While on a major highway in the area, about 5 miles from my exit, I was behind some traffic going 60 in a 65. As the traffic was clearing out (road splits) and I wound up behind the slow-poke in front (who was going faster than the slow lane!), I saw a Caddy coming up from behind doing around 85-90. As he was coming up behind me and starting to brake (8-10 car-lengths away), the guy in front of be reached a clear secion of road and pulled over. I downshifted to Third and matted the SHO. Top of third (and I saw the Caddy's nose lift as soon as I hit it) around 100, I shifted into fourth. I steadilly pulled him to 120, at which I started coming upon other traffic where the road goes from two lanes to four. Since all but the slowest lane were blocked, I pulled over one lane from the fast lane and backed down to 85. The Caddy - Ricer Fly-by, across ALL lanes into the clear one, and flies down to my exit. Ugh. I wind up behind him (he thinks I'm following him so he gets into a different lane turning left - I'm turning right) then head home. He gets on my tail inspite of the traffic in front of me (I'm NOT passing on a double-yellow!) then turns off.

Impressions:
About equal with a IS300. Handling is MUCH better though, as the only IS300 that I ran down was all over the place at 90 when changing lanes. For a 220 or 255 BHP 3.6L V6, I'm not impressed with the mid-upper end. Plus, it's got a smaller trunk than my SHO!

TankII

 

I guess I wouldn't be that excited by beating a stock Caddy unless it was a CTS-V or something like that because lets face it the purpose of those cars is to get you from one place to another comfortably with nothing what so ever performance oriented, however good kill none the less. I guess when driving a SHO you'll take what you can get

 

Ouch, come on 6SpeedZ, SHO's have got some *****.

Nice kill Tank.

 

i recently upgraded from a 99 regalGS to my 93 ta. The regal was pretty quick for a 4 door fwd family sedan. i put on a high flow intake /exhaust and it good for a high 14 but with with a smaller pully and a chip upgrade, it can make it a high 13sec car. But i got used to driving my ta and when i got back in the regal it felt sooo SLOW. I remember that car kicking the asses of Tpi trans ams , is300 and many sport compacts. I was a fan of this site before i even bought my trans am but i never dared to post anything about my regal. Maybe if i spent 500 or so for the upgrades to make it run in the 13''s but other than rides that legitimately have some ***** like say any amg mercedes. people don't wanna hear about 4 door family sedans. I was a huge fan for the guy with impala running a high 11. on the video posted last week. I strongly suggest you start saving for a mustang or f body unless that back seat of yours is a absolute necessity. My trans am is worth about half as much as my regal was but its paid for and well i dont feel like a goof trying to drag race in my 4 door luxury supercharged grand pa car that is FRONT WHEEL DRIVE. I feel i never knew what launching a car was until i got the ta.

 

Got two kids and a wife who LOVES the SHO...

BlackMamba:
Check out my other posts. I do have lots of fun with other four-door sedans that are supposed to be fast...
I've also had fun running down stock 3000GT's, BMW "M" (late '90's), etc. at speed.

I've owned a 13 second ride, and yes, it is fun! Unfortunately, I also broke more than a few parts! Plus, I prefer autocrosses and road-racing. With the kids having to fit and no real budget for a dedicated race car, the SHO is the best compromise.

For a comparision:
The Caddy base engine is a 3.2L, 220/220. My SHO stock was 220/200 3.0L. The Caddy's larger engine is 3.6L 255/252 with Variable Valve Timing. Chrysler's 3.5L is 250/250 without V.V.T and has been for almost a decade! So, where's GM's improvment? It took Nissan a cash infusion from Renault to get their 3.5 to do what it does today, and it was about 5 years behind Chrysler. It's too bad DiamlerBenz is not using that motor in the Stratus. That combination would give Nissan and the GTP a run for the money!

TankII

P.S. Thanks Grifter!

 

The chrysler 3.5 is a pos. you get inside a 300m and see that crazy high redline and the interior is beautiful but they are real slugs. And the new 260hp gtp does worse trmes than the current impala ss with only 240hp. I wish we could just cut the bs like australia and make more cars with v8s. Who would not want the commodore or a holden ute(el camino). Why do the aussies get nicer rides than we do? and we have to settle for a supercharged wheezy version of a v6 thats almost as old as i am.

 

You were born in the early 60's?
:-)

The 300M is a full sized car. The Caddy is mid-sized. I would not expect it to perform the same. I was pointing out the BHP ratings are taking so long to match from these other manufacturers. There is a big HP war going on these days with less emphasis on actual performance. Look at the Marauder - Slower than a Honda Accord V6 auto and until this year limited to 117MPH by a driveshaft design problem! However, I agree with you on the Holdens and Falcons the Aussie's and Kiwi's enjoy...

It's not Fair!!!!

BTW, the middle-east Impala is the same as our '04 GTO. That's REALLY not fair!

TankII

P.S. My SHO runs to 7500 RPM before the REV limiter kicks in. The early to mid '89 SHO's didn't even have a REV limiter!

 

I'm almost 23 but mature for my age. I bought my regal gs when i was 21, a few day before i got marrried actually. i wasted a fast car with 4 doors for insurance purposes. And yeah it really bugs me that we were not the first to get the GTO. I once saw a new holden Ute in person that some ond guy imported. It was drop dead gorgeous and it had an ls1. And yes i think the Maurader was a HUGE mistake. The slowness of that car makes me think how easy it would be to out run a cop. I think Chrysler has hit a home run putting the hemi in the new 300. I wonder what gm is gonna do about it if anything. I'm kinda curious if the displacement on demand hurts performance on the hemi motor in the 300 because the gas mileage is not that impressive.