I drove my friends 05 mustang gt yesterday and even though i know it has alot more hp than my 305 tpi it just wasnt as much fun. When i floor my trans am from a stop it feels like ive got a a monster under the hood (even though i dont). you could tell the stang was faster from about 45 or 50 but drom a dig my car just feels more powerfull. I know in a drag i would get my *** handed to me but why do the 3rd gens feel so powerfull in lower gears?

 

The newer car is smoother revving than the older pushrod cars. I felt the same way with my '02 GT that went 13.5's compared to previous cars I had owned, in spite of the fact that it was faster than quite a few of them.

 

Is the car actually faster in the lower gears or does it just feel that way?

 

I think it's just the low end torque of the tpi that feels like it's faster. My little lb9 feels like it's got a lot more under the hood.

 

The 4.6's are not really known for low-end torque but for only 281cubes they make some good hp #s up top.Torque can make a car feel faster then it really is. I know it sounds funny but drive in a mild big block that makes 400-450hp and then drive in a small block that makes 500+hp and you will see what I mean.I guy I know used to have a 73 camaro with a 468 that ran solid 11s with about 500hp.His best friend has a 01 GT mustang with a converted 5.4 cobra motor and a vortech blower.The camaro feels faster because of the 550+ftlbs of torque but the mustang is much faster after 50mph with over 600hp but I think that a torque monster is more fun on the street then just high end horsepower.

 

last week when i raced my firends 97 v6 camaro i killed him off the line and immedeatly gained about 3 or 4 cars.how much torque does the trans am actually have compared to some newer sports cars? also i raced a late 90s mustang gt when i first got the car and had him off the line too but he came back and almost beat me. Im pretty much stock and so was he.

 

If both cars are stock the 05 Gt should make 320ftlbs of torque at about 4500rpm while stock 87TA LB9 is rated at 295ftlbs at 3200rpm.You see that when your making peak horsepower between 4500-5000rpm with your stock LB9 the gt is just getting to its peak torque.The gt also revs to 6000rpm, while most stock TPI don't pull much after 5000rpm.A stock LB9 car should take a bad beating from a new gt after your out of first gear.They are roughly 2 seconds faster in the 1/4 mile.Alot of the new cars have less factory rated torque (wheather or not this is true on the chasis dyno) then the L98s did but LS1's throw down way more horsepower.To give you an example my zz4 puts down 274rwhp and about 368rwtq on the dyno and its only a 350 but my brothers old 98 LS1 z-28 made 308rwhp and about 330rwtq with a catback and cold-air kit. My car makes peak torque at 3500rpm and peak hp at 5300rpm while my brothers LS1 make peak torque around 4500rpm and made peak hp around 5600rpm.My car felt way way faster from all the low-end torque and would out-run his car everytime till about 105mph but if we started from 40mph-up he would start to pull me by 85 or so. Torque is king in street racing and hp numbers are not as important as a overall good power curve.

 

Oh, thanks alot. Does the lb9 have alot more torque than the other 305s available in the bird. I know that there is more power in the tpi engines than the others but is it a noticable difference?

 

It is all about average power. TPI and TBI in stock form have a very very narrow power band. Peak powers mean nothing. You have to look at the entire power curve. A stock TPI set-up will make peak torque right off of idle and have all of its HP in by 4500 rpm. From there the power drops rapidly. Newer cars make great average power and have modern heads and cam technology to make power all the way up to redline. A stock L98 will make roughly the same peak torque as an LS1. The only problem is that the LS1 will make it from 1500 to 6000 with a kansas flat power curve and the TPI will peak off idle and the show will be over by 4500rpm. The LS1 makes far more average power. Also, cars that have a strong top end also mask what they are making down low. An LS1 may "feel" slow down low but that is only because the top end is so strong leaving you with a false impression. Induction, cam specs and other design features contribute to the powerband of an IC engine.

 

smoothness gives a big portion to how a car feels with how fast it is
like on the picture below if both of those are torque curves for two different cars the black one would seem slower. it's too smooth and even though it is at all points putting more torque down the red one has that nice little hump in there that makes it seem like at that range it has more torque being it gives more change in acceleration in that area.
doesn't mean it is faster or has more torque it's just all in feel.

part of why the butt dyno doesn't work so well even with good calibration