Jump to content
CaddyInfo Cadillac Forum

Can a caddi beat a GT mustang?


Recommended Posts

Hello,

My b/f is constantly bragging about how he can beat a GT mustang but has failed to every race one..yet still continues to brag...he drives an 95 sts with the 300 hp northstar V8 which i m sure that you are all faimilar with...yet the mustang GT put out 260 hp...now with the weight to hp ratio between the two cars could the mustang beat the sts...I hope to out smart him...lol...

Thanks Jenn

Link to comment
Share on other sites


That depends on if it is not Found On Road Dead, first!

If of course the car did get running, it would be F***ed On Race Day anyway!

lol

" ...'took my Cobra down t' the track, hitched to the back o' my Cadillac..."

- Jan & Dean, 'hey little cobra'

Scott

Link to comment
Share on other sites

From a stop the Mustang should kill him, from a high speed roll though it should be close...

My previous Caddy was a 94 base Eldorado with the 270HP Northstar and the higher transaxle ratio... I walked a couple of Mustang GT verts on the freeway from 70MPH up and one BMW 740 under similar circumstances... Now I didn't flat out kill them but I had enough power to pull and stay ahead of them at speed... My newer Eldorado is an touring coupe with 30HP more, and the lower geared transaxle... And it feels quite a bit faster to me than my previous car...

These cars aren't the fastest vehicles out there but they are fast so don't discount them... And even though the Mustang GT and other similar luxury cars have good HP numbers you have to look at vehicle weight and gearing, many of them are just pigs when it comes to weight...

I keep a Corvette as a weekend car so when I was shopping for a daily driver I looked for something that would give me good power and luxury at the same time... The Northstar answered that call and hasn't let me down in the power department yet...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sanctioned drag race might be too close to call. I believe that have seen times for both cars (without any particular mods) in the low 14's. Tire traction may be the over-riding issue.

Flat out, top end flight might also be close, (if the Caddy had fast tires to begin with). If you haven't done over 145 mph before side-by-side before for quite a few miles, I wouldn't try it just to find out. It is amazing how disconcerting simple things like fence posts become at speed after a while. Other complicated objects like real traffic - are even more annoying. <_<

The Caddy will have an edge wher road conditions become more interesting:

Wet roads, ice, snow (Caddy rules here). :)

Gravel/mud, (a bit tricky, messy and must stay in front to reduce damage).

At some point, there are all kinds of ways to raise risk/reward levels until what the Driver is willing to try - becomes much more of a factor in the outcome than a given vehicle.

What's it worth to "win" ? :blink:

Add power to leave problems behind. Most braking is just - poor planning.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Only place to know for sure who beats who is to take it to a track.

Racing on public streets and highways is dumb and dangerous.

If you really want to make people safe drivers again then simply remove all the safety features from cars. No more seat belts, ABS brakes, traction control, air bags or stability control. No more anything. You'll see how quickly people will slow down and once again learn to drive like "normal" humans.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I owned a 87 GT, 88 Vette, 95 5.7 Formula. All were very fast. But 99% of the time every Mustang I've been door to door would sit and spin the tires till they smoked, I was too busy move'in on down the road. Cee'ya

sebring06RTP.jpg
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Now, speaking for an owner of both cars, I can say this. My caddy could beat my Mustang most any day. I had 1990 LX 5.0 (those of you who dont know, same drivetrain as GT, just a little less weight) completely stock. I now own a 1995 Seville STS, and again, completely stock. The caddy was faster, although, the mustang was really fun to drive. I do miss driving the mustang, but the caddy is far more comfortable on long trips, has much better ergonomics, better safety, and lets not forget-more of what we all like- HORSEPOWER! :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It should be a close race, but the Mustang should win down low...especially if it's a stick and the Mustang driver knows how to drive. As others have said, as the speeds increase to 80-100 mph, the Cadillac will walk away from it. We had a '92 5.0 LX 5-speed and it was darn quick. 0-60 around 6.0-6.2 seconds, right off the showroom. I haven't seen a stock STS go that fast. In 1994 and 1995, the Mustangs got porky, and were quite a bit slower. What year is the Mustang?

But as Marika said, take it to the track. No sense killing anyone over something as immature as a 100-mph street drag race.

