This will never end, but since not enough ford people visit this forum the chevy always wins ...
If were talking price for car which is pointless, but ill chime in just for fun. Buy an 87 5.0 ... Rebuild the block, spray it nasty, hook up some slicks and a tremec and you might be pushing 10k with other safety precautions .. axles, aluminum driveshaft and what not. What are you running? 11s right? niiiice

So trying to compare a slower stock ls1 to say a baseline saleen. It's really not fair because you can take alot of cars, and do a little work and make them beat a lot of high dollar cars. Ill take even an type r integra and put a 125 shot on it and probably walk a stock ls1 or give it one helluva run.

Personally my car of choice would be a z06 even over a saleen because the vette brings more function rather than looks to the table and would definately shows it's more of a sports car handling wise on a road coarse, but come on ... stock vs. stock? What fun is that comparing anyway? They never stay stock

 

Buy a stock 87 Camaro for like $2000, drop a 383 Small block chevy in it, AFR heads, Single plane, carb, etc $4800 bucks, 540hp.

Here is the car craft article,

http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles/84459/

So thats $6800, say another $1500 on tires and traction, and your running mid 11s for $8500. Spray another 150-200hp on that and your into the low 10s or high 9s.

 

I knew the 3rd gen's were cheap, but thanks for the info, I'm always keeping my mind open ... but you could build up a 5.0 for probably that much, also. I have no tech article or #'s to back that up, but they are similarly cheap cars that can get fast real quick. Only drawback I can see to a 3rd gen to a fox is the weight difference, like 100lbs difference .. not much of a diff.

So, here we are now ..., if some of you are that concerned with cash:hp ratio rather than what the car actually looks like or what you want in a car (brakes, looks, handling, prestige or whatever). Then why don't you buy the junkers and make them fast?

 

My daily driver is an SUV but my fuck around car is a 86 Iroc Camaro that I bought for $900 with 150k miles. Bought a book on small blocks, rebuilt the whole motor with the help of a friend. Its putting out around 380hp right now but only cause I didn't know what the fuck I was doing when I started building it.

The Iroc was the best handling production car built in 1986 according to Car and Driver. Its got Four wheel disc brakes, and with some rims it will probably look pretty good. A friend of mine got a mint red 89 Trans Am with 76K miles for 2400. Same owner since 89, some old lady, reason she sold it was too low for her to get into now that she is old. They are a solid platform, just like the Fox Body, fairly modern and cheap.

Only downfall of the third gens is most have a 305, which you must immeadeatly throw in the garbage. GM makes a pre-machined 383 block you can get for about $750.

With a slightly different choice of parts you can easily squeze another 40hp out of the Car Craft setup for only about $600 more. Mainly another point of compression, slightly bigger carb, different rocker arms.

Saving up for my next motor right now, probably gonna spray the fuck out of the current one once build the new engine.

But for the most part Chevys are alot cheaper to build HP for, look at the engine masters build contest Hot Rod did. Top engine was a $13,000 chevy 355 making 640hp on pump gas running AFR heads, and all off the shelve parts. Second place was a $22,000 Ford motor with Australian heads, and a custom ground cam. The next 8 spots were 1 ford, 2 mopars and 5 chevys.

And by the way, in the Motor Trend convertable shoot out the Cobra convertable with 390 HP got beat by the Corvette convertible with 350hp by .1 in the quarter. Naturally aspirated with 40 less hp.

 

I love that motor. i have that issue saved fo when i rebuild my 69 SS!

 

Ya i read that, but i was not suprised by that. The corvette is way more car than the cobra is at only like $7,000 more, but people love mustangs ... more of a muscle car look than the modern corvette i think may be the reason a lot of people go with the cobra.

3rd gens are great cars and I realize that there is a lot more chevy parts on the market, but the fox body with it's lightweight design and 5.0 powerplant is hard to beat although if it comes down to nickels and dimes to make a street 11-12 second car it's a real toss-up. Hell, all it would take for a 5.0 to break into the 12s would be some dr's, 3.73s/4.10s, and a 125 shot,

Also, I believe the reason for the ls1 AND lt1's superiority over the new mod motors is because of that reason, they are still extremely new motors with a completely different design which have plenty of room to progress. Eventually the mod motor will also be a relatively cheap and poweful n/a force.

 

Whoa simmer down. Ok have driven, ridden in or raced all of them I feel i should share. The 03 cobra is very reputable, but I rode in it vs a car I just programmed and the 2.73 02 fbody would walk him EVERY time. Forget the GT its not even on the same planet, or even with a power adder they need some help to keep up with a bolton LS1. Been there and done that, if you got a GT juice or a SC bring it. Now the aftermarket for that cobra is way better in the bang for the buck dept for the 1st $1,000. Yeah the cobars for a little bit can get 450+ RWHP but I really feel that they are dyno queens and do not put out the #'s at the track. A LS1 w/ 420 RWHP in a 6spd will take it every time been there and seen that, how about a A4 with 400RWHP forget it the A4 will destroy the cobra even worse at the track. From a roll the cobra should give it a run for its $$$.
The Z06 is the baddest car for the money on the planet. @ 3100#s and 350RWHP stk watch out. The aftermarket is abundant and the tries will smoke. We have an 03 car that runs 12.0 with a intake, catback, programming, and TIRES. It is quite possible to get these thing on the mid 11's with bolt ons and in the 10's with some real work. But I know the 03 cobra is a player when in the right hands. The high RPMs is where its at and the LS6 is well equipped. WILL SEE YOU ON SAT NIGHT!!! Now how is that for stirring up the pot.

Jeremy Formato
Building and programming the fastest EFI streetcars in the South!!

 

This conversation will never end... but i may as well try and have some fun. I bought my 02 TA for 23k and the new cobras are selling for what??? lets say 34k (even though there probly more) thats a 11k difference! I think that for a 11k you can make a LS1 beat a 03 cobra. (and if you want to start comparing with a S7 or a Saleen then do the math) I agree with theshow on the older cars, if you like that look and you want hp to money ratio, the only down side is that a 88 mustang is not a honda

 

hmmm what issue was that mouse in?

 

Car Craft August 01 had a really good 350 build up that was very similar.

It came up with 522hp @ 6600rpm and 454lbs or torque @ 5200.

But that 383 was in April 2002, I think.