Yesterday I was getting ready to go fly-fishing and I was driving down Quincy Ave. I turned left onto Quincy on the inside lane, and this black early nineties mustang 5.0 goes to the center and gets on it. I thought it was a pretty nice looking car, and since my car is finally all put together and running great, I drop it into 3rd doing about 45 and slowly come up on him. Meanwhile he is slowing back down, and I look over at him when we line up doing about 40-45 and he is in there with his woman, and he looks over at me and his car drops a gear. (I think it was an auto) When he dropped it, his car fell back about 2-3 ft and at the same time we both got on it. I was pushing about 3/4 on the pedal bcz it still only has 200 miles on the engine and we are dead even!!! I can't beilieve this guy's car is that slow. There was a car ahead of me in my lane, and wasn't in a mood to do anything crazy and slowed when I hit about 75. He goes flying by with a "I kicked your ass look." Man, that made my night. I can't wait to hit 500 miles and next time I will floor it and have his ass for lunch. :) At the very end he had made it back up to even with me, so he gained about 3 feet over 30 MPH. Ha Ha Ha.

Man post your mods brother. We want to know what you got. Nice kill.

Ported and polished intake and ported exhaust.
Clevite 77 bearings
Crane Comp Cam
Chrome Moly Rings
High-Volume Oil Pump
Power Pulley
MSD Blaster Coil
8mm Plug Wires/HD Distributer Cab and Rotor
Rebuilt Distributer
New lifters/rods/arms
ADS Chip
Cold Air induction
All new hoses
New clutch/cvjoints/boots/tie-rod ends
Mobil 1 synthetic oil
92 Octane Gas

207 miles on the new engine.

Only thing wrong is a small clank on hard left turns.

Is this a V-6 were talking about? or did you swap it for a V-8?

I have always thought of Mustangs as Wustangs

Mustang - 8
Fiero - 6
:)

sweeeet.....

FieroMike, it's common for a new engine to feel stronger and stronger as it breaks in. This is mainly because you are "seating" your piston rings and they gradually seal better. Don't get in a big hurry to break that puppy in. I like to put about a 1000 miles on my new motors before I start getting wild.

the ford 302 has been a turd since it was invented, it hasn't gotten much better in over 20 years. I'll take a stock ford 289 from the 60's and beat every one of them, even allot of built up ones. Aren't many 302's (5l) that can turn 6 grand and not fry.

Having owned one as well as having friends that currently own 5.0 Mustangs, I got two words for a Fiero winning a race against a 5.0 Mustang....NO WAY. Do the math guys. Fieros are cool cars, but lets get real here. A V8 pony car that everybody and there brother makes performance parts for has to have some potential before they look into developing parts for it. When was the last time you saw new Aluminum heads from Edlebrock for a Chevy 60 degree V6 motor like the ones in our cars? Or and entire section in a Summit catalog dedicated to Fiero hop-ups? The Fox bodied Mustangs aren't even made anymore and they still are coming out with new products everyday, and I'm not just refering to intake manifold stickers that say "Fiero" , I'm talking about hard-core speed parts
I think the dude in the Mustang let you have your day.
BTW, not to get another huge 40 or more replies string going here like the "Fiero vs S-10" post, but racing while other people are around on the street is stupid, please read my opinions if you're interested in that string, if you not interested, skip it.
Dan-O

Dan-o, while I agree that Mustangs have a great deal of potential and lots of aftermarket high performance parts available and there are lots of hot running ones out there, I think a factory stocker Rustang probably CAN be beat by a good driver in a good hot-rod Fiero. Besides, that wasn't a real race, FieroMike was holding back because of his new motor. Gotta remember, a Fiero is much lighter in weight which makes up for the Rustang's greater horsepower. That embarressed dude is probably trading in his Ford right now for a new Trans Am (hehe).

Throw in a pro$tock motor and you'll have a neat,uh,Mustang,yeah.Still won't handle any better than an old Fairmont.
Different gearing/torque range is going to make two totally different cars just that,given the restriction of traffic,caution that has to be observed on the street when "diet-racing",you may just be guessing.The other guy may have been just at the peak of what he had,or just getting into it.I've seen a few really fast cars that were dogs around town.
That nice,new motor will continue to loosen up until around the 1,000 mile mark.

i agree with dano, the stock mustang will still beat a hopped up fiero. my friends stock fiero ran a 13.9 on nitto drag radials befor he went mad crazy(12 sec. car now!) the last time i seen a fiero run that was with a vette/northstar engine in the rear. BUT, i will beat him through any mountianous rhode around here..the suspension leaves a lot to be desired.

