Well, I drove (the **** out of) my first 5.0 GT Mustang today. VERY enlightening. Here is what I learned - tips that anybody running mid 12's on up better heed!

CLIFFS NOTES: race a auto 5.0 from a 25-30mph roll. Preferably 25mph incase he has the optional 3.73 gears. They have a nasty lag from WOT to pulling: 1 1/2 to 2 seconds from pedal slamming to shift nannies off and howling with full power. You want a legit race? make him manually shift it and hold the gear. If you dont pull him below 70mph, you WILL NOT walk it down. Period. BE WARNED: all kinds of computer nanny interference means a tuned (de-nannied), cai, catback auto is gonna be one helluva lot faster than a stock one.

Conditions: Victorville, California elevation 2900', temp 97 deg F.

I'm 6'5" and square: I had trouble fitting into it, even with seat all the way back my knees were only 2" from the dash. Head hit the roof until I lowered seat all the way down, and leaned it back a bit. << kinda normal for me in all cars, not really a hit on the GT. Easy to read gauges, even when spinning the tires sideways down the road, though the interior does feel kinda cheap compared to, well, anything in its price range. Engine sound? Everyone was surprised I didn't like it, but I didnt: just sounded off tone and wrong. Not what I expected from a Mustang. Catback time for sure if I bought one!

Laggy throttle. Just revving it in idle is a joke: my foot was on the floor with a audible "thump" before the rpms even changed. Stupid computer nannies were already starting to rear there heads I feared.

Driving initial impressions: surprisingly reminds me of the LS1 Fbodies in the stiffness of suspension and surprising amount of tire noise that makes it into the cab. I like that, but most dont. Fairly stiff body for a pony car, but could definitely be stiffer. Car feels very short from inside: Having sat in a SS, Challenger, and Charger I would say the GT feels like about 5 to 8' shorter. No ****.

Power: high revving powerband for sure. If you are a true veteran gearhead you can feel? sense? the VVT working. Still not near enough power below 4k though. Laggy throttle and slow downshifts are annoying to say the least- though expected in any modern car available to the ignorant, crappy driver mod public nowadays.

Transmission and gearing the 6 spd does a masterful job of hiding the deadspots. Seriously, I did launches from every 5mph incremental speed starting at zero and ending at 90mph. It acts like a virgin closing her legs to your advances at every possible location. Only one dead spot- and it's a doozy. 25-30mph. Not 20-30mph, not 25-31mph, but TWENTY FIVE TO THIRTY MPH. Massive dead spot that totally exposes the low torque engines bottom end lack of power.

This 5.0 is a rental, youu know it doesnt have the track pack 3.73 gears. drop 3-5mph for that probably. Any quick LSx 6spd or A4 will literally put 3-4 cars on a auto 5.0 mustang if you race him from that 25-30mph range.

Other than that? Well, there is one spot around 70mph where it drops down to "only" 4200rpms on the hit. Thats it. Legs crossed tight, you are gonna have to take that cherry with brute force if you missed your "sweet spot" low roll starting point!

Dig? Does it surprisingly well: I was able to brake stall the converter up to 2100rpms. No ****, they must have a 2600rpm stall convertor from the factory- or a high STR 2400stall maybe? Due to that high stall, they pull just as hard from a 5mph punch as they do from a dig. Same with 10mph.

And at 20mph? Well, good luck. Pulls like a raped ape on steroids from 20mph. It's almost as hard pulling at 60mph, too: those two speeds you DO NOT want to race a 5.0 GT from!!!!!!

Nannies and torque management: they are on this car like white on rice. VERY VERY restrictive on both not going WOT when you want, to 2 second gear changes, to nannies everywhere that you cannot turn off that are keeping the engine from making power. I can EASILY see this car picking up 5 tenths with a tune and maybe another 5 tenths with a CAI, catback, and maybe tires.

Traction: mine hooked great, but it's 97 deg F outside and they were warm and the engine was down on power. The DA at a dragstrip with those conditions would require an oxygen mask!!! Bringing stall up to just before spinning the tires then dumping the gas barely let out a chirp. Just not enough torque, even with the factory high stall. --- and the high DA. Always keep that inmind while reading this post.

Top speed: honestly, it pulls better past 90mph than my GTO does. Speedo just swept on by 80, 90, 100, 110, and to 120 where I let up like it was on a dyno instead of in the middle of a desert at high noon. Very impressive for a Mustang... or most any other car not sporting 400+ real crank hp. You LS1 guys better have some breathing mods on your cars or these 5.0 stangs will "Supra" you.

Handling? Put the same tires on a SS and 5.0 and watch the SS walk away on any but maybe a very very tight track. Maybe the Mustang just needs bigger tires, but I think it's a geometry issue: either way bone stock it only gives the impression of being a great handling car- not the reality.

