Head Mahone

I've only had my Hawk for 2 months. It's a 2002, it's all stock, and yesterday I got into a little altercation with a GTO driver. I was on my way home from work (about 4:15) and the traffic was light on the interstate because of Veterans Day. Some folks were going 65/70 in the left and middle lanes so I took the right lane and proceeded to pass em'. I then went to cross over back into the left lane when the guy who was there and was originally going 65ish starts to speed up and deny me of the lane change. It was then that I noticed it was a new GTO (freakin' sleeper, they look like an Fing 2-door maxima at a glance). I looked down and saw that I'm almost at 90 and he's got the nose of that GTO almost across from my door. My Escort 8500 X50 hasn't made a sound so I thought to myself "alright you bastard!" I laid heavy on the gas and passed him at about 115mph and then he starts tailing me. At that point I knew it was on. I started putting it down. He was aggressive and after my Hawk with an open interstate to pass me on. He was on my tail for about 3 seconds after we got going. My Hawk left him behind at 145mph (the Hawk clung to the ground like I was only doing 85). I put about 100 yards between us and backed down to 90mph and he came at me again trying to pass me in the right lane. I let him pass me at probably 120mph and I caught him and put him away again.

I was impressed by the way that GTO clung to me for a while. It might have some muscle with that 350HP V8 but something’s just not right about those GTOs. The Firehawk has all of that muscle too, but it’s in all of the right places. And that made all of the difference yesterday.

http://community.webshots.com/user/head_mahone


Head

demonspeed

iTrader: (7)

Seems to me you might not have selected the right gears when starting to go at it possibly. Considering the Firehawk has a lid and catback from SLP, then it should have pulled the GTO even more so than a stock LS1 f-bod would. He might have had some mods too, and more driving experience.

Good kill though. Around here the only GTO owners are older Vette type guys that think their GTO is way faster than a F-body because it's newer and has "more power" You probably hurt his ego a little.

*EDIT* I was looking at your webshots and noticed you have an auto. That would probably explain why he was keeping up with you easier. Again, good job on fending him off.

CMNTMXR57

Good kill.

I guarantee you wouldn't pull from this GTO though. If you think you're car was glued to the ground, 150mph blasts in the GTO are like a relaxed stroll through the park. Trust me, I have both cars, I know both of their composures at speed.

And quit generalizing DMN

Head Mahone

Thanks fellas. I feel good that I didn't to max out the Hawk to put him away. I had the feeling that he was giving it all he had though. I figured that a GTO driver is going to want to show the older F-Body guy exactly why he bought the GTO instead of a T/A or SS. I never had to put the pedal to the floor and my acceleration rate was much better then his. Although that's due to having a lighter car.

I hope I didn't insult your GTO ownership CMNTMXR57. They're nice cars no matter what I think they look like. The GTO's engine and interior is top-notch!

DMNSPD, he was keeping up because the GTO is fast. Dropping in a stall converter is gonna fix my auto trans issue too...

Head

onequick5.3

iTrader: (1)

CMNTMXR57, I think it would be a closer race than what you think. Not try to flame on the GTO's becasue I love them and the Firebird, but like he said all he has to do is get a stall verter and I think it would be all over. Add some long tubes and a tune and the 12's would be easy. Now the 05 might be a little more challenging with the LS2
Head Mahone you said you did 355 hp on the dyno is that RWHP or flywheel?

jdustu

iTrader: (2)

a stall and headers and tune he'd be close to 11s......

i'm sure cmntmxr57's gto is pretty quick, but my brother-in-law has smoked a few gto's in his freaking neon......he was thinking they were good kills until i told him they only ran mid 13s stock.....

Head Mahone

That 355HP is at the engine onequick5.3. Long tunes, GMMC, and a stall converter is gonna up that to around 400 as soon as I get the cash though. After that, I won't be worried about the 2005 GTO. He'll have to loose some weight first...

Tell your brother-in-law to try the GTO at a 50mph start. It wont be so easy I bet. An American V8 is an American V8.

