Edmunds.com | Inside Line | Auto Observer Your Account | Help | Directory
You are here:
![[F]](http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com/media/townhall/webxicons/site.gif){kind=small}
Forums
Classic Cars MY FUTURE OLDER CAR?
81 messages, Last post on Apr 03, 2009 at 12:54 PM
You are in the Classic Cars Forum. Your Host is mr_shiftright
|
Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Jan 14, 2009 11:02 am) I know those buff rags tend to get a bit optimistic with their 0-60 times. Case in point, the infamous 3.9 second 1965 Catalina 2+2. However, stuffy old Consumer Reports once tested a 1969 Charger with a 440-4bbl. automatic tranny, and 3.23:1 gears. Even they got 0-60 in 7 seconds flat...and CR's times tended to be a lot more conservative than the buff rags. I remember an old test somewhere of either a Barracuda or a Dart GT with the hot 273-4bbl V-8, and with the automatic it came in around 7.5-8 seconds. I think even a 1974 or so 360-4bbl in a Duster/Dart Sport was still good for 0-60 in around 6-6.5 seconds. And the 360 wasn't the performer that the 340 had been. Peak hp, when you're comparing net ratings, was similar, but the 340 had a broader power range.
|
|
|
Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Jan 14, 2009 11:02 am)
|
|
|
Replying to: lemko (Jan 14, 2009 10:59 am) |
|
|
|
|
Replying to: texases (Jan 14, 2009 11:20 am) Magazines of that time were notorious in faking numbers or....more excusable, very sloppy in how they did the tests. The old big blocks make a lot of noise but they can't get much power to the ground, like a modern car. I'm sure you could get 6 seconds out of a GTS with a balls to the wall modified 440.
|
|
|
Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Jan 14, 2009 12:27 pm)
|
|
|
|
|
Replying to: texases (Jan 14, 2009 1:16 pm) And sure, you can install very low rear ends, use racing slicks, aviation gas, radically advanced timing, ice up the fuel supply, take out the spare and back seat and all that stuff and get at least another second or two out of it I'd guess.
|
|
|
Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Jan 14, 2009 12:27 pm) The usual caveat about taking it with a grain of salt applies here, but I remember a test back in the early 90's, where some Mopar buff magazine got ahold of a '69 Dart with a slant six, and a '69 New Yorker with a 440. Not a hopped-up 440, but just the regular one, that put out 350 hp gross (rather than the hotter 375 hp version, or the 390, which I guess was a 6-pack?). Anyway, they dumped the NYer's engine and tranny in the Dart. I'm hoping they also found a way to get the NYer's 8 3/4 rear in there too, because I imagine a 440 would shred the Dart's 7 1/4 rear! Still, even with that relatively low-suds setup, they got 0-60 in about 6 seconds. And more than likely, that was just with a 2.76:1 axle. Again, take it with a grain of salt. And I wasn't there, so I couldn't tell ya how they measured the acceleration, whether they power-braked or took off normally, or what. As for using a stopwatch, sometimes that can give you a pretty sad 0-60 time, too! I timed my '69 Dart from 0-60 once. This one had a 225 slant six. Well, I was stopped at a traffic light and had to make a right turn, so that threw it off I'm sure! Plus, there were four people on board. Anyway, I clocked it at 0-60 in 17.9 seconds, under those less-than-optimal conditions.  But if you want to hear one even worse...one of my friends back then had a 1980 Accord with an automatic. We timed it from 0-60, with only three people on board, and a straight launch from a traffic light rather than having to turn. Came up in a whopping 26 seconds!
|
|
|
Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Jan 14, 2009 1:19 pm) Actually, even the time of year and weather can make a difference. MT or C&D tested a 1986 or so Buick Grand National once, and got 0-60 in 4.9 seconds! However, even they discounted the time, because it was in the wintertime, and temps were a bit extra brutal. They said that most drivers should expect 0-60 in about 6 seconds. When the Michigan State Police did their annual police car test, which was in August, the 1985 models they tested all did horrible, compared to the 1984's. Now one problem was that the Mopars went to different carburetors that gave more peak hp, but the torque bands were narrower. However, that was also a brutally hot, humid summer, something the MSP noted in their testing.
|
|
|
|
|
Replying to: andre1969 (Jan 14, 2009 2:31 pm) while we are on the subject of maximizing the performance of vehicles tested by various reviewers, in the old days, guess it would be a cheater engine. these days, i can see fiddling with the computer, and/or replacing some of the factory fluids with some high performance substitutes.
|
|
|
Replying to: explorerx4 (Jan 14, 2009 7:26 pm) IMO though, the Crown Vic sort of won by default. When the Panther first came out for 1979, it tended to be rated last. The Chrysler Newport/Dodge St. Regis were the top rated back then, with the Impala coming in next and then the Crown Vic at the bottom of the heap. The Mopar R-body went away after 1981 and for 1982, the M-body Diplomat/Gran Fury were used. I think they still tended to be the top rated, although by 1985 they were slipping, while the Impala was steadily improving. Ironically, for 1985 the cop Mopars started using GM 4-bbl carbs. Maybe it was sabotage!  By 1989, the Caprice (they dropped the Impala name after 1985) finally surpassed the performance levels of the 1979 St. Regis/Newport. Kinda sad, when you think about it, that it took police cars a full decade to get back UP to performance levels achieved by a car that was issued in one of Chrysler's darkest hours! 1989 was also the last year for the Gran Fury/Diplomat, but I think they still ranked it higher than the Crown Vic. So once it went away, the Crown Vic moved up to #2. I've heard that the 1991-93 "Whale" Caprices were pretty good police cars, even just with the TBI 350, which put out 185 hp. And when the 1994-96 models came out, with the 260 hp LT-1, they simply blew the Crown Vic away. After the Caprice was discontinued, many police departments would rather refurbish a used Caprice, rather than buy a new Crown Vic! After the Caprice, GM did try putting out police versions of the Lumina and Grand Prix, but they were best suited to patrolling neighborhoods, serving court summonses, doing doughnut runs, etc. Chrysler experimented with a police version of the Dynasty, but never really went anywhere with it. I think it actually performed fairly well, but just wouldn't have been very tough and durable...and a police car has to be both. Probably wouldn't have been any worse than the police Taurus, or the Lumina/Grand Prix, though. I dunno if there was ever a police version of the first-gen Intrepid, but around 2001, IIRC, Mopar did issue a police version of the 2nd-gen. 3.5 V-6, 250 hp. It was actually a good performer. Tied the Crown Vic in 0-60, but had a higher top speed. The next county over from me uses Crown Vics and Intrepids, and one cop I talked to said that in his opinion, the Intrepid blows the Vic away. Whenever I go over there, I still see Intrepids in circulation, so they must not be doing too bad. They do have one little achilles heel, though. Evidently, work the brakes too hard, and they'll burst into flames! I think the MSP managed to achieve this in their testing, and that scared away a lot of police departments. There's a local used car lot that has a 2004 Intrepid copcar, ~41,000 miles. Dark grayish-green. I've looked at it, and have to admit I've been tempted. They're asking $7995, but it's been there for months now, so I'm sure they'll take much less. The last thing I need right now is another car though. And if I do replace my 2000 Intrepid, I'd feel kinda silly replacing it with another one! |
|
You are here:
Forums
Classic Cars MY FUTURE OLDER CAR?
New? Join Now!
Forum Tools
Search Forums
Browse by Vehicle
Browse by Board
Browse by Topic
Today's Chats
