Mustang vs. WRX
06-25-2003, 10:31 PM
#1
2nd Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2003
Location: United States
Posts: 269
Mustang vs. WRX
My cousin has a stock Subaru WRX and wants to race me for fun when I'm done with my car. I was curious how you guys think my car will stack up. We have been having the "Whatever dude my car has 300 flb of torque" "so Mine is AWD" arguement over the last few weeks. It's pretty fun setting down arguing with him haha. Anyways I have no idea if my car is going to be fast enough or not since I don't know what the HP / Torque rating is now after all the stuff i've done. Here is what I have done.</P>
1988 5.0 Engine from a Cougar</P>
Stock Heads / Pistons / Cam<IMG src=smileys/smiley6.gif border="0"></P>
Professional Products Power + Plus Intake Manifold</P>
Holley 600cfm Double Pumper</P>
MSD Pro Billet Distributer W / Best plug wires I could find (Can't remember the name but they were like almost $70 after tax and they are Black with Silver Ends)</P>
C-4 Tranny with shift kit</P>
7.5 Rear end with stock Ratio ( I think 3.73 but I can't remember)</P>
Twin 12" Electric fans</P>
No smog pump / AC compressors or plumbing</P>
Fiberglass hood & I've taken almost everything off that i could to lose some weight without making it look ugly heheh.</P>
His car is stock and I've noticed while riding with him that he can't shift very good. So what do you guys think? Am I gonna get smoked or have I got a pretty good setup? I think my crappy Heads will be what holds me back. Hopfully I can get some new ones on it this year. How much HP . Torque do you think I have now anyways?</P>
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06-26-2003, 01:49 AM
#2
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: United States
Posts: 32
Mustang vs. WRX
i don tknow a lot about WRXs but i would say uhave a good chance of winning. Although i have heard about WRXs and that they r fast, so im not too sure. But if his car is also stock, he will also have stock heads pistons and cams. although his is a newer car, so his stock parts will be in batter shape. so its a tough call.
06-26-2003, 03:26 AM
#3
2nd Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2003
Location: United States
Posts: 269
Mustang vs. WRX
I forgot I had Heddman long tube headers to by the way. Yeah his car is pretty dang fast. But it just didn't seem like it pulled near as hard as some of the Mustangs i've rode in with base upgrades. I will have him of the line like crazy but the WRX really pulls in 3rd from what I can tell. The only thing I am nervous about is the AWD . i just hope I get traction cause he sure as hell will. It's all for fun though. We have just been kinda joking back and forth about who's car is faster and all so it's really just messing around.
06-26-2003, 04:06 AM
#5
2nd Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2003
Location: United States
Posts: 269
Mustang vs. WRX
Yeah ,exactly dude .I think the key here is the fact that my cousin is like a retard when it comes to shifting .it's funny watching him actually . He is used to driving a manual Explorer and he hasn't got used to the WRX yet. So as soon as he misses i'll be on him like flies on a pile of Honda...i mean crap
06-26-2003, 06:02 AM
#7
1st Gear Member
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: United States
Posts: 85
Mustang vs. WRX
The only problem i see here is that his car is running. But for real the wrx's are quick cars, there is a guy that brings one down to the shop every once in awhile and it is definitely pretty fast.
06-26-2003, 07:26 AM
#8
4th Gear Member
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: B'ham, WA
Posts: 1,484
Mustang vs. WRX
Stock WRX you're looking at what? 227hp/217ft-lbs (or do I have it backwards?)
AWD is a beyotch on the power. My 5.0 with Mac headers, no cats, and flowmasters put over 200 hp to the ground, with a bad cylinder (25% loss through #6, cyl wall scarred from ring damage, valves fubar'd). Your typical Subaru will lose about 70hp through the drivetrain.
If he can't shift, you'll smear him.
I don't have a WRX but rather a 2001 2.5RS, so I've got better low end torque but nowhere near the top end. I've also got a several hundred pound weight advantage over a stock WRX.
From the factory my RS supposedly made 165hp/164ft-lbs or something (haven't looked it up recently). As of right now I've got:
Cobb CAI
Unorthodox Racing underdrive pulley
Borla header
Brospeed cat-back
STi engine and tranny mounts
STi strut top mounts
STi version 5 struts
SPT/Eibach springs
Kartboy short shifter w/hard bushing
Cusco 40mm rear strut tower bar
(and that's it for the go fast stuff, high flow cat should be on my porch Monday)
With the setup I've got now I can stay pretty even with a 5.0 on launch, but as soon as we both grab for 2nd the extra 100+ ft-lbs of torque that a 5.0 has will murder me. A WRX will wax a 5.0 off the line, but only if the driver knows what he's doing. Bog the little 2.0 and it's all over.
At higher speeds I'd put my money on the 5.0. AWD just doesn't do ANY favors for higher speeds.
Where the AWD comes into play is on less-than-perfect surfaces, either wet or gravel or whatever. Race your friend on a gravel road and hopefully he'll leave you eating dust.
If your friend gets online at all send him over to www.nasioc.com - probably the largest source of information for the new age Subarus.
