Ok I was heading home the other night and I pulled up to a brand new Thunderbird at the light, it still had the sticker in the window and had temp. tags. Some older guy was driving, I was just looking over the Thunderbird since I don't see many of them on the road. It was quite striking, black w/some big chrome wheels.
The light turns green and the guy floors it. I was semi caught off guard so I floor it after a soft launch. Through 1st gear we are dead even, I hit 2nd and we stay even. Half way through 2nd I start inching out. I hit 3rd and start pulling slowly at first, then by the end of third I was pulling pretty good.

I was pretty dissappointed that I didn't leave the Thunderbird in 1st and 2nd gear. But I guess he was able to get the modular V8 revved up in the powerband at the jump. I guess or I hope that if I was 100% ready to race when the light turned green that I would have walked him.
Also I've been dealing with a intermitiate problem with what I think is the opti-spark for the last couple of months, though my car ran good that night it might not have been 100%.

 

Yea, and one of those mags (can't remember which one) got a 16.76 out of my car And I've seen plenty of rags get mid 14sec passes out 99+GTs too. Not a very good source to go by...

His 6spd Z under normal conditions should be easy 13s. The fastest "rag" ET I've seen (and yes I know I'm being a hypocrit, but I've never seen one at a track) for a T-bird was mid/low 15s.

Because the T-bird got the pop, it's easy to understand why you might have had a hard time catching up. In a heads up run, you more than likely would have been ahead from the start...


On a personal note, geeeez I hate retro!



Jon

 

COMNBYU,the times will always be questionable,but you cant argue with the trap speeds all that much,the thunderbird is right around LT1 territory. Can you post the link to the mag that got a 16.76 out of an Altima??are you sure it wasnt an automatic 4 cylinder?

 

Reeling someone in after they jump out ahead isn't easy to do. You have to come from behind and match their speed to stop the pull, then go faster to reel them in.

Nice kill, I don't think I've ever seen one of those new TBirds go over the speed limit.

 

WOW , I love retro , the new 04 Mustangs are freakin gorgeous . And the birds are classy looking .
But styling will always be subjective .

 

the new mustang does look tite,but the Thunderbird is definately a yuppy car.

 

I can't remember who had this, PHR or Hot Rod did a shootout between the Prowler and the new T-bird. They could not get neither one out of the 15's. the Prowler was a bit faster. From my understanding they are as fast as a 305 TPI car when they were new. Thats about a 15.2-15.4 automatci car. I don't know but they are kinda cool looking but with no hype. Plus they use the SHO V8 motor don't they?

 

The Tbird was probably down on power and is a 2-ton car with a driver in it. Good kill!

 

That is the rag I was talking about. Back when the new T-birds first came out they did that test. Neither one got out of the 15s.

Am I saying that there isn't a T-bird on earth that has gone a high 14? No. But on avg I would guess that mid/low 15s are the norm. Definately not in stock LT1 territory...



Jon

 

Thats what I was thinking COMNBYU. LT1 should run away with it especially if it was a T56 car.

 

I thought I read somewhere (magazine) where the new T-birds got some more power this year or it could have been in '03? But even with more power I believe the car is still a 15 sec. car.