^^And yes, I can make that distinction whereas most other car guys can't. Aint braggin, it's just the simple truth: I've spent alot of time on roadcoarses and in fast, modified cars. The 5.0 has the bones to be a great autocrosser, but not with that current suspension setup. And that damned yaw control nanny has to go! It kicks in at 90% of max lateral when it is just starting to get fun.

Conclusion: Do I think it's a stock 12 second car? Absolutely. Even with the annoying nannies, average drivers on average tracks should knock out 12.9-13.0 times with 2000' or lower DA. Tune, CAI, catback should be low to mid 12's.

Side note: I'm also pretty good at judging the airflow thru an engine. This 5.0 feels like it's fully capable of more power with just a cam change. Reminds me alot of how I felt the first time I drove a LS1 Camaro- I immediately felt it needed a cam! Same here: expect cams to become a gotta have for the track crowd. Expect unported heads to pick up 40-50rwhp IF - and thats a big IF- the longblock can handle another 600rpms. If it can, well, ..... GM and Dodge better buy stock in Jenny Craig. Fast.

 

No it definately wasn't. Broke 4 rods, put 2 holes in the block, ruined the crank, bent some valves, dinted the oil pan in several spots....and I think thats about it. I knew it was coming though.

 

Hey Stick n Stones thats my sig from my old car lol not this one sorry about that I should have told you. thats this car


My White 2001 M6 WS6 right now has the following: SLP Lid w/paper filter no K&N lol, 3'' Cutout, Magnaflow Catback and thats it. It is known to run really good tho, I have a video of me racing a Full Bolt on 02 SS with gears, headers, tune, lid etc etc. and I lost by half a car the first race and won by a car the 2nd race.

 

Then the 02 SS was hurt or had a shitty driver.

 

and i would like to add that he is to make shore he get's a close up of said car for all we know he could have ran a stock 2011 v6. you really cant see **** that's way i call b.s.

 

His car went 12.60's and he is a very good driver.
http://www.streetfire.net/video/bolt...t-2_692098.htm

thats him before his tune running my friends full bolt on Z28 with me filming from the Z28

Him vs me from a 35 roll if I remember right
02 M6 SS: Lid, Catback, Cutout, LT's, Factory LS6 Intake, 4.10's, Tune
My 01 M6 WS6: Lid, Catback, Cutout, stock gears
The Second race was from a 15 roll
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEIeQZ7gr68
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpIkNvbjb2A

 

dude there's a lot of fake video's floating around the Internet it could have been a 4.6 or a v6 you cant see **** from that video. next time, get a close up of the car so that we all can see that it's a 2011 other then that i call bullshit until you prove me wrong!

 

was that directed toward me? the video i posted was me against a 02 SS

 

sorry about that i was commenting on the 2011 5.0 vid

 

How the hell can you guys talk ****? Both these guys are willing to drive an hour out of there way to the middle of the high desert to race some guys they have never met, a race setup by another guy they never met, against the very cars they are talking about racing- and you guys keep calling bs on.

I'm starting a new thread on this race: move this BS'ing and guesstimating to that thread fellas. BTW: we are setup for 2 5.0 mustangs, and trying to get the '10 SS to go but now its on Levi (the veteran racer with the 5.0) to coerce him into it.

 

sorry but you do know that people lie & post staged video's? there's no need to get mad just get a clear close up of a 2011 5.0 and prove me wrong. and what kills me is the fact that people fall for it and run up on the car in question and get beat then sit there and look stupid.

 

true but i dont think I have ever known anyone who has posted a staged race video, they would be labeled as a very lame person and no one would ever take them serious again

 

no disrespect but that's like saying everybody in this forum tells the truth. hell some of these guy's will not post they're losses BUT will post a lame *** win. i see a lot of people that post here lose in a lot of street race's and get on ls1tech and act like nothing even happened.

 

thats very true i see what you mean

 

all i'm trying to tell people is to film the cars before the race so the people can see that it's a legit 2011 5.0 and not just some 2010 gt or v6. i'm done!

 

trust me, I have a Canon 7D that I use for video if you know about cameras. There will be crystal clear video of all the cars as well as under the hood video.

 

I posted a little vid of a close up of the CS/GT. Not to clear but if u know your cars u can tell it is what it is.

 

I haven't seen a new 5.0 beat an ls1 yet, not saying its impossible but dam. I know the 5.o isn't just hype but if this keeps happening watch ford throw a blower on it like the last time. Good to see the 13 year old Ls1's holding their own.

 

Ford would be smart, financially speaking, to ditch the 5.4 and throw a blower on the 5.0 for the Shelby. Hell maybe a hair dryer or two for the 50th anniversary