Fox Stock is going up, boys!!!

[90sickfox]

I think Ford made a big mistake trying to get people locked into FPP. Seems like they stopped using the 302 to kill the aftermarket. They then changed platforms so much that the aftermarket couldn't keep up. That whole time chevy performance parts where all over the place. The coyote is nice....but it has its complications. Most people still just lock the timing on a coyote to make big power.

Being a Ford fan it really sucks. In the end....I love the fact that a 30yr old ford engine can come around a similarly built 350. The going fast thing is coming to an end with me. Im realizing that its left to the big money guys just like real drag racing. Bracket racing is one thing but there's almost no way to compete anywhere else with out a team.

That's why I joined NAPA HPDE racing. It's more dependent on drivers skill in my class. ( not that I'm competing yet ).

I don't care what engine people stuff in their cars as long as it's done interestingly enough. Wish I would've seen more Triton v10 action....but the support just wasn't there for it.

I'm actually hunting for a mid to late 90s BMW 325 or 328 with a manual transmission. The mustangs will still be around...but I want track time. Could track my fox but I'm keeping that as a street car. The 19 won't be tracked for a while.

 

[MustangIIMatt]

Which is great, because it's the best Mustang chassis ever made!

Kurt

Not really, the S197 and S550 handle a lot better, and aren't built on a design that was originally thought of in the mid-1970s.

 

[2000xp8]

I believe one of the ls foxes was won on a previous (guy that was in the fire) show.
Not sure he really belonged on the fastest car show, seems like the spirit of the show is underdogs with home built cars on a budget.
He's a racer.
Not only that, if it's the same car he was on the show horsepowerwars, it wasn't even his money and imo he didn't do the right thing on that show to win either.
Yes, i'm biased since two of my friends were on one of the other teams.
To make a long story short, my buddy's team asked to swap or sell a turbo, the producer allowed it.
That guy gets beat, then cries the blues (when he knew what happened the whole time, he could have spoken up earlier).
It was a controversial ending.
Right or wrong, i'm not sure.
I know I wouldn't have wanted to win that way, but I guess to some, winning is everything.

The show itself is kinda wacked out.
Drag racing only? I personally believe anyone can build a car that only does one thing well.
Then on the final episode of season 1 they run on salt vs an awd lambo? Didn't take a genius to figure out how what was turning out.
I didn't finish season 2 yet, although i have been fast fowarding to the races, lol.

 

[General karthief]

I watched one episode, I'm done.

 

[junkyardwarrior]

The going fast thing is coming to an end with me. Im realizing that its left to the big money guys just like real drag racing. Bracket racing is one thing but there's almost no way to compete anywhere else with out a team.

Bracket racing isn't much different. Local weekly programs, yeah we can compete but there is NO money in it when the winner gets to take home $300. It used to be $500 (locally) to the winner of footbrake. They cut it back. It costs us more to go racing than it used to but I also understand it costs a lot more to run the track on a weekly basis. Seems like "everything" is going to "big money races"--and that's fine but it just leaves us little guys out because of the high entry fees.

When you show up with your $100,000 investment and the guy pitted next to you has a $1M program, unless people come by and compliment your efforts, you generally don't stay long-or show back up, and that's where I'm at. Couple weeks ago I was at the track on a Sunday, felt decent about my chances. One side of me was pitted a nice toterhome, then they unloaded basically a pro mod bodied bracket car, all "bought" (not built), other side a high $$ dragster AND a high $$$ door car (in the same 53' transporter). The promod broke early but the dragster won the whole program, ET was 3.90's at over 2 bills in the 1/8-and ran it every single pass unless he was parking at the finish line. I say $100,000 investment because by time you figure in the lifetime investment, it's close to it. I've owned my car since 1992.

 

[revhead347]

Not really, the S197 and S550 handle a lot better, and aren't built on a design that was originally thought of in the mid-1970s.

I've driven them all. The SN95 has better visibility, is more comfortable, has a better interior, and doesn't look like ass, like the S197 and S550. The S550 is the more appealing of the two, but the retro thing is painful to the optic nerve. Granted the SN95 is basically a beer can death trap, but that as well as the handling can be fixed. You can't fix the ugly.

