New Kid on the Block. My First post, and First Question

[Parry]

the "5.0 Mustang" IS the Fox Body.

I think the Mustang is a great choice for someone looking to get into motorsports. It's not the best, but for the money it is one of the best. You will make a lot of power for short change, there's a wide variety of parts to improve handling, it's cheap and easy to find, it's inexpensive to repair because ford put the 5.0 motor in everything and anything, there's no shortage of people who know how to fix them, and they sound badass.

What's not to like?

[SidewaysGts]

Friend recently told me about the turbocharged I4 Foxbody, apparently they only make like 25 hp less then the v8 model (And that can easily be bumped up) Plus your saving a lot of weight for obvious reasons, something to consider

As for reliability, im a toyota person i guess, take the 86 i found at the junk yard with 320xxx miles on the stock engine. Mitsu makes good cars, but they dont seem to last long it seems (starion anyone?)..

Oh well any car is probably as good as the next to some degree if taken care of properly.

[Shinrar]

Now I feel like an idiot .

Ah well, lesson of the day, don't pretend to know some silly information before you actually look it up, cause you'll just look silly. Ah well.

Thanks for the info. Oh, and in the process of track hunting, I found a thing on Skip Barber racing school... I did a search on the board and just found it mentioned a few times, usually off topic... soooo....

I know for drifting, it isn't a place to turn to. But for normal racing stuff, would it be worth the huge sum of money they ask for lessons? I mean, just a couple of their programs is equal to my car budget .

But if it is worth it, I'll save... Is it?

[SidewaysGts]

I know theyre top dawg so youll probably learn some info, but honestly i think you can get some pretty good info by visiting a autox event or track event in general. Usually people are willing to share with you what you could do better, sometimes theire willing to even ride with you and break everything down.

As for that mustang thing dont worry abot it; the turbo models are VERY rare from what i heard, i just found out about them a few days ago myself (mustang nut friendo f mine). Apparnelty itd be just as good to get a NA I4 Foxbody and turbo it yourself.

The factory turbo foxbody is supposed to be pretty good, on higher octane fuel (talking 91, accordign to him)its supposed to handle up to like 18 pounds of boost...

[Shinrar]

Hmm... Cept I don't like Turbos to much. To irratic really. I had a friend who had a Turbo Beattle, and I had to drive it once (she got drunk at a party, and the girl isn't an idiot, so I had to drive her home). Yeah, it accelerated pretty nice in the higher RPMs, but that whole drop in accelerating force when I shifted got rather annoying.

But maybe thats cause I'm used to N/A cars... All the rest of the ones I've driven have been that way, and i've taken to them like a fish in the water. (And I've driven a lot of diffrent cars... Friends trust my driving, so they let me drive theirs, and my realitives don't like traffic to much, but I'm fine with it, so I get to drive all of theirs)

Plus, if I'm going to slap a turbo on it anyways... why not put it on a V8 instead of an I4? Or is there some mechanical reason that I'm not aware of?

[SidewaysGts]

Too much horsepower can easily be a bad thing so keep that in mind. The advantage of the I4 is simply weight, as for the lack of acceleration after shifting can be fixed fairly easy with a blow off valve, wont cure it but it does help a lot.

Im an NA guy myself, but id go turbo if i had to. If both set ups coudl easily make the "ideal power" mark, and ones considerable lighter, and would also have better acceleration due to the boost spike, whatst he draw back? Youll suffer a bit in corners until you develope a throttle control for it... itll never be as smooth but once you hit the straights. Oh well im sure you know the advantages./disadvantages of na/turbo. Key point is you save weight, and either could easily make a good amount of power without being too much.

[Shinrar]

Hmm... i guess compisating for to much Horsepower isn't as easy as I thought it was (just not hitting the gas as hard), otherwise you wouldn't think it could be a bad thing.

ARG! So many choices... I guess I'll learn the hard way whether or not I make the right one... And I think I've really jumped of topic on this thread... It isn't my first question anymore

So thanks again everyone! I'll still be around, asking questions as I develope them.

[Parry]

Originally posted by SidewaysGts
Too much horsepower can easily be a bad thing so keep that in mind. The advantage of the I4 is simply weight, as for the lack of acceleration after shifting can be fixed fairly easy with a blow off valve, wont cure it but it does help a lot.

Or it will just make the computer throw codes like mad and result in the car not running as well due to the venting to atmosphere throwing off . A stock 1.8T spools early and runs out of steam a good 1000+ rpm before redline. Unless you are shifting at like 2k, pretty much just shift harder and faster and try to keep it wound and in the powerband.

Im an NA guy myself, but id go turbo if i had to. If both set ups coudl easily make the "ideal power" mark, and ones considerable lighter, and would also have better acceleration due to the boost spike, whatst he draw back?

