blueovalkid said:
you are telling me that the 78 fairmont was a unibody construction? that is the same chasis that the fox and sn95 mustangs were built on.
Feb '06 5.0 M&SF Shelby GT500 article
- Thread starter Black2003Cobra
- Start date
you are telling me that the 78 fairmont was a unibody construction? that is the same chasis that the fox and sn95 mustangs were built on.
PoisonSnake said:
:rollseyes
****...if its over 3500 lbs...preferably 3450 unladen...I am getting a used c6
Yes, Unibody, as many, many, many cars since the 60's are. All Mustangs are and have been unibody. Camaros, Chargers, Challengers, T/As too. It's the norm, not the exception.ON D BIT said:
crispy23c said:
It's the norm for passenger cars, yes. Not for sports cars. Vettes, vipers, ford GT, and any other is a full frame car. You can build a strong central frame and surround it with light weight components.
However, full frame cars are not as economical as unibodies and are more specialized to the car it's designed for. A unibody can be modified extensively to be used in a multitude of different cars.
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Here's a paragraph from an article in MM&FF on the Saleen S281. My point in posting this is that both the Saleen and GT500 weigh about the same, 3900 lbs.
"Based on its trip to the Crazy Horse Racing chassis dyno (South Amboy, New Jersey), Saleen is being rather modest with its rating system. Shocker No. 3: Our example almost made 400 hp to the rear tires--390.6 to be exact. That's probably around 450 to the flywheel. Torque checked in at 387.9.
And you need every bit of this at the strip, as weight (with driver) checked in at a Crown Vic-esque 3,880 pounds. Welcome to the world of 2-ton Mustangs.
At said dragstrip (Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, Englishtown, New Jersey), the Saleen was quite capable. Test pilot Evan Smith kicked things off with a conservative 12.81 at 109.22 mph. After a brief cooldown, he blistered the tarmac with a 12.508 at 110.42. He backed that up with a 12.654 at 110.43. That was as good as it got. No amount of changes to the shift strategy or launch techniques would improve on the 12.50. This puts the S281 Supercharged right in '03-'04 SVT Cobra territory, acceleration-wise, a sizable improvement over the 300-horse '05 GT."
I think we can expect similar performance from the GT500. Key thing to keep in mind is that the S281 should be about 50 + rwhp shy of the GT500 and the testing was done on 20X10 inch wheels with 275/40/ZR20 tires. The GT500 weighed in at 4155 lbs with driver vs the Saleen's 3880 lbs with driver. I would tend to think that the 275 lbs weight difference between the two would make their performance similar despite the hp advantage the GT500 would have.
"Based on its trip to the Crazy Horse Racing chassis dyno (South Amboy, New Jersey), Saleen is being rather modest with its rating system. Shocker No. 3: Our example almost made 400 hp to the rear tires--390.6 to be exact. That's probably around 450 to the flywheel. Torque checked in at 387.9.
And you need every bit of this at the strip, as weight (with driver) checked in at a Crown Vic-esque 3,880 pounds. Welcome to the world of 2-ton Mustangs.
At said dragstrip (Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, Englishtown, New Jersey), the Saleen was quite capable. Test pilot Evan Smith kicked things off with a conservative 12.81 at 109.22 mph. After a brief cooldown, he blistered the tarmac with a 12.508 at 110.42. He backed that up with a 12.654 at 110.43. That was as good as it got. No amount of changes to the shift strategy or launch techniques would improve on the 12.50. This puts the S281 Supercharged right in '03-'04 SVT Cobra territory, acceleration-wise, a sizable improvement over the 300-horse '05 GT."
I think we can expect similar performance from the GT500. Key thing to keep in mind is that the S281 should be about 50 + rwhp shy of the GT500 and the testing was done on 20X10 inch wheels with 275/40/ZR20 tires. The GT500 weighed in at 4155 lbs with driver vs the Saleen's 3880 lbs with driver. I would tend to think that the 275 lbs weight difference between the two would make their performance similar despite the hp advantage the GT500 would have.
i just don't see where all the weight is coming from. that's an incredible amount of weight. i understand that people are saying this is a "muscle car", but in my opinoin, muscle cars went out in the 60's and 70's. todays cars have access to composite materials, magnesium, forged aluminum.... there's no way you're not going to feel this going around a simple corner even. don't get me wrong though, i'm very interested in getting one of these vehicles once they're released and only if i can get one for less than 40 grand. but i just wish they were 400-500 lbs lighter. i'm not asking for much, just 400-500 lbs, but i guess ford would have done it if it was easy and cost effective.
I feel the same way. Maybe Ford will come out with one setup for overall performance..like a Boss 302..we'll see. That is the only reason I can see them not caring about all the complaining on the weight of the GT500. It would be easy to make the thing 200lbs lighter without even using a bunch of aluminum, carbon, etc.badsube said:
Weight reduction = more money.
Can't have a lighweight and inexpensive "performance" Mustang. I think the current market for high priced Mustangs is small (relative to overall Mustang sales.) And, there are far more sports car options from other companies that have more content, and are better all-around packages. Ford missed out a great opportunity with the Ford GT. They should have targeted the Viper, Porsche, Vette market with respect to MSRP and production.
-RR
Can't have a lighweight and inexpensive "performance" Mustang. I think the current market for high priced Mustangs is small (relative to overall Mustang sales.) And, there are far more sports car options from other companies that have more content, and are better all-around packages. Ford missed out a great opportunity with the Ford GT. They should have targeted the Viper, Porsche, Vette market with respect to MSRP and production.
-RR
roushraven said:The transmission is the same as the one in the Viper. Definitely a porker for the coupe and the vert is 150 lbs heavierI bet it will need every bit of that 475(rwhp/tq) just to get it off of it's fat ass. :read:
-RR
The Viper T56 has 2.66 first and a .50 6th, not the same.
GTSpartan said:
Good driver + decent track = high 11s in a bone stock GT500 coupe. That much hasn't changed.
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Yes I know I have a GTS, and according to the trans specs in the latest Road & Track that's what the car will come with.Fourcam330 said:
-RR
Fourcam330 said:
Sorry 4cam, I'm going to have to disagree :beer:
No way @ ~450rwhp and damn near 4k pounds on those stock tires, will it see high 11's. I don't care is Evan Smith is touched by the hand of god.
if you wonder why the mustang is so heavy then just look at the lotus elise/exige. as has been stated before, weight reduction costs money and those cars show it. 40k for a car that a 6'er cant fit in and has hardly any creature comforts. it may be an extreme example considering its mostly made of aluminum and carbon fiber but an example non the less.
GTSpartan said:
I understand the disbelief.
roushraven said:
It's coming with a 2.97 first and .62 or .63 6th, not 2.66 and .50. If R&T quoted that, it's incorrect.
Fourcam330 said:
With gears and D/R I don't doubt it for a sec. Off the showroom floor it's gonna be a smoke show trying to get that tank, with the weight dist of a FWD car outta the hole.
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GTSpartan said:
I remember people saying the same about 03/04 Cobra's prior to their release, worse in some cases because of the IRS. Thankfully cars don't always perform the way they appear they will on spec sheets.
Will everybody be able to run down to their local track and run an 11 in a bone stock coupe? Probably not, but it won't be that much of a rarity either.
Hell, even the 4500+lbs twin screw 5.5L Mercedes can trap 116 through an auto bone stock. It's about TQ and avg. HP which the GT500 motor has in spades. The 3 link will help with wheelspin more than you'd think.
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