Kurt

 

[FastDriver]

I think the S550 is a beautiful car with amazing potential. fuel, exhaust and a blower = 700-800 rwhp. They're a bit on the big side for me, but they handle predictably and sound great!

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

I believe one of the ls foxes was won on a previous (guy that was in the fire) show.
Not sure he really belonged on the fastest car show, seems like the spirit of the show is underdogs with home built cars on a budget.
He's a racer.
Not only that, if it's the same car he was on the show horsepowerwars, it wasn't even his money and imo he didn't do the right thing on that show to win either.
Yes, i'm biased since two of my friends were on one of the other teams.
To make a long story short, my buddy's team asked to swap or sell a turbo, the producer allowed it.
That guy gets beat, then cries the blues (when he knew what happened the whole time, he could have spoken up earlier).
It was a controversial ending.
Right or wrong, i'm not sure.
I know I wouldn't have wanted to win that way, but I guess to some, winning is everything.

The show itself is kinda wacked out.
Drag racing only? I personally believe anyone can build a car that only does one thing well.
Then on the final episode of season 1 they run on salt vs an awd lambo? Didn't take a genius to figure out how what was turning out.
I didn't finish season 2 yet, although i have been fast fowarding to the races, lol.

I've seen this before...( first hand)
This is the rambling of a drunk guy.

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

The sn 95 is to the 90's what a mustangII was to the 70's....a case of shtty design engineers, too much coke, and nobody minding the store on the sales floor.
It doesn't take an opinion poll to determine how popular an sn 95 car is when compared to an S550........

It only takes somebody with better than 20/80 eyesight.

S 550's are everywhere. Because like some of the styling cues that show up in an s197, retro throwbacks are everywhere in that car...only it is more powerful, more comfortable, faster, more solid, and better than any ford "pony" car that has ever came before it.

( and this coming from somebody thatll never buy one of these cars)

To even put that roundy-bulging version of a fox mustang up against an S550 is to put a Nissan Sentra up against a GTR.

 

[revhead347]

I think the S550 is a beautiful car with amazing potential. fuel, exhaust and a blower = 700-800 rwhp. They're a bit on the big side for me, but they handle predictably and sound great!

I just want the engine, not the body. It's not a bad body, and it's basically the same size as an SN. It weighs more, understandable.

Kurt

 

[FastDriver]

Geez... a lot of hate is flying around in here towards our Mustang brothers... SN95 is a better looking car, to most people, on the same chassis as a fox. Good looking car, far nicer interior. A lot of people love them, and even I like the 4v Cobras. The 2005+ ones were better looking to me when new, but now they've lost a lot of the luster. The S550s look great to me, now. I just wonder if the design will hold up over time or dwindle the way the S197 has to me.

The foxes are a better platform for stright-lining because they're lighter, but otherwise, the SN95 is still a light car by today's standards. I can totally see a kid coming up in the late '90s, like me, being into the SN95 for all the aftermarket reasons of the fox, but with the preference for the looks & interior.

 

[revhead347]

The sn 95 is to the 90's what a mustangII was to the 70's....a case of shtty design engineers, too much coke, and nobody minding the store on the sales floor.
It doesn't take an opinion poll to determine how popular an sn 95 car is when compared to an S550........

Lol. No thread is complete without commentary from the local misanthrope. I owned 2 foxes. I will admit that it was nice being able to have a generator loaded into the car by fork lift, and I could carry my entire dorm room back home in the summer in the car. That's about where the positive notes for the Fox end for me.

The appearance of the car is a matter of opinion, so we can gloss over that. I don't think they have ever made a Mustang as clean as the SN. No nonsense, smooth, refined.

When I stepped up to an SN, it was incredible how much different it was for what is basically the same car. The interior looks good after 25 years. It also wraps around you, and everything is placed more naturally. Nothing rattles in the car. The door panels lock into the frame of the door, not held on by stupid clips. The seals in the glass hold up. It comes with all the things the Fox didn't , reasonably good brakes, ABS, 5 lug wheels. Most of all, the car goes straight. The damn Foxes fish tail all over the road every time you lay into the gas pedal. The SNs hold up like nothing else. They are still everywhere, and in reasonable condition. Almost all the 4th Gen Camaros are trash heeps now. It's a better version of the Fox, and it doesn't weigh much more. You get something for that weight.

