I have someone convinced that, with a $5000 budget for each car, a 1992 Mustang GT would out run a 1992 Z28. I looked at him funny and, while the numbers are close stock for stock, I can't help thinking a 1LE from 92 with 5 grand of mods on it would annihilate a 302 with the same amount of mods.

Prove me right or wrong.

 

mustang 5.0's respond to mods better than a fbody 305... especially the TPI. they have a bigger aftermarket and better tunning ability

if done right, i think it could be close........but the edge goes to the stang, since its already abit lighter.

but it all depends on teh bet.......is nitrous allowed? boost? whats the rules?

i think maybe a decent cam on a HSR 305 with some head work and the rest into suspension should run very very well..... it comes down to the tune tho... to bring the best out of the combo

some mustang's with bolt ons go low low 13's and high 12's so the 305 fbody has its work cut out for it

 

Kinda hard to prove without running them side by side, but I'd definitely agree here if we're talking dyno numbers...

 

the z28 allowed to have the 350?

 

Gotta hand it to the 5.0 here. With 5 grand, you can take a stock bottom end 5.0 and basically invest in heads, cam, intake, rear end, transmission, suspension and run some 10's easily....very easily. Theres guys with stock heads pushing low 12's/high 11's with just cam intake, suspension, rear end, and tranny work.

Even an L98 will have a bit of a hard time holding its own.....ift would definately have to dtich TPI, get a pro built tranny or go manual, higher rear gears, serious aftermarket heads and cam and some SFC's and suspension....it would be close though but sitll give the edge to the 5.0.

 

did all 1LEs have 305s in them? just wondering cause im not sure why everyone thinks the Z automatically has a 305. there was no mention of the motor in the 3rdgen... i would naturally assume it would be a 350

 

I assumed the same thing. If we're talking 302-Ford, against 305-Chevy, then it's absolutely no contest. The Ford wins...

 

Agreed. You're going to have to change the entire drivetrain on the z28 to handle the power before even thinking about anything else.

 

Im probably about halfway to that $5000 mark, and have gone mid 12s (this is on stock heads, would be faster with aftermarkets). If I had another $2500 to play with Im sure I could run deep 11s...

As bad as it is to think, the Mustang is an awesome platform to make into a race car. It is light, has good suspension and such right off the showroom floor.

Would be interesting to have a comparo with the two and that prive range, should be on a TV show or something!

 

Exactly...

There's an article somewhere, I have to go digging around to find it (early to mid 90's mag), in which someone swapped a Mustang's 5.0, in favor for Chevy's 5.7. You wanna take a guess as to how much quicker the Mustang went in the 1/4?

Then there's the issue of the Mustang's stock transmission (if we're talking automatic). The same people who swapped the two engine's, afterward, figured hey, what the heck... then swapped automatic tranny's. You wanna take another guess as to how much quicker the Mustang went?

There's no replacement, for displacement!

 

Who races an auto, they are for the guys who cant shift fast enough to be competetive.

For the sake of argument, the thridgen and pretty much all GM rears suck...

In the end for the money you cant beat the 5.0 really, the aftermarket is a bunch cheaper, they are lighter, and the 5.0 as much as some might not admit it, was a great motor (one of many great motors). I might be partial, but hey, I have been mid 12s for half of what the budget they were talking here, and Im sure could be much faster with a little more!

 

I know for sure you will.

There was a guy here, once upon a time, who had an 89 LX, and swapped to a 351 Windsor. He obviously went with much larger injectors, bigger cam, better heads etc...

When all was said and done, he had himself a high 10 (I should know, I raced him... and lost that particular run), naturally aspirated, street car.

When I stated, "There's no replacement for displacement", this obviously doesn't exclude Ford. On the contrary, a Ford 460, in a 1987 LX = Death!

 

I just want to clarify, I'm talking about the 350 automatic, which I think had the 1LE option as long as you got the AC delete. Compare that to whatever top GT was made in 92. The GTs are light, but they're only a couple hundred pounds lighter than the 1LEs.

I need some real numbers. What would you do with a 92 350 1LE with 5 grand, and what would you Mustang guys do with the same money on a GT?

 

Why would you spend money on a GT if you're making a race car? Extra money for heavy GFX? Either way the Mustang is a better platform to start with. You don't buy an F-Body to make a drag car.

