all of you: Its not uncommon to see stock block 5.0s slip into the 10s. Toss in a Windsor and 9s are in reach without buying an aftermarket block. Hell, a lot of Windsors are going deep 10s without anything gut a longer crank. Yea, the factory pushrod blocks will give up the ghost before the modular blocks will, but when you're chasing 600+ horsepower and don't have a 10 second car, you're in it just for the numbers and bragging rights. And in that case, then yea, you can talk about it all day long on the internet, and the 1200 hp twin turbo Termis will have everyone oohing and ahhing.

I ran into a guy at the parts store today and he was telling me about his stroker Windsor that he's building for nitrous. He was expecting this car to be in the 10s once he had it together. The guy was just an auto service tech, so you know hes not building a 50 thousand dollar car, but what he's building is gonna get the job DONE.

I think dollar for dollar, the pushrod cars still have the 1320 throne over the mod motor cars, until you get into the 10s, in which you're on the cusp of it being just a race car anyway, pushrods or no pushrods.

But even then, there definitely are fast mod motors out there that were built on the cheap, so what it comes down to is personal preference, really.

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I don't think the deciding factor in ET's is the power plant that each car is sporting necessarily, but the weight and the kind of car they're moving around.

These 10-second Fox bodies you hear of are almost always purpose built cars, with a lot of weight reduction to go along with that power plant (A/C and Smog delete, back seats yanked, manual windows/doors, etc). Most are usually tipping the scales in and around 2,900-3,100lbs from what I see and show up to the track caged and with slicks and skinnies on standby. Although a lot of these drivers still choose to drive these cars on the street, in most cases, they're hardly considered street streetable.

Its pretty different in comparison the usual guy in his fully loaded SN95 that shows up at the track with 18" wheels a booming aftermarket stereo and a 2" drop all the way around. Yeah, he's totting around 400, 500 and 600, fully streetable horsepower, passing state emissions and still knocking down 25mpg on the way too and from the track, but still tipping the scales at 3,400+ and has hardly set his car up as a 1320-Warrior.

Case in point, I was at the track just last weekend and about 4 of the 6 foxes I saw there came built and ready for battle. They weren’t the prettiest things I’ve seen, but you can tell they were built for business. Most of the SN95 cars that were there were essentially still street cars piloted by weekend Warriors and nowhere near in the same class. Most guys there were running the same parts they would have on the street and about the only major changes were a set of drag radials?

I think with the Fox cars still being so common and inexpensive to buy and junk yards being stocked full of replacement parts, more of their owners are set on turning them into legitimate track cars, without having to worry about whether or not a part is going to be in stock for them should they break something, since most are trailered to the track anyway.

As sad as it is to see, even 17-years after they first started production, most people in my experience are still afraid to tackle the Modular engine. I see guys at the track that could tune a carburetor in their sleep, but the thought of cracking a valve cover on a 4.6L makes them break out in a cold sweat. You’d think at this point the persona of the engine would have worn off, or sunk in…but it still seems that many still don’t understand it…and quite frankly, a lot I’ve seen refuse to even try?

For the record, the SN95's that I’ve seen that do show up with owners that know what they’re doing with them and ready to fight, are running every bit as quick as their Fox bodied brethren.