I have been waiting for this matchup for awhile now....

I was cruising down HWY 80 when I came upon a black GT, very clean, had some graphics and chrome wheels. No body kit, but you could hear his exhuast. I revved up so he could hear my Magnaflow when I passed him. He quickly matched speeds with me around 45-50 MPH... I downshifted from 3rd to 2nd and jumped about a length on him, then in 3rd gear I pulled another whole length! So we roll up to a stop light...he rolls down his windown and his long blonde headed girlfriend is screaming "No don't do it!!"
We both looked at each other, smiled and nodded...she was out voted. The light turned green and I torched 1st and 2nd, and then the shifter spun around in my hand when I tried to hit third and I missed the gear He had about 3 lengths on me. So we gave each other the thumbs up and drove off. I'm going to have to get some P245 tires and some 17X8s and get this traction issue fixed. But its nice to know the Max can hang with a lightly modified GT!

Jesse

 

I raced a modified GT Auto from a stop and lost by 1 to 1.5 car lengths and I was auto. I posted about it and got flamed like crazy. I don't race anymore too because I realized I have little experience driving and I read about all these deaths on this website alone.

I will do it when I am older...it's hard resisiting

 

do you have limited slip?

-vq

 

im glad my 2k2 can beat a stang from a roll. from a stop its just too hard.

 

No limited slip.

 

you got flamed for losing, or because people thought you should have lost by more?

the 4.6 isn't what the 5.0 used to be... it has a lot more aftermarket potential than a 2k2 max, but it's not *that* much stronger. A friend of mine is a mechanic at a Ford dealer and he's driven my car (2k2 6-speed) and he swears I'd beat a new (non-cobra) in just about any race. I'm looking forward to the opportunity

 

Mustangs will always have more aftermarket potential and that makes it tough to race one b/c you never know what the other guy is packing. He has a plethora of weapons at his disposal. We'll just have to be patient and hope there are some new mods to come out in the next year. Tops on my list is a software upgrade, and headers would be nice too.

 

Jesse,

Now you're in an area I know something about. The '96 to '98 Mustang GTs are very slow compared to the 99+ Mustangs (260 HP and 305 LB. Ft. of torque). As a new owner of a 2002 Maxima SE (and an '01 Mustang Cobra convertible), I can tell you that my new Max should run with the '96 to '98 (unmodded) GTs, but the '99+ Mustang GTs have too much torque for an unmodded Max to handle.

Do you know the year of the Mustang GT you ran?

Mike

 

CobraMax,
It was undoubtedly a 99+ model. The tailights were the newer design. I understand the 99+ models had a revised head design that yielded the extra hp and torque (among other things). The few mods I do have on my Maxima have made a big difference and to be honest when I tested the 2k1 GT, it felt very sluggish. I think the guy I raced didn't have much more than exhuast, b/c like I said I was pulling from a roll.

Jesse

 

Stock 99+ Mustang GT's run in the high 13's to the low 14's at worst. I've run 13.8 to 13.92 personally in my clubs cars, and so have the fellas that own them. That was when they were stock. They now have some light mods, so I can no longer give you a fair summation. In short, no stock 6 speed 2002+ Maxima can keep up with the stock 5 speed 99+ Mustang GT's if the drivers are equal. There are too many advantages (torque, RWD, weight distribution) on the Mustang. I do, however, congratulate you on the kill. Even if the guy wasn't as good a driver as you, it's still a tough car to beat. That being said, I personally know that with enough mods, a 6 speed Maxima will beat stock GT's (99+). That's where the fun begins!

 

I don't know why my signature isn't showing up but you can read my mods on the first post.

 

just wondering about the Traction issue...

-vq

 

That might be enough mods to be just about even from a takeoff. From a roll I personally think the VQ35DE is more responsive and will take them (the mustangs in stock trim).

 

The 3-2 downshift is brutal if you get it just right. With the Maxima's Molybdenum coated pistons, VVT, VI and 80mm throttle body, it is probably the most responsive V6 I've driven. This thing is a sleeper if there ever was one right off the showroom floor. There is still room to grow too. I'd like to remove the main cat and get the y-pipe and then do a before/after dyno. I used to have a 300hp Eclipse and from a roll I think my Maxima is as fast now.

Jesse

 

This is one of the most responsive engines I've ever driven, regardless of number of cylinders or the manufacturer. The only other one I can really compare to this is the 2001+ BMW M3 3.2L I6. That's one hell of a rev happy motor as well. Just launches. This VQ feels like a slightly detuned version, only maybe even a bit more smooth (if you can believe that).