At what point do "boost spikes" result in better acceration? Actually, if you have a "boost spike" the boost unexpectedly climbs to beyond your predetermined tolerences. This is usually followed by the sound of things breaking and your wallet emptying.

Now if you are talking about spool-up time (and you are), you're still wrong. It takes time for the turbo to spool, as opposed to a mild 5.0 that's built to make power from 2k to 5k. When he smashes the gas at 2k in his 5.0, he's going to make instant power. When you do the same in your turbo 4 popper, everything's going to go "hrm...." for a few instants while the trubo spools and then you will take off.

Assuming you shift properly and keep the boost up, once you are spooled and in the power band it makes little difference how you are making the power...it just matters how much there is.

blah blah, anyway...

[Shinrar]

Eww... Sound of wallet emptying = Bad...

Probably already going to empty as it is...

Oh, and btw... what in the world is tounge (Or Toung or Tonge or however it is spelt, cause I've seen it a few ways)? I looked up the definintion with the search thing, but didn't find anything to helpful (most of the results were long threads where the word touge and definition got mentioned like, paragraphs apart on diffrent topics). I've gathered is had to do something with driving on the streets, but is it racing or drifitng on the streets? Or am I wrong entirely?

[SidewaysGts]

Boost spike was the wrong term for over analtyical people like parry

Turbo cars often accelerate faster in a straight line then NA cars because the boost often builds up fairly fast. Thats what i was implying about the "Boost spike". Now thats usually in a comparison to a engine of equal size and power on an NA tune, i dont know how the displacement of the v8 would affect things. (and i just finished reading ur post and you explained this, poo). One thing parry to keep in mind though is the I4 is still lighter, not sure if itll make a huge difference but it will be noticable even with turbo lag (and with modern turbos turbo lag is really over played if you ask me).

The turbo would be a little easier to get some more power out of though. a simple boost cotnroller and bov will do wonders, so long as you dont get crazy on the boost and start breaking things. A real boost spike is when the turbo rapidly starts adding more boost then it should and starts to over spin; but this is why we have waste gates.

__

Tounge? I assume you mean Touge? If so a mountain pass used as a racing course is considered Touge. Go watch some Best motoring, they have it as specials on their fairly often, hell watch initial d thats pretty much what it is.

[Parry]

Now he's talking sense lol.

The turbo 4 popper mustangs were extremely badass, by the way.

[Shinrar]

This is great. Now I've got a weath of information, a goal, and some side-goals to work towards if my main goal (to be confident at drifting) seems to far off at times to be inspiring.

Thanks again for all your help. Hopefully one day you'll hear of me in the drifting world... Just hope it isn't a bad thing you hear, like an accident.

I'll keep in touch (via the board)! Likley to have several more questions as I start finding cars to look at. Then even more as I attempt to make it go sideways and end up doing something wrong. Lucky for me, we have big mall parking lots. Unlucky for me, they have security, so I might have time to try a turn, or 2, before I have to run =P.

[SidewaysGts]

And run you shall far and fast in your turbo charged I4 mustang... Man, does that sound backwards or is it me...

If you do manage to get one Keep the tuning simple, intake/exhaust first, maybe a boost controller if you go turbo to play with your power and a bov. After that just go all suspension and "comfort" mods (wheel pedals seat, they dont mke u a better driver but i think its important to be comfortable). Decide ahead of time how serious you wanna be, just for fun get some shocks and sprins, maybe some strut tower bars, going all out get a coilover suspension (yes they make em for fox bodies), i wouldnt do any major upgrades beyond that until your what youd consider "good".

Anyways ill stop spamming, good luck man let us know if you find something, and post some pics if you actually get something.

[Fresh_Prince]

The mustang, you guys seem really into it. Yes I may be biased against fords (for obvious reasons). But honestly, with that budget I would go for something that won't cost an arm and a leg for insurance.
Personally, if you are trying to stay cheap I would stick with something that isn't necissarily a "sports" car.
The AE86 is cool, it is light, RWD and Toyotas last forever.
Mitsubishi, personally I wouldn't buy one. There are die hard fans out there, and they are cool cars until you look at the facts.
Mitsubishi has paid people millions of dollars to keep their mouths shut about Mitsu's poor construction.
This is going to be your first drift car, and you will crash it. Mitsubishi's will fall apart like a toy car when they get into an accident.
Rotaries are cool, but as many people have said before they have heating problems, you have to change the oil quite a bit, and some problems can go undetected until the car dies.

Myself, I like the 86, light, rwd, great fuel economy, and cheap on insurance...

I hope my two cents help, even if it helps your hatred for the 86...

[SidewaysGts]

Turbo Fox body would also be light (not 86 light-few cars are, but light enough) and get decent gas mileage as well, insurance prolly wont exactly be a great deal either. Very few "cons" to buying a turbo fox body if u ask me