Head

CMNTMXR57

I never said I'd walk away from him or the other way around. Just rather that in a 150mph jaunt down some open expressway I bet that both cars would probably run dead nuts on with neither pulling on the other. I'm waiting for the SS owner that I had a run in with last in the GTO to post on one of these board. Unfortunately due to traffic we weren't able to truly open them up, but I was all over his rear bumper like a fly on sh*t.

And I didn't take it as a knock Head, just saying that you know the potential of the motor, so never underestimate one whether or not the styling may or may not be pleasing. I may have to move an extra 300 pounds but that can easily be overcome.

jdustu

iTrader: (2)

what the heck does that mean? an american v8 sure is an american v8

i love my "american v8", but his "american 4 banger" with it's "american turbo" is quicker than a lot of "american v8s"

not mine though

CMNTMXR57

LOL! They are quick little suckers.

I saw 4 red ones and 1 blue one in the distribution lot outside of the Belvidere plant last Sunday out of about 500 - 1,000 Neon's there. They make decent little pocket rockets.

jdustu

iTrader: (2)

yeah, it's a fun little car......of course i give him **** about it being a "ricer wanna-be", but it's a blast to drive.......his is a sleeper( pretty much an srt4 with an se body), so it gets some really funny reactions, and of course everyone wants to race him.....how fast is your gto? i haven't really kept up on how people have been modding them...

CMNTMXR57

What did he do to make it a sleeper? Those 5 I saw stuck out like sore thumbs in the crowd.

I ran 13.7 stock, 13.4 with Speed Inc. CAI and since then I have done full exhaust. Unfortunately due to starting a new job, I have not taken it to the track since. We had a Speed Inc. dyno day last Saturday for the local GTO's and I bested my prior tuned number with a 333rwhp and 342lbs-ft of torque. So I'd like to think mathematically that she should put down a flat 13.00 to a high 12 1/4 mile time.

jdustu

iTrader: (2)

it's a magenta '01 neon se....basically the only thing "se" on it now is the body from the back it looks like a gay little neon...from the front, he had to get the front fascia to fit the intercooler and a carbon fiber srt4 hood, but people just figure he's a dumb ricer punk(he kind of acts the part ) not sombody who got bored waiting on his other projects and did the whole switchover in less than a week by himself
he's ran a best of 13.2 on a bad weather day, but he's done a few things since and i'm guessing it's got a 12 in there somewhere.....i think we're gonna dyno it at wheel to wheel next saturday.....
would make for a good race

i'm guessing next summer we'll start seeing a few faster gtos like yours over here......and nice choice with the blue!

demonspeed

iTrader: (7)

I'm only talking about the people around here - I'm no refering to the general poplulous of GTO owners.

Head, I don't know where you're getting your 355hp, but the 02 Firehawk is rated 345hp and 345ftlbs. Now, if you dyno'd it, you'd probably see it's making the same 350hp and 375tq at the crank that an 02 Vette would be making... which would mean it's making the same power the GTO is rated (365tq for GTO though). Anyway, it's not like it's out of control. For the most part, they are running high 13's/low 14's. This is real world examples, not out of the magazine. CMT, you know the time many of the GTO guys run.

This is not to say they can't run stock for stock with a F-body, but most of those guys aren't driving like CMT must to get his E/T.

One thing you're over looking is the trap speed. The f-body is trapping 2-4mph faster than the GTO is. That means that from a roll, the comparable E/T GTO won't stand a chance. That is a fact.

In the end, it comes down to the driver.

CMNTMXR57

Well, I think the fact the I annihilated the stock clutch with 73 miles on the car gives you an indication of how I run it.

demonspeed

iTrader: (7)

I bought my SS with 12K miles on it. 6K miles later I put a new clutch in. That's how I am with my car anyway.

lil2liter

Just to let you guy's know! Stock Neons srt-4's have a tough time at the drag strip slipping into the 13's. Most are low 14's. Why? mainly its tough to get a good launch with the front wheel drive even with the 04 with lsd. A SRT-4 would have a much better chance against a GTO from a roll. SRT-4's are quick little suckers that take mods easy.............................................. ........BUT

Its still a Neon............Its still a Dodge.

On the street anything can happen!

Head Mahone Good Kill!

demonspeed

iTrader: (7)

No it wouldn't. They only trap 99-102 stock.