 

Every one hundred pounds in weight reduction equals a tenth in 1/4 gain. Two tenths is a very big advantage, for the Mustang...

Well, let's keep it fair then, and maintain the stock bottom ends, while staying naturally aspirated...

Engine wise, I'd go with; Holley Stealth-Ram, 30-lb injectors, Lethal-EFI Cam, 215 'Iron-Eagle' Dart Heads... custom chip tuning via RBob.

 

so wtf do you do with a Fbody then?

 

i dont know about you, but 1/4miles mean alot to me and alot of guys with Fbodys

if i wanted a show car, i probly would have taken a civic or something

 

Road race, what it was designed for. Also possibly get some airbags, a pair of 20" subs and boulevard cruise.

 

it would be extremely tough but you could, and thats a big could. one option is afrs, massive cam, headers, cutaways, a built five speed, and drag tires..oh yeah rip out everything you dont need.

here is another option, chevy 302. high revving, 4" bore. If you can find an old one stock they came with 375hp. build that.... then it would be easier and definitely close, maybe a built m22, and some gears.

 

 

Would 5 grand cover a forged crank and pistons, supercharger, exhaust, head work, and a tune? That's got to dump the 350 deep into the 12s, if not 11s.

 

generally 5k equal sc, pistons, crank, and connecting rods

 

Best all AROUND car...

3rd gens look better, handle better, brake better, and i have equal performance in a drag race to a GT 5.0 5 spd...hell ive raced 2 on the strip and they havent put down better then a 14.8. Oh i also think my L98 can take a lot more abuse then a 5.0

mostly driver i know but i still think my L98 can take most stock 5.0 5 spds...my car is basically stock...

i like camaros too much, though driving a 5 spd 5.0 is fun as well as the newer GT 4.6s...mainly because they got a manual transmission...

i absolutely hate automatic which will be changed by the end of the summer...

I just grew a passion for camaros which led me to get one...to many mustangs around anyway i like to be different.

 

dont get me wrong though i really like stangs as well just my first pick would be a camaro.

another thing in which a mustang blows a camaro away on is WORKING on them. Ya, stangs are easy to work on...

But i think someone told me once that there only easy to work on cause ur gonna have to work on them as much cause they always break

j/k though i wouldnt know either way cause havent owned a 5.0

 

show car thing... i would take a civic cuz there is soo much body appearance thngs to do to them.... fbody's you can only do rims and like a hood....

i seriously doubt it... forged bottom end ranges to about 1500-2000 bucks... heads add another 1000 bucks unless you can get a cheap set of vortecs or darts or something and PORT THE HELL out of them.. else your gonna need to spend some dough on good heads... thats 1000bucks+

super charger kits are like 2000-3500 bucks so i dont think it would cover it...

not to mention you dont have any money for tranny/rearend/suspension mods to hold that power.


the mustang already starts out with better tunning capability it seems since they like boltons.. and they are lighter...

fully strip a camaro and a stang and the stang is still abit lighter, so it can take less power to go fast

 

That is because you have to do all those things to a civic to make them look good...but i can see your point on how being custom is alot easier with one.

 

Yea thats why there isnt no top Fbody drag cars then Fbodys can be drag cars as well. Seems like every year the Fbody did awesome for at a 1/4. Back in the 80s L98 ran 14s which was Spectacular for that time. Now you have LS1s running low low 13s with just a camshaft it will run 11s. Now dont tell me there not good drag cars. There pretty much all best around, like Steve stated..

 

So I guess he was right... with a 5 grand budget, a 302 can go faster. They already have a forged bottom end so it'll take forced induction easier, then just slap in a cam, exhaust, anf do some porting and you're probably set. Oh well, guess I was wrong.

