Place your bets! It’s stroker GTO vs. boosted Coyote-powered Mustang.
This week’s Kill Story was originally shared to the forum in a thread started by “Nick.H “and it features a Pontiac GTO taking on an S197 Ford Mustang GT. Both cars are built to produce far beyond their stock power numbers, but even without boost, the rebadged Holden holds its own against the five-point-bro.
The competitors
This video comes to us from the GOTboostFILMS YouTube channel and it features a late model Pontiac GTO going head-to-head with a 2013 Ford Mustang GT.
The GTO has a built 408-cubic-inch engine with worked LS3 cylinder heads, an E85 tune and a built 4L60 automatic transmission. According to the video, this Pontiac is packing north of 500 wheel horsepower.
The Mustang is powered by a 5.0-liter V8 that has been beefed up via an On3 twin-turbo package. On 6 pounds of boost, this Ford is making around 600 horsepower, but that power is sent to the rear wheels via a 6-speed manual transmission.
As we see in the video below, the transmission makes a big difference.
The racing action
The video above shows the GTO and the Mustang going head-to-head over and over again. Most of the races are from a roll, but there is one dig race about a minute into the video. In that dig race, the Pontiac absolutely destroys the Mustang as the GTO driver gets off of the line a whole lot quicker. That said, the roll races are much more competitive.
In many of the roll races, the GTO jumps out to an early lead and stays there until the two cars are reaching very high speeds. There are also a few races where the Mustang takes an early lead, only to have the Pontiac catch up, and there are some matchups where the Ford wins, but overall – the NA LS-powered vehicle has the advantage. Reminds us of something our fathers used to say: “No replacement for displacement.”
"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.
"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.
"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.
"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.
"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.