I guess I'm going to have to take the batmobile out and race me a Rustang to either prove my point or get whipped. Otherwise, we are all just bench racing.

Dano, Pretender,

I can see your point, but you don't know my spec's or his spec's. Who says he has a perfect Stang, or a modded one? I KNOW he was racing, I heard his engine almost blow up at the end of his gear. It was an auto, and his car pumps maybe 20-30 more horsepower than mine and he is over 1,500 pounds heavier, you do the math. Also I have no problem finding performance parts for the 2.8 60deg engine. I also have a 1999 Firebird Formula, with !cags, !maf, and cut-out. The Mustang is a piece of sh!t, bring them on. As far as racing, I replied with my opinion in that same thread if you want to check it out. The mustang GT in the newer years can barely beat me AFTER 60mph. Now the COBRA is a different story, even though the '99's got FUBAR'ed at the factory. I leave those for the Bird. Happy hunting batboy!!!! I think you will be surprised as how easily it is to hang with them, especially under 60.

Ogre: I'm with you on that. 302 is a terd.

So the consensus is 1,000 miles then? Ahh, I have to wait another week then, to bad!! I should have about 800HP by then..... :)

I think that the average off the lot Wustang GT could probably get out driven by a hyped up 2.8-3.2L Fiero. Of course there are plenty of performance mods for the Wustang, but off the lot that car is a joke. I havent driven a '99 or a Cobra but I have driven a regular GT and I expected a whole lot more out of that V-8. And whats up with Ford putting a dummy air ram on the '99s? How pathetic is that. Why put a hole in the hood, only to fill it in with a plastic piece that looks like an scoop but its not.

By the way, I believe that the proper terminology would be Mustang 4.6 nowadays.

I would have to agree with FieroMike on this
mustang thing... on the street they can be beat! I witnessed this on eve last year on a
service road leading up to the Ben Franklin
bridge going into Philly. My best friend bought an 86.5 silver GT with about 150k miles on the clock for $2000 and the other
guy had a white 98 Mustang GT ragtop. this
guy was just crusin along a noticed us sittin
low next to him...he started revin his engine
and started pointing at my friend then down the road signaling he wanted to race...and the mad man my bud is he was too happy to
accomodate! This guy starts off in first near
redline..not enough to burn the tires just enough to chirp them, we do the same and ride
right along side him we do this for a few blocks and this guy`s starting to get real
pissed off since he expected to be looking
at us in his rear view mirror but to his and
my surprise we kept right on hangin with him!
At the next red light he asked what it was we
were driving, what was under the hood and how
much! I WAS HOOKED RIGHT THEN AND THERE!!!
Needless to say I`ve been trying to find one
I could afford since and now I have.... Hows
that for a 13year old plastic death trap as I heard some one put it who said I should buy
some thing more sensible at my age (mid thirties and no kids)

Yeah!!!! Good job.

just to clarify, Mustants at least the non convertibles are around 3200 lbs, while fiero V6 are going to be 2650-2800, so the weight diff is not that great......not that I like Mustangs...or Wustangs...:) that much anyways, 99's are better definetely than the previous ones, and if you want any perfomance from them stay away from the convertible...300lbs extra

For the record, I have never won a race with a 5.0 liter Mustang. I've come close a couple of times (once when the other guy missed a shift, once when he wasted a bunch of time spinning his wheels), but never won.

By the same token, I've never lost a race with a 4- or 6-cyl Mustang, and I only race those guys if they initiate it. Even my Iron Duke car smokes the base Stangs (though I don't think I've never come up against the new 190-hp V6 Stang).

I'd love to race a V6 Fiero against a pre-94 5.0 on a road course though. With their piss poor handling and brakes ("The pedal you have pressed...brakes...is out of service"), Mustangs are out of their element everywhere but the drag strip.

I guess I will go Mustang hunting next time I go to the track. My V6 has all the mods that FieroMike has, plus it's a 3.2 with a GM performance cam. I will update everyone when I go.
Dan-O

Sid, I'm not trying to start an argument, but 400 to 500 pounds is a LOT of difference when you are racing. Back in the ol' days when I had my Chevelle SS 396, the Z-28 Camaros were about that much lighter and whipped the crap out of me. When I ran against cars about the same weight as mine, I could beat them pretty easy.