And if he hasn't done so, tell him to throw out the RE92s that came on his car (unless the dealer threw on some wheels). RE92's are GREAT commuter all season tires. But they SUCK for performance driving.
Then if he wants to start making more power it's pretty easy. Not cheap, but that's what we get for not buying Hondas. Up-pipe and a downpipe to get rid of a couple of cats.. then there are some different engine management choices to make. Tell him to forget about an aftermarket BOV because they usually end up hurting performance. Stock usually works best (up to a certain power level where you start changing everything).
The 16" stock wheels are pretty decent wheels. They're 16x6.5" and IIRC weigh about 17 lbs each, and they're tough as heck. If he wants a different wheel in a 16" size I'd recommend picking up a 2000 or 2001 RS wheel - they're 16x7 and 16 lbs each. 17" is as big as I'd go - anything bigger and you start losing accelleration performance.
Sport Compact Car did a writeup this month of 3 tuner WRXs going head to head with the STi. Vishnu's WRX beat them all across the board and I think the total was about 8-10K in mods to a standard WRX, so it was right in there with STi pricing.
If you hadn't noticed, I'm somewhat of a Subaru guy. Anyway.. keep the shiny side up.
AWD is a beyotch on the power. My 5.0 with Mac headers, no cats, and flowmasters put over 200 hp to the ground, with a bad cylinder (25% loss through #6, cyl wall scarred from ring damage, valves fubar'd). Your typical Subaru will lose about 70hp through the drivetrain.
If he can't shift, you'll smear him.
I don't have a WRX but rather a 2001 2.5RS, so I've got better low end torque but nowhere near the top end. I've also got a several hundred pound weight advantage over a stock WRX.
From the factory my RS supposedly made 165hp/164ft-lbs or something (haven't looked it up recently). As of right now I've got:
Cobb CAI
Unorthodox Racing underdrive pulley
Borla header
Brospeed cat-back
STi engine and tranny mounts
STi strut top mounts
STi version 5 struts
SPT/Eibach springs
Kartboy short shifter w/hard bushing
Cusco 40mm rear strut tower bar
(and that's it for the go fast stuff, high flow cat should be on my porch Monday)
With the setup I've got now I can stay pretty even with a 5.0 on launch, but as soon as we both grab for 2nd the extra 100+ ft-lbs of torque that a 5.0 has will murder me. A WRX will wax a 5.0 off the line, but only if the driver knows what he's doing. Bog the little 2.0 and it's all over.
At higher speeds I'd put my money on the 5.0. AWD just doesn't do ANY favors for higher speeds.
Where the AWD comes into play is on less-than-perfect surfaces, either wet or gravel or whatever. Race your friend on a gravel road and hopefully he'll leave you eating dust.
If your friend gets online at all send him over to www.nasioc.com - probably the largest source of information for the new age Subarus.
And if he hasn't done so, tell him to throw out the RE92s that came on his car (unless the dealer threw on some wheels). RE92's are GREAT commuter all season tires. But they SUCK for performance driving.
Then if he wants to start making more power it's pretty easy. Not cheap, but that's what we get for not buying Hondas. Up-pipe and a downpipe to get rid of a couple of cats.. then there are some different engine management choices to make. Tell him to forget about an aftermarket BOV because they usually end up hurting performance. Stock usually works best (up to a certain power level where you start changing everything).
The 16" stock wheels are pretty decent wheels. They're 16x6.5" and IIRC weigh about 17 lbs each, and they're tough as heck. If he wants a different wheel in a 16" size I'd recommend picking up a 2000 or 2001 RS wheel - they're 16x7 and 16 lbs each. 17" is as big as I'd go - anything bigger and you start losing accelleration performance.
Sport Compact Car did a writeup this month of 3 tuner WRXs going head to head with the STi. Vishnu's WRX beat them all across the board and I think the total was about 8-10K in mods to a standard WRX, so it was right in there with STi pricing.
If you hadn't noticed, I'm somewhat of a Subaru guy. Anyway.. keep the shiny side up.
06-26-2003, 02:37 PM
#9
1st Gear Member
Join Date: May 2003
Location: United States
Posts: 90
Mustang vs. WRX
I hate to say it RAGNAROK but the WRX will likely leave you in the dust. Your set up looks to be a mid 15 second car. WRX's can cover 14's easy. If he leaves the line at high rpm with AWD it will be embarrassing for you. No offense to you. Just warning you about those cars. I just got my *** handed to me from a Benz SL-55 AMG. Sucks big time. But I've got plans to ensure I never lose to a Benz ever again.
06-26-2003, 02:38 PM
#10
1st Gear Member
Join Date: May 2003
Location: United States
Posts: 90
Mustang vs. WRX
I hate to say it RAGNAROK but the WRX will likely leave you in the dust. Your set up looks to be a mid 15 second car. WRX's can cover 14's easy. If he leaves the line at high rpm with AWD it will be embarrassing for you. No offense to you. Just warning you about those cars. I just got my *** handed to me from a Benz SL-55 AMG. Sucks big time. But I've got plans to ensure I never lose to a Benz ever again.