 

Cayes, the 302 is overall a better modding motor. Its because of TPI which is ****ing everything up for the l98. TPI is a very restrictive intake i must add. Stock VS stock theres plenty L98s spankin 5.0 5 speeds and ESP those AODs autos. Doesnt make the 302 a better engine then a L98. Lot of 5.0s come to my dads garage having major oil leaks.. And i find it funny that ppl say these fox bodies have good suspension. Hello im a State Inspector!! I jack up front ends and check all diff cars and fords (including mustangs) all day! There tie rod ends suck, they dont last for ****.. Ford suspension sucks imho. Everything from Tauraus- F Series- to yes, Mustangs.. FORD SUCKS when it comes to those things. But CHevrolet has their issues as well. Overall, id pick the 350 TPI over a 302. All i would do to the 350 TPI is slap a T56. Then that would have some serious "*****"

 

Well since u lost the argument on the drag racing, Start an argument on road course racing. 92 vs 92, war on the skidpad. The F-body will outhandle the fox body six ways from sunday. The F- body will hold more Gs than the fox. definately cannot take away the modded stangs straight line performance though, they love mods.

 

I'll reiterate; "Engine wise, Holley Stealth-Ram, 30-lb injectors, Lethal-EFI Cam, 215 'Iron-Eagle' Dart Heads... custom chip tuning via RBob".

After the above, you'd still have plenty left out of a $5000.00 budget to upgrade the rest of the car's woes...

Hehe, do you have any idea how fast you'd run with the above combo (provided the right stall, gearing and suspension were also being utilized)?

 

Well I have been around 5.0 mustangs since I've been sixteen and they're quick out of the box, no doubt. They are friendly, easy, and cheap to hop up... I bought a IROC because I prefer the styling etc. But consider this;

I have a stock '88 TPI 305. Only mods are K&N's and Flowmaster cat-back. My brother-in-law has a '89 GT 5.0, convertible. Ok so the rag top is heavier, probably a few hundred pounds over my t-top car - if not more. He has all bolt-ons; headers, exhaust, cold air intake, afpr, chip, etc etc. We've raced a few times in all types of scenarios; full stop, light to light, from a roll, etc.

We're dead even in each situation. I've got 3.23 rear gears, we think he has the same. His first gear is a bit taller so he can pull a couple inches on me from a dead stop but by the top of thrid gear we're dead even again. From a roll there is no comparison, dead even.

No doubt, if he had a hard top, he'd be quicker. Sorry to say it but our cars need some 'serious' improvments to keep up with 'moderate' upgrades to Mustangs. I've got aluminum L98 heads, a LT4 Hot Cam, and 3:73 gears ready to be installed... so we'll see what happens after that.

This, I will agree with. When we take our cars out for a run up , down, and around the twisty mountain roads which surround us, I can fairly easily run away and hide... even when out with fox body hard tops.

 

Well since the original point of the thread has gone away, Ill try and bring it back. With $5000, a 1992 Mustang and a 1992 Fbody in the end I still say the Mustang will be faster. The Mustangs tranny and rear are fine out of the box to support plenty of power, the crappy suspension some people here dont like, works very well for getting the power to the ground, and with just a set of subframes, the whole chassis is plenty fine for 12 or 11 second runs all day long! With that in mind you are left with a bunch of money to drop into the motor, not so much the supporting cast. Good heads, with good valve train, the right custom cam, intake, full exhaust, all the supporting bolt ons, and you have yourself an easy mid 11s car that you can drive on the street with ease. Im sure similar holds true with the Fbody, but the supporting mods are going to cost more, and your going to have to worry about the rear end issues!

This is NOT an argument over what motor is better, but which CAR is cheaper to modify really. Which car gives more bang for the buck so to say, and I would think knowing this when talking about this argument, the Mustangs are one of the best bang for buck cars out there!

 

i would buy a stang. Everyone owns one though Just doesnt feel special then. I see atleast 15-20 Mustangs on RT 109 everyday to work. I agree brian great engine to mod (5.0 302)

 

its the fact that the stang actually has a rear and tranny that can hold some decent power that gives it a great advantage. the camaro would need a rear/tranny mods to hold that motor power.

now start with a camaro already with a 12bolt and a decent tranny, and then go from there. that would be abit better comparison.

and i thought only the 93 had forged bottom end or was it 90-93? either way it helps alot too...