Add 500 pounds of extra weight to your car and then take a couple trips down the local dragstrip. Take the weight out and try it again. If you gave it a fair and square run both ways, I think you'd be amazed at the difference in ETs.

Back in the early to mid 1970's, we used to strip anything we could off our hot rods to lighten them. Carpet, back seats, power accessories, A/C, bumpers, etc. Some of my buddies even drilled holes throughout the frame. Trust me, it made a big difference. I never drilled any holes in my car, I like strong frames.

The only person I know with a 302 Rustang has a 1969 fastback (a good running car but fairly stock). When I asked to race this car with my batmobile Fiero, the reply was "No way! You'd cream me!" I guess I'll have to keep hunting for another sucker/victim. I think I'd have more fun whipping a late model expensive one anyway, rather than a classic.

In the "for what its worth department"- one of the car mag.'s did some test runs on a stock v8 car and found that on average every 100 pounds of weight removed changes 1/4 mile ET's by 1/10 of a second.

Hey ill race anyone with my 69' coupe mustang 302 stock elderbrock carb and manifold hooker super comp headers!!I like the puuuurrrr of the 86-90 mustangs they sound sweet.The new 99' mustangs with the big hood scoop and big side scoops look ugly.I would take a 86-89 myself 5.0 and hook it up.BTW did anyone see that fiero drag car on TNN?It had the 350 engine in the front tire compartment and a rear axle in back kinda looked cool but stoping that beast with the stock brakes musta been down right scary! lol

I agree 500 lbs is a big diff, but is a lot less than 1500 lbs that some others were saying..so I just wanted to clarify...

on the previous generation, yea they had no brakes, while handling was just ok... my dad had one and I spun it out, just hit the brakes too hard (not hard to do) and the car did a 180, real dangerous car...fast , but no way to stop... hehe

GreenDano,
You beat a Mustang that's at the track I'll give you some Kudos, this was just the average Joe on the street, in a non-track setup car. As far as the weight, we all know it's not 1500lbs heavier, I thought that was like "it's a million times heavier", sorry. :) Racer 1, I will race you, in my FireBird!!! :)

All right everybody, I was being sarcastic...My buddy has a slightly modified, actually bearly modified '86 5.0. He races regularly, and turns much beter times than a stock Fiero. I'm still sticking to my guns here...A NATURALLY ASPIRATED V6 FIERO WILL NOT BEAT A N.A. 5.0 MUSTANG IN A 1/4 MILE!!!
Dan-O

I will add this fuel to the Mustang fire. My brother-in-law has a 4.6 GT Mustang/automatic and his best friend has an 88 Formula with a five speed. The Formula has very low miles and runs much stronger than the 86 GT that he also owns. He has NEVER -on the street and on the track- outrun the STOCK GT Mustang. It is close, but it has not happened yet. The Formula has a jacobs ignition, KN filter, catless exhaust and headers.

In a 1/4 mile with the exact same drive in each car, I agree. Not a chance. Sticking to my guns though, on the street with different drivers and different car setups, I beat that stupid Mustang!!! Ha Ha Ha :)

hey guys he made a good kill, be happy for him. don't jump all over him cuz another mustang could beat him. not every mustang is fast nor is every fiero fast. so when someone makes a good kill, lets not tell him how a same model different car could smoke him.

Driver skill and reaction time is very important in racing. I've seen people with fast cars that didn't know how or when to shift and I've seen guys in average cars that could drive like the pros. Losing traction, missing a shift, or a dozen other things can happen to influence the outcome of a race.

I raced a guy once and as I was pulling ahead of him, my tranny jumped out of second gear. Once I got the situation back under control, of course he was ahead of me. I was catching up with him very quickly, but he let up and shut down. He refused to race again and claimed I was making up excuses. I had to endure that jerk telling everyone and their mother for months how he blew me away. Guano happens, technically I lost that race, even though my car was much faster.

Don't lissen to 'em FM.....I smoked a late model GT on the street a couple weeks ago. A healthy sounding car it wuz too. Granted, my GT is built pretty strong: wild profile cam, .40 over pistons, gasket matched, etc. etc. But I smoked him off the line, and held a solid lead. I guess he MIGHT have eventually caught me, as I am somewhat limited by the 4 speed gearing. But he got firmly beat. The end. Thank you very much. I'm here all week. Don't forget to tip your waitress.......

four50four, batboy, taijiguy, Thanks for the replies!!! Glad to know that you guys are behind me!! Nice kill TG!!! Thanks for helping me prove my point!! The driver is everything!! Race on!!!

