Mustang GT couldn't buck me.

[Papa_D]

Went to the track last night and raced a previous gen Mustang GT and beat him easily. He ran a 15.195 @ 95.08 to my 14.894 @ 91.06. I spoke with the owner of a new Mustang GT and my earlier suspicions were confirmed. He said that his stock GT ran between 14.7 and 14.5 in this heat. I had seen a new Mustang GT run a couple weeks back and he ran a 14.5. I am really past believing anything any of the magazines have to say in regards to performance because in the REAL world I just don't see any of the vehicles putting down the same numbers. Yeah I'm sure the heat has a good bit to do with it but I also believe that your average driver can not reproduce those kinds of numbers and that to me is what counts. What can a vehicle run with John Doe in the drivers seat because that's who I end up racing. They need to put a 25 year old with decent driving abilities in the vehicle and see what the vehicle actually runs and post that with the pro time. You could average out the two and have a REAL world time because I have yet to see a pro driver in a stock vehicle at the local strip. There was a guy there last night that swears his buddy has a Hemi that runs 13.1. I asked if it was on the juice and he said no to which I replied, tell him to bring it out and I'll let him beat me, lol. He seemed like an honest enough fellow but I think he was reading the score board from the Lighting that ran next to his friend. Let's keep it real guys, I went 4-0 last night with vehicles that should all run like scalded dogs according to the hype and I beat them all with a 15 second truck.

[Pokoki]

Titan Pride!

[Ourbaby]

Very nice!!!

[Blackbeauty]

Way to go P D!!!! You must be pullin down some respect at the strip!

[Papa_D]

Originally Posted by Blackbeauty

Way to go P D!!!! You must be pullin down some respect at the strip!

It's a lot of fun and I have been spending most of my free time out there as I did when I was photographing those guys. People really tend to look at the Titan differently now than when I first went out there. It's nice to see the Titan getting a little respect for certain and they know it exists, that's for sure, lol. It was really funny when I pulled out of the strip last night there was a Titan pulling out of the bike track with a couple of motorcycles in the bed and he was trying to race me when we pulled onto the highway. I pulled on him of coarse and slowed down for the ricer fly by from the Titan with a full bed, lol.

[Blown330]

Originally Posted by Papa_D

Let's keep it real guys, I went 4-0 last night with vehicles that should all run like scalded dogs according to the hype and I beat them all with a 15 second truck.

So in other words you beat the drivers...

For the record a good friend of mine picked up a bone stock 2002 GT recently and his first time at the track (this was his first RWD V8 car with a manual) ran 13.89 with factory tires. Doesn't take a professional driver to get equal or better times than what a magazine would show as many Titan owners can attest.

[Papa_D]

Originally Posted by Blown330

So in other words you beat the drivers...

For the record a good friend of mine picked up a bone stock 2002 GT recently and his first time at the track (this was his first RWD V8 car with a manual) ran 13.89 with factory tires. Doesn't take a professional driver to get equal or better times than what a magazine would show as many Titan owners can attest.

Maybe beat the drivers but I'm not entirely convinced of that yet. I would like to see more examples of cars and trucks running at my local track before I decide for sure. Could it be that the timing equipment is off 4 or 5 tenths, possibly but not likely. Could it be the heat and humidity? Maybe but I'm not convinced of that either. What I'm trying to say is that because one ran for a magazine or in highly different weather conditions doesn't mean the rest of them will. For example, My truck with the current mods is running 3 or four tenths slower than some other peoples trucks with the same mods. Am I that much worse a driver? Possible, but again not likely. Are the weather conditions that big a factor? Maybe. The point I'm trying to make is that if everyone posts the good with the bad, we are all likely to get a much better idea of what all the different vehicles run on a regular basis and not just optimal conditions with a great driver.

[Blown330]

You'd be surprised at how consistant factory vehicles are these days and how big driver/eviromental factors play. I saw a C5 Z06 run high-14's repeatedly at the local track not too long ago. (I then saw an automatic C5 convertable click off a 9.90 @ 138 mph...with no cage ) My friends car swings almost 2 tenths just from the barometric pressure (it makes more of a difference than humidity does) changes between 2 days. I have a lot of experience with Mustangs of the Fox-chassis types (79 - 04) and can pretty much assure you that a manual New Edge GT with a resonably competent driver is going to run in the lower 14-sec range on factory tires in the southern part of the US.

[Papa_D]

Originally Posted by Blown330

You'd be surprised at how consistant factory vehicles are these days and how big driver/eviromental factors play. I saw a C5 Z06 run high-14's repeatedly at the local track not too long ago. (I then saw an automatic C5 convertable click off a 9.90 @ 138 mph...with no cage ) My friends car swings almost 2 tenths just from the barometric pressure (it makes more of a difference than humidity does) changes between 2 days. I have a lot of experience with Mustangs of the Fox-chassis types (79 - 04) and can pretty much assure you that a manual New Edge GT with a resonably competent driver is going to run in the lower 14-sec range on factory tires in the southern part of the US.

Thanks for posting back, I'm not trying to beat up on a particular vehicle here. I'm not a Hemi hater or a Ford fryer, just trying to get honest comparisons to help me and others run at our vehicles potential. When I raced the Hemi last week that ran a 15.47, I was actually trying to help him cool his truck and run quicker to make a race out of it. If I know what other vehicles run, I can race the ones I'm close with because I don't like winning by a half second, I want to win or loose by a tenth or two and that's way more fun than stomping or getting stomped. I am at the track for fun and camaraderie, after all, we are racers and that's the club I belong to, first and foremost. I hate it when a 10 second car races in the lanes for slower cars, what's the point? We all know who's going to win. That's like having Muhammad Ali fight Sugar Ray Leonard, both good fighters but such a mismatch is not entertainment. It's one thing to beat the snot out of some loudmouth jerk by a second or two, that's entertaining. But it's mostly a bunch of guys trying to go fast and looking for a close race. Drive it like it's free and I'll see you at the races.