KovacMotorsports

Well personally I can shift a 5 speed as fast as you can shift your automatic. Ive proved that many times to many people just takes alittle practice and a good short throw shifter. As for the automatics being faster than the 5 speeds, its true when it comes to stock Mustangs, but as soon as the mods start flying all bets are off. At that point it just comes down to how you build the car and how good a driver you are. The reason is that stock the 5 speed has a lower first gear and multiplies its torque over 5 speeds allowing it get moving faster and get up to speed abit quicker. The stock automatics on the other hand dont have as low a first gear and the gears spread is only over 3 or 4 gears(including O.D. Transmission). The stock shift pressures are less than optimum making them lazy shifters and you loose some HP and TQ due to the fluid connection of the TQ convertor versus the direct connection of the clutch. With a good rearend gear, minor mods to the trans to increase shift pressure, and the proper stall the Auto Trans can be as good as the 5 Speed and more consitent (depending on the driver) in some areas. Although for me, thiers nothing like the brute force feel of bangin gears on a 5 speed.

elusive1

hmm.. some good arguments here. but even driving my accord around today, i just couldn't imagine going back to auto. i agree about the fun factor. i mean, i think autos definitely have potential to be consistent drag cars, but i'm not that heavily involved in racing right now and probably wouldn't fork out the money for a shift kit. i'm more or less looking for a fun daily driver and was just wondering how fast the auto could be with just minor bolt ons (i/h/e, etc.).

but the search continues. i've found a few MT 5.0's i'm interested in... i just need to sell my car first [>:]

HC_CrAzYHoRsE

that's exactly what my post was about, i'm thinking about you and considering what you said in your original post wich seem to point out that you preffer driving a stick to an auto (wich is very understandable). sure autos can be made fast and even faster than a 5spd if you do the proper mods to the tranny but you'll probably still not enjoy it as much. i've seen so many people and so many posts about people settling for an auto even though they would've preffered a 5spd. then they moidify the car to make it fast but they're still not happy about it, so they finally either sell the car and lose the money they invested or just do the pain in the *** auto to 5spd conversion. so with that in mind take your time to find exactly what you want, otherwise you might never be satisfied. i'm just trying to make your new adventure in the mustang world as enjoyable as possible.

MattCA

id say get the 5-spd. they are soo much fun. what are the prices that you are looking at? i would say mines ok and it was 4k.

elusive1

that would be the ideal price for me actually. but it seems that the most of them i'm looking at are priced in the 5-7k range... even in a fairly stock form. one of the reasons i was considering the auto is because it was a '93 (lx) for 3k with only 78,000 original miles on it and in pretty much mint condition. i guess i created this thread looking for justification since it was automatic.

Sinister Audio

when i bought my car its a 91gt and it was an auto and the first thing i did was put a 5speed in there and i couldnt be happier. oh ya and i bought mine for 1500

Valcore

I Shift my auto [&:]

a stock 5.0 has 225hp and 300ft/lb tq

the blue book value of my car is 3689 and its almost perfect so I wouldn't pay more than 4k unless the car has super low miles and is flawless.

heaviest
GT vert
LX vert
GT hatch
LX hatch
LX notch
lightest.

Crazyfast50stang

Yeah 5spd is a hell of a lot more fun unless you are in traffic. And since you are not looking to be racing and such and just want to have fun then keep looking till you find one. Modding a mustang is much more expensive the a honda. I slap my friends that have hondas when they complain about the 130 dollar header. Cold air intake and exhaust really wont do that much at first other then give you a much more agresive sound. First thing you should buy is some 3.73 gears if its a 5spd or 4.10's if its a auto. Best bang for the buck. But once you add some other things like intake manifold and such is when you start to feel the horsepower. When you find one you like you will see its a bunch of fun having a rwd but watch out for slippery roads cause your back will swing.

fordguy17

actually modding a mustang is cheaper than a four banger for what you get.

put 5 grand in a 5.0 and you'll be running mid to low 12's, maybe even 11's. try that with a 4 cylinder.

HC_CrAzYHoRsE

i was gonna say the exact same thing... mustangs cost way less to mod than a 4banger.

actually i've seen guys get in the 9s' for cheaper than that.