You kinda have a point, but the 426 hemi is definetly not represntative of every muscle car engine. That thing was an animal just like the Ford 427 cammer. These engines had to be underrated due to the rising insurance rates of the times. But your average 289/302 would be overrated by todays standards.(Yes I know this is a BOSS302 were talking about). My girlfriend recently had a bone stock 66 coupe with the "225" hp 289 all rebuilt to stock specs and it felt like a dog compared to my 99 GT. I used to be all into the old muscle until my friend spanked me in his stock 96 z-28 with me in my pumped up 289 67 mustang. I thing the '00 GT will take the cougar.
There were a handful of big blocks including the 426 hemi that were intentionally underrated for insurance purposes, but that isn't true of small blocks.
You would easily beat a bone stock 1969 or 1970 Boss 302 with 1960's wide oval bias belted tires that has been time warped to Jan 2, 2003. They only ran high 14's 100% stock. They had little low end torque and a very narrow power band.
However this it not 1970. I'm sure he has much better tires on it, as you said a different cam, 4.30 gears, most likely has removed he's removed the air pump & other emissions stuff and twiddled with the carburator, he could be able to run high 13's with it. If he's got headers and different exhaust on along with electronic ignition and other tweaks and knows how to drive it low 13's are possible.
But your average 289/302 would be overrated by todays standards.(Yes I know this is a BOSS302 were talking about). My girlfriend recently had a bone stock 66 coupe with the "225" hp 289 all rebuilt to stock specs and it felt like a dog compared to my 99 GT. I think the '00 GT will take the Cougar.
Just my opinion here, but I'd think it'd be no surprised that a 260 horsepower, limited slip, 3.27 geared, fuel injected, overhead cammed, radial tired, computer tuned, aerodynamic Mustang with 35+ years of technology would feel superior compared to a bone stock 225 horse, peg legged, 289 '66 Coupe Mustang with only 2 years of production behind it. The Mustang today is much more of a performance oriented sports car in the basic GT configuration.
This match up however is a much different comparison.
351CJ is right...after all this time I would assume that the Cougar is no longer choked up from the factory and has better tires to plant to power to the pavement. and let's not forget, there is a whole lot more out there for the pushrod engines than the modulars and the Cougar owner has had about 30 years to think about how to tweak his
It won't even be close. You will walk away from the Cougar. Those cars weighed close to 4000 pounds, and had a lot of drivetrain loss. Those cars ran 0-60 around 7.0 to 7.5 with quarter mile times in the low 15 range. The Boss 302 Mustangs were a bit lighter and ran mid 14's at best.
The Mercury Cougar of '69-'70 with a Boss 302 might weigh in around the same as a Fox body mustang '87-'93, possibly less. The '69-'70 Mustangs/Cougars were not heavy weights compared to todays pony's. I hate to break it to you but with government safety mandates and computer controls our ponies today will weigh a bit more. Now the difference isnt that much, but I would bet the an '00 GT weighs more than or about the same as a '69-'70 Cougar and easily more than a Mustang Boss 302. The Cougars did have added refinements such as noise insulation and fancier interiors as well as other added options which all added weight. In the end I would bet an '00 GT would best a Cougar Boss 302 by a bit, but it would be pretty close in the 14's quarter mile, and weight would not be the reason a 69-70 Cougar would have lost. In the end, as others have said, the Boss 302 was a Trans Am road racer replica not a drag car and the cougar version took that motor and threw on a few punds with luxo items, so not being the pinnacle of the quarter mile was quite alright. As far as I can see even posing a challenege to the current GT 2V 4.6L cars is quite impressive.
I'd like to know as well. I work with a guy that has two 428 CJ (SCJ?) powered Cougars of the same era. He has one that he takes to the drags occasionally. Bone stock, it turns 13.70s at Firebird in Phoenix -- he ran two back to back. It's an automatic.
Nothing has happened yet, cause he was too much of a wuss to take it out of storage. We're going to wait for another month or so for the weather to get better. During the wait, he went out and bought a new Intake, Heads and Tires. I don't think that I'm going to stand a chance now, but it will be taped.