 

f-body hands down. 5k to spend and your only goal is to see which is faster? nitrous (it's qick and cheap since you want to see which one is faster) then add a decent crank to both the 302 and 350 , some nice pistions for you nitrous and some rods to keep them in the case.... if both can keep the trans and rear in the car for one run (since the nitrous is hit after the launch the 10 bolt should last that long) the 302 will crack the block since we are talking high hp here

now if you plan to make several runs the f-body will need more than eng. up grades

 

i was considering the 305 vs. 5.0.

but camaro's do have a 350 in them and a few mods to that could possibly take out the 5.0. throw in a cheap 383 stroker kit and add a nice cam/HSR, you can get away with a damn quick thirdgen for 5000bucks

 

 

I say the F-body only if your going to build non-supercharged and non-nitrous setups. Because you don't have to buy forged to handle 450hp! Down here you can get a engine built with hypertech pistons and eagle rods. Here's what I would do with the $5000
Engine build short block $800
Trick flow heads $1087 shipped to door step
Cam $250
Ceramic headers $286
HSR $528
700hp tranny $820 shipped to door step
Adj LCA $100 ebay
Adj Panhard bar $100 ebay
Camaro 2002 POSI Diff $70 ebay
AXLES $250
Richmond 3:73 Gears New $129 ebay
Dyno & chip burning $300
$250 catback

So thats $4970
Still need roller rockers
and Springs!

But a guy in this forum ran 11.89 on street tires on a stock 88 bottom end with AFR heads so it is possible!

Aso my friend has a 93 LX 5.0 his rear end turn to trash in no time. He even added subframe connectors and his body still twisted that was with a 350hp+ engine! On drag radials he ran constant 8.64 ETs in 1/8 mile.

 

Bottom line, this is the truth.

 

I run consistent 7.9-8.0s in the 1/8th and have yet to see a tweak in my car. When I was going 8.3s in the 1/8th I didnt even have subframes, and have 135,000 miles. I think your friend just got a crappy car!

As far as forged motors go, they were all forged, until 1993, so thats kind of a mute point, as they all had forged bottem ends that when tuned will go 500+ rwhp. The 302 block will hold the power if the tune is there.

I stand by what I say, in this particular argument, you most likely gonna go faster in the Mustang!

 

Still.. Lot ppl listed a list of good mods for a 92 L98 thats worth under 5 grand

 

25th has it right, this is more of a "more bang for the buck" argument. There are no other restrictions aside from the $5000 limit. Any mods, FI or NA are allowed. And as far as I can tell, it looks like the Mustang can gather better numbers with that budget.

Orr89RocZ, the GTs from 89 to 92 had forged bottom ends. This is what puts them over the F-body, I believe, though the weight difference definitely helps.

Street Lethal, I don't know what your combo would do, but like you said, it would require good gearing and stall, which would require more money. Price it out and show me some numbers, cause at the moment, I'm believing that the Mustang would go quicker.

I don't think there's any doubt about an F-body's handling. I wouldn't even ask that question.

 

I do believe the 302 has the edge over the chevy 305's but more to recent days any 98 ls1 camaro will rape any mustang gt until 2005.

not to mention the 96 and 97 gt's are slower than dirt.. my stock lo3 is only a car behind in a drag race against my sis's 97 gt

 

my 88 305 tbi car ran dead even with a 98 Mustang GT but mine was a stick his was an auto, stayed side by side up to 120 then we backed off. But i felt better in the end, i payed 2000 for my car he spent 22000 lol

In the same car i got pulled on by a 92 convertible 5.0 about a half car maybe less. Both cars were manuals, and he's done a few small upgrades.

theres no bs there my 88 tbi engine was a freak!

 

yea I'm hopefully buying a 98+ ls1 camaro before winter so me and my bro can build up my 89 rs this winter. I always thought it was funny that it took ford 7 years to finally catch a ls1 in there rustangs..

 

ford still doesnt have a v8 that could catch the LS1...

the non boosted cobras and mach I's are about it but those were limited editions and still arent quite on par with the LS1.

the new GT motor can hang with LS1 but still cant beat them.... they only trap as high a 104-105 as far as i have seen, and LS1's go 107-109 in alot of cases

 

double post...

 

it took ford 7-8 yrs to finnaly have an engine that has more HP then the L98!!!!!!!!!!!! LMAO... After 99 thats when they had the 260hp mark. Ford Mustang GT still hasnt caught up with the L98 TQ number from the factory. New Gt is like 320lb of tq And the sad thing is, Mustangs come with Factory headers and true duals all the way. Something the fbody doesnt have

 

Anyone who thinks that Ford cares about having numbers that are better than a car that isn't even being made anymore is seriously laking in the mental agility department.