Now, I have another opinion that might be unpopular. The Fox Body Mustang was the last Muscle car ever built. It didn't dawn on me until after I got my SN. I bought a 91' Escort as a beater car. I sat down in the car one day and had an epiphany, holy crap, this car has the exact same interior my Fox Body had. Sure it was a little different shape, but it was the same basic design, with the exact same materials, and put together the exact same way. I started comparing it to my room mates Fox Body. It was uncanny how similar the two cars were designed and put together. The Fox Body Mustang is a basic Ford Sedan with a more powerful engine. Nothing more, nothing less. It is the definition of a Muscle Car.

Now, I have parked next to an S550, it's basically the same size as my Mustang. It does weigh more, but this is the real world. You can't make a car that meets today's safety expectations, and have it weigh what a car did back in the 90s without sky rocketing the price with light weight materials. Unless you are Chrysler, where you put a 707hp engine in a 90s taxi cab that weighs 4400lbs, and still somehow manages to a Marginal safety rating which is worse than 98% of the cars sold today. That's an incredible accomplishment. I'm not going to say I would never own an S550, however, it does have an interior that looks like it belongs in a pickup truck, it does have a very ugly retro rear end, and it does have a Chinese transmission. It also would mean 25 more years of emissions testing where I live.

Kurt

 

[FastDriver]

The S550 interiors are nicer than SN95 interiors, and I'm not hating on them, because those are better than the fox's. But whatevz... With that I'm out of this thread.

 

[MustangIIMatt]

I've driven them all. The SN95 has better visibility, is more comfortable, has a better interior, and doesn't look like ass, like the S197 and S550. The S550 is the more appealing of the two, but the retro thing is painful to the optic nerve. Granted the SN95 is basically a beer can death trap, but that as well as the handling can be fixed. You can't fix the ugly.

Kurt

Back away from the bong...

 

[revhead347]

I can't be the only one who doesn't dig on the headboard dash, the chrome plastic everywhere, and the steering wheel from a bumper car.

Kurt

 

[MustangIIMatt]

I can't be the only one who doesn't dig on the headboard dash, the chrome plastic everywhere, and the steering wheel from a bumper car.

Kurt

Oh sure man, we're all stuck in the 90s with you thinking Fisher-Price plastic dashes are nice, and a steering wheel that has a primitive single-stage airbag and no other safety features is a great idea. We're right there with you in thinking that refinement, class, and comfort are bad things, and that technology should never advance... Ever.

 

[Potomus Pete]

I like the 2008 whatever thats called. With the shaker hood. Big driving light ect. I met this kid that had a Shelby one of these. Really cool car.

 

[General karthief]

I really like the new stangs, drove a V6 and a 5.0, not an automatic guy but I'm impressed, just can't get past the price tag.

 

[EX-SSP]

Here's my two cents and remember, you get what you paid for.

The lure of the foxbody was a nice, reliable, torquey motor that made the car go straight very well and OK around the corners. The bodies were tight and not rattley, at least not the four I've had. My current one had a rattle in the dashboard area when I first got it but I traced it down and fixed it. Now as far as handling as well as the later gen cars? Well, the fun part of owning a foxbody and I think this is true for just about all mustangs, is the upgradeability of them. My primary focus when I got my current fox was suspension and brakes. I did the best I could with the funds I had. Is it a road course king? Far from it but I have out driven many a newer car when it comes to the twisty stuff. It's much easier to make a light car handle well than a heavier one.

Not to mention the look I get when a 28 year old car just kept up with a newer, fandangled camustanger. I'm never gonna beat a Mustang GT with the PP2 but I do get respect for what mine can do. And, I can still make it better.

Now my car is not a daily driver so would I like a nicer interior with better design and more ergonomically designed interfaces with the seats and dash? I personally don't care. I have a minivan for that.

 

[General karthief]

@EX-SSP I agree with what you say.
well except the mini van part, I have a F-super duty, I can ergonomically drive your azz into a ditch if you don't gas on it when you pull out in front of me.