Guest markham51 Posted March 1, 2016 Report Share Posted March 1, 2016 Well there it is. I certainly stand corrected here. The point I was making in a less than serious fashion was that Pony Cars like the Mustang are much more about big power and muscle than the corner carving road course thing. I've been a huge fan/owner of this type of car for 40 years and have never known a single person who cared about what they would do at Watkins Glenn, Mid America, etc. I was surprised at the number of people who like to track their Mustangs although not too many on this site. They speak a language I don't comprehend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeljgt500kr Posted March 1, 2016 Report Share Posted March 1, 2016 (edited) I saw this once as an explanation of track rat type jargon: 1. Understeer: is when you hit the wall with the front of the car 2. Oversteer: is when you hit the wall with the rear of the car 3. Horsepower: is how fast you hit the wall 4. Torque: Is how far you move the wall when you hit it This also explains why I would never track any of my cars…………………. Edited March 1, 2016 by mikeljgt500kr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffJ Posted March 1, 2016 Report Share Posted March 1, 2016 I saw this once as an explanation of track rat type jargon: 1. Understeer: is when you hit the wall with the front of the car 2. Oversteer: is when you hit the wall with the the rear of the car 3. Horsepower: is how fast you hit the wall 4. Torque: Is how far you move the wall when you hit it This also explains why I would never track any of my cars…………………. That one always cracks me up but is a pretty good explanation of how it works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest markham51 Posted March 1, 2016 Report Share Posted March 1, 2016 I saw this once as an explanation of track rat type jargon: 1. Understeer: is when you hit the wall with the front of the car 2. Oversteer: is when you hit the wall with the the rear of the car 3. Horsepower: is how fast you hit the wall 4. Torque: Is how far you move the wall when you hit it This also explains why I would never track any of my cars…………………. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
svttim Posted March 3, 2016 Report Share Posted March 3, 2016 Well there it is. I certainly stand corrected here. The point I was making in a less than serious fashion was that Pony Cars like the Mustang are much more about big power and muscle than the corner carving road course thing. I've been a huge fan/owner of this type of car for 40 years and have never known a single person who cared about what they would do at Watkins Glenn, Mid America, etc. Hmm, 1969/1970 Trans Am ring a bell? SCCA racing in 65/66? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EL SHELBY Posted March 3, 2016 Report Share Posted March 3, 2016 (edited) Well there it is. I certainly stand corrected here. The point I was making in a less than serious fashion was that Pony Cars like the Mustang are much more about big power and muscle than the corner carving road course thing. I've been a huge fan/owner of this type of car for 40 years and have never known a single person who cared about what they would do at Watkins Glenn, Mid America, etc.This may be true in your circle but history says differently. Shelby often told the story of how Iacocca approach him to turn the Mustang in to a 'sports car', which he did and turned a 'mule in to a racehorse', (paraphrasing the Oldman). The largest engine Ford ever put into the Mustang was done so for NASCAR, otherwise it was 30 years later in 2000 before Ford built a Mustang with what I would consider big power and best the 429 (in factory rated power) and it was again done for a Mustang built to turn lap times. Ford made it pretty clear they are returning to their racing roots (of which I was very excited to see) when the pulled out on NHRA (much to my disappointment). Edited March 3, 2016 by EL SHELBY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Secondo Posted March 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2016 I was once a drag racer-only guy until I attended the "Ponies In The Poconos" Team Shelby Northeast event. Took the autocross driving class and was let loose on the track with my GT500. It was the most fun with a car that I ever had. With drag racing, you're only on the track going straight for a few seconds while an autocross track event keeps you racing and turning for many minutes at a time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shel-b001 Posted March 3, 2016 Report Share Posted March 3, 2016 Personally there is no chance I would SC this car if I owned it, it's not meant for the drag strip and it's plenty fast for any other type of driving. I don't know why people get so fixated on HP. I would argue that much power would make it less fun to drive everywhere except the drag strip (assuming you will get traction). A recent article noted the new Supersnake had more power then the car could handle, I would bet this would follow that same path. Many recent articles/reviews say the same about the Z06, they state the Z51 is a better driving car. I am not a fan of white knuckle driving, I've been down that road and there is nothing fun about it. To each their own I guess. If I wanted a drag car I'd choose something else, a 2014 GT500, Hellcat, or Z06 would be a much better buy IMO. My choice would be the Cobra Jet for a drag car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeljgt500kr Posted March 3, 2016 Report Share Posted March 3, 2016 My choice would be the Cobra Jet for a drag car. Now you're talking, but I do wish they made a street version of it. Man does not live by drags alone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voodoo Child Posted March 3, 2016 Report Share Posted March 3, 2016 I personally think Ford has done an awesome job morphing the Mustang into a multi-dimensional sports car. Yes...I said sports car. In all of it's variants, it is equally at home on the drag strip, the track or the daily commute. More so than any other American car in its class. All you have to do is drive one to appreciate how good it is. I have never seen anything like the universal praise the 2015/6 GT350 has received from auto journalists and Mustang enthusiasts alike. I admire the fact that Whipple and countless others will mess with the recipe giving us yet MORE options! This is...after all...what Mustangs are all about. It's what makes going to a car show...FUN! It's seeing what people have done with their cars to make them unique. So if someone takes a GT350 and "PUMPS IT UP"....thats cool in my eyes. As a car enthusiast...i can't get enough of this sort of thing. And Raj...I own a bunch of Mustangs...and I am a true Ford guy. I think you are doing a great job. "I love horsepower"...Carroll Shelby Well said! ...regardless of intended application for an OM/stock performance platform, one should appreciate the efforts that aftermarket entities bring to the table in order feed our love for high performance steads (track and/or strip). Many of them represent the American ingenuity and grit ...pushing the envelop and providing us with a relatively broad spectrum of performance options ...thus giving us CHOICES on how to enhance the prowess of good American products. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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