I just had to add to this thread some more. Now, before I go on, let me state this: I know there are those of you who are opposed to racing on the streets, and I respect your decision, so allow me to say this: 1) If you choose not to race on the streets, that's your choice, and a wise one it may be, however, you aren't my dad, or my girlfriend, and I'm sure not getting any pu**y from you, so please don't try and tell me what to do. 2) Give me enough credit for being smart, careful, responsible, and considerate enough to not enadanger another motorist in the process of humiliating some high school kid in his mom's Volvo. 3) I'm not going to listen to you anyway, so you're wasting your time, and energy. I don't mean any disrespect to anyone this may apply to, but face it, you aren't going to control me. SO, with that said, I'd like to hear from some of you other street racers out there about similar encounters.
There's this kid running around my neighborhood with a lowered Saturn SC, with those great big Borla tips, and shiney wheels, and ground effects. He just thinks this is the coolest car on the street. I ended up next to him at a light the other day, and I looked over and he gives me this sideways look. "oh brother" I thought, you can't be serious. Anyone familiar with cars could hear the cam in my GT a block away.....the thing won't even idle below 1200 rpm. ANYWAY, I'm sitting here with this SC wanting to run me. Now, I have a question, does anyone here have any idea what this guy was thinking....? Needless to say, I just played with him.....he was clearing gears as fast as he could....Once I got to 3rd, I just let it ride till I got weary of playing with this guy, and opened it up and let it breathe. Anyone else here ever been approached by someone who was so obviously bringing a Nerf bat to a gunfight? What are these guys thinking...at least pick a fight you have some chance of winning for cryin out loud.......

Taijiguy, do you have any tips on porting the intake manifolds? I've always been under the impression that polishing the intake can lead to fuel beading up on the walls of the manifolds, but since our cars are injected, it shouldn't matter and should, in fact, flow better. I guess this only applies if you did the work yourself.

taij: I am guessing your engine is making around 200-220 hp at the flywheel which translates to around 170-190 hp at the wheels. You should have no problems taking Mustangs stock or slightly modified.

I would also guess that you are turning mid to high 14 second qtr miles.

Perhaps nitrous in the future for that ride? A 50 shot will really wake it up.

I run a 70 on mine most of the time but wiht a 50 I am at 214 lbs feet of torque at the wheels with an auto tranny.

I was playing around with it the other night and burned out for a good 25-30 feet or so before letting off the gas through an intersection. I could've kept em spinning but i wasn't accelerating very quickly cause of the tire spin. I normally don't like to break the tires loose but I wasn't racing anyone and felt like having a little fun with my baby.

Oh yea I have posted a few kills in this forum. You mihgt have to go back several weeks or so but they are there. So far I am undefeated on the street and e-way with my car. I have raced a 4th gen v6 camaro, 99 Pontiac T/A, (2) 3rd gen firebirds, and a 89 Turbo Supra with the 55 gallon drum exhaust tip and huge wing. Unfortunately no Mustangs yet.

On the track though is a different matter. I get beat often but still no mustangs at the track either. My best time is a 14.8 with a 70 shot of nitrous and my worst time is a 14.9 with a 50 shot of nitrous. I have added a few mods since then so I think with a 70 shot I can hit mid 14's.

Hey Eric,

I don't think the fuel thing should be a problem, since air is the only thing to pass through plenums, and fuel only passes through the intake manifold for a short distance. I used a Dremel, with a pencil tip adaptor. It was able to get in there pretty well, with the exception of the upper plenum, you can only get in so far since it's so flat. I think smoothing out the intake and exhaust ports on the heads made alot of difference. I really smoothed out the valve guides, and the whole area.
You may be right Shaun, I kind of figured I may be producing something over 200 at the crank. I'm not really sure why, but it will barely spin the tires, which is fine with me, it just comes off the line like a bullet. The suspension is the tightest street ride I ever experienced, that may have something to do with it. All I know is, this is the most exciting car I've ever driven, and I've been around some.

If I keep my 2.8 motor,I'll get a cam like yours,298DEG/.465 lift,those numbers have worked well for me in the past on other motors,and am glad to hear it works out well with the injection,suprising really.
Want to hear about your suspension mods.