 

I got flamed for something I deserved. It was really stupid. I raced my friends mustang a few days after I got my license. Just all this reading on racing wanted me to do it but now I don't risk it.

 

Nice run








Until you missed 3rd gear that is!






That's a power-to-weight comparison of these two cars. Your mods probably helped a little, but he still should have been able to pull. Either he wasn't able to drive the car to its full potential, or it was the autotragic. There's no doubt in my mind that an 02 6spd will take out a 99+ GT auto.

 

When I am at the track, I'm either matching or within 1mph of the trap speeds of the 99+GT 5 speeds. If they get a 2.2-2.3 60' like what I usually get, then it's neck and neck. For the most part, the stock 99+ GTs are running pretty consistent 14.5-14.7s@96mph at KCIR. I'm not saying there aren't 99+ GTs running high 13s (not the norm), but at my track they're not. Whether it's the conditions, the track, or a combo of the two, a race between my lowly 4th gen and a 99+ GT is a drivers race.


Dave

 

Talking about racing, I got pulled over 3 times in one year. The first ticket turned out to be a speeding ticket, 51 on 35 zone. The second ticket was going 120 on a 70 zone, the thing was, cop gave me a break and cited me for going 80 on a 70 zone since he didnt radar me (I zoomed by 2 cop cars that were emerging onto the freeway). The third time, well, call me a lucky bastard. I raced a 94 stang gt, this was on a main street and both of us were on a red light, I jumped on him (he had only exuast) and I got a car length ahead of em til' I got to 3rd gear, as I looked in my rear view mirror, no stang in sight but a blue and red lights appeared and pulled me over.

He yelled out "give me your lisence now, hurry !!" He was in a hurry to chase the stang. I gave him my whole wallet and said to me "don't move, stay here" They drove off to chase the stang because he boned out, he didn't want to get pulled over.

By now, I was thinking to myself, "yuppp, not driving for a whole year." I wasn't too sure if they caught the stang or not, but 15 mins later, cop car came again, busted a U and pulled behind my car.

He approached my car saying, "son, your lucky, we have a priority call and we'll have to let you go. You could of have had a ticket of 'engagement of speeding contest' ticket and you could have had your car impounded" I apologized, he gave me back my wallet and drove off.

Another night lives on with gasoline pumping through my vains. C'mon, pulled over 3 times in one year. The fact that im 19 w/ a 2003 maxima se 6 spd w/ kombat bodykit, and a crap load of modifications under the hood...one lucky bastard.

-Rey

 

KCIR...Kansas City? That's why the difference! For some reason I thought you were from Georgia. Yeah, the Georgia 99+ GT's (when driven well) hit 13.9X-13.8X all the time. That's at the Commerce Raceway too. The Silver Dollar Raceway is actually quicker than that! I ran my 2002 Dodge Dakota 4.7L Club Cab Auto (with some relatively budget mods) and ran 14.52@94.2 MPH. Talk about a total shocker! Scared the hell out of some of the pre-99 Mustangs.

 

Actually, immature and irresponsible a-hole is more the correct term.

 

Yep, Kansas City International Raceway. A 14.5@94mph in a club cab Dakota? Jesus, a stock Lightning at KCIR is lucky to get a 14.5. The only Dakotas I've seen run are the R/Ts. They're typically in the high/low 15 second range depending on what's been done to them. There's a guy that brags about his "14-second" R/T at KCIR. He ran on a 14.9@92mph on drag radials

BTW, I like Dakotas. I've rented quite a few 4X4 Club Cabs for work and I've always liked the way the handle and drive. They're just the right size. Not too big, not too small. The 4.7s definately have some heathly grunt. Now with the 345hp 5.7 Hemi replacing the 250hp 5.9, do you think the R/T Dakota is gonna be a Lightning killer? I think so.......as long as the Lightning isn't heavily modified.


Dave

 

Ouch!!!

 

 

Upgrade your motor mounts. Relax when launching and don't get too hasty on the gas until you feel traction. Takes practice.

 

Chick in the GT

 

Would love to get solid motor mounts but don't want the vibration. Waiting for the radial arms from WarpSpeed. With the extra horsepower from my new exhuast, launching is harder than ever. Will definitely require a tire/wheel upgrade and lots of practice. Going to have to loc-tite the shift **** as well...the thing won't tighten any more.

Jesse