I was minding my own business the other night driving down the freeway when a Grand Prix GTP flies by me in the right lane going at least 100 mph. Moments later, five more cars (a Dodge Avenger followed by a PT Cruiser, a mid/late 90's Integra, a 350Z, and a later model Probe) also fly by me, nose to nose, apparently in pursuit of the GTP. Luckily it was after midnight and traffic was very light. I don't know what these idiots were doing, but I wasn't about to give chase and find out.

Anyway, tonight I was driving around my town, and some chump was riding my bumper. As I turned onto a different street I looked to see what kind of car it was, and it was the same Avenger I had seen the night before. The moron revved his engine at me as he continued his way straight, and then he floored it and took off.

I have a '92 RS (LO3, 700R4) and my only major mod is a 3'' catback, but the car runs very well. I was wondering how fast those Avengers are. Aren't they powered by a Mitsubishi V6? I'm pretty sure I could have destroyed him. Also, how would I have fared against that 350Z?

 

the 350Z would beat you hands down. the avenger I think had 200hp, so could be a drivers race

 

The most powerful ES was the 2000 which had like 165 hp and like 170 TQ. 350Z would have you.

 

I used to own a 2000 Dodge Stratus, which has much the same running gear as the Avenger. In fact, in 2001 the Avenger name was dropped and the Stratus was then offered as both a 2 door (Avenger replacement) and 4 door. Up until then the biggest engine was the V6 rated at 175HP - the 200HP rating didn't come out until 2001 and by then the Avenger name was gone. So, the car you saw, unless modded, has 175HP.

Oddly enough, the one to worry about in that mix is the PT Cruiser. The GTs have the same engine as the SRT4 and with the Stage 1 upgrade they can be pretty quick. I should know, I have one, and it runs consistant 14.5x at the drag strip. I've outrun my friend's 350Z with it too, much to his dismay!

Keep in mind that adding a simple boost controller to any turbo engine, even in the PT, can have a huge impact on performance. I know guys running high 13 second passes with PT Cruisers, and they are NOT spraying. One who is spraying has broken into the 12s. Yes, in a PT Cruiser.

Surprising, isn't it?

 

I don't think the PT Cruiser was a GT, although I can't be sure considering I just got a glance as it flew by me. The base PT's suck.

I figured the 350Z would beat me, but how bad? What do those run in the 1/4 mile?

 

The base PTs more than suck, they can't get out of their own way! But it can be really hard to tell the base from the GT as people tend to customize the heck out of these things.

As for the 350Z, I've seen a bunch of them run at California Speedway and they seem to have traction issues off the line. For the most part they've been running anywhere from 14.2 to 15.0 with most of them clustered at 14.4-14.7 with trap speeds around 97-98mph. Like I said, a good friend of mine has one and he and his buddies show up at the strip pretty regularly, so I've seen a lot of runs.