Jason(2001 STS, White Diamond)

"When you turn your car on...does it return the favor?"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If the mustang is a manual transmission and the person knows how to drive it, it will smoke the caddy, especially if it's a 5.0. I grew up driving mustangs and camaros and had a lot of fun with them.. I just recently sold my mustang because it had been sitting in the garage for 5 years, what happens when you have 3 kids. The 5.0 engine has more torque than the NS and a very good torque curve, even though the horsepower was rated at 225 on some of them they are still really fast if it's a manual and you know how to drive it. If it's an automatic forget it. All the automatic mustangs are rather slow, ESPECIALLY the 3 speed ones (those are dogs).

I've raced quite a few cars in my caddy and i've done modifications to it as well. Every mustang, camaro, and cars like that i've raced have beat me, but it was from either a slow roll or stop. Albeit, most of those cars were modified so it's not really a 'fair' test but some of them beat me by 100 feet or more by the time I was going 90 (but he had very high gears sounded like 4.11, plus highly open exhaust and probably no CATs because it stunk).

The thing about the mustangs is that you can spend $1000 on it and make it go a lot faster. You can't do that with the caddy :) So you never know even a stock looking stang or camaro, etc. if it has anything done to it.

You have to take into consideration the stang is 3200-3300 lbs with manual tranny. And it has torque, and the 225 HP is rear wheel not bhp so..

Give it a run from a stop 0-60 and see what happens..

The STS is fast enough to 'bother' people who have stock or slightly modified mustangs. They get mad when you stay right behind them.. My favorite is watching other cars race, like there was this firebird and mustang racing on the highway and I just sat behind them the whole time staying right with them and we were hitting some pretty hefty turns too (the ones where even on the highway it tells you to slow down to 50). I'm sure they weren't exciited when I passed them in one of those turns going over 100 because they had to slow down to 80 or so to avoid flying off the road :))))

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The 5.0 engine has more torque than the NS and a very good torque curve, even though the  horsepower was rated at 225 on some of them they are still really fast if it's a manual and you know how to drive it.

This statement should be corrected to read: the 5.0 engine has more torque than the L37 Northstar engine. :) The LD8 Northstar engine has 300 lb*ft of torque, same as the 5.0 I believe. Also, the Cadillac 4.9L engine has 300 lb*ft of torque, if I recall correctly. The L37 engine has 295 lb*ft of torque (at a higher rpm level), so it's still close.

The 302 engine was rated at 225 hp and 300 lb*ft of torque, at the crank. Rear wheel horsepower is usually near 200 hp, for a stock 'Stang with a straight drive.

But I agree -- the Mustang is a faster car. Take it to the 'strip with someone who knows how to drive it and it'll beat the Caddy to 60 or 70. I bet the Cadillac would barely catch it by the 1/4 miles traps. 1 mile down the road, you can stop and get a burger and the Mustang will still be trying to catch you. :)

Jason(2001 STS, White Diamond)

"When you turn your car on...does it return the favor?"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Heh.. I dunno :) The NS has really good high end but then again so did my stang.. it got up to 165 fairly easily (with custom exhaust and intake).. But then again i'm talking about the older mustangs.. all of the cars i've had/raced, etc have all been carbuerated. Some of my friends had newer stangs and some brand new 88's and 90's and such when I was the age of street racing every weekend heh..

Rear wheel horsepower on mine after I did the modifications was about 300hp measured on a dyno, with an awesome torque curve. Now if the 4.6L NS had the same low end torque as the 4.9 while still retaining the high rpm power .. that would pose a much better challenge :)

Best thing I can think to improve the 'off the line' starts is to get a higher stall converter for my caddy. Boy would I love to get the jump on some of the stang/camaro guys. My mom has a honda accord , and of course she probably never goes over 60mph lol.. I think it's an EX something.. Every time I go visit (she's in florida, i'm in ohio) she lets me use it and boy it can get the jump on some people. I suprised(or made mad) a guy in a I think 98 or 97 camaro (one of the ones that doesn't look like a camaro any more with the 6 speed tranny, etc. Man i miss the old ones) . I got him GOOD from a stop while he was trying to keep the tires from smoking, even got a few car lengths on him in the honda but of course then he blew by me by the time i got to 35 mph or so hehehe.. was funny though. Street racing is fun, it's all about getting the jump on someone unless you are willing to go super fast which just isn't a good idea in this country :) So most 'street racing' here is 0-60 or 0-80 or whatever... in other countries though it's not uncommon to see people going way over 150-180mph messing around which would be fun but also highly dangerous :> (but don't those mostly go hand in hand?)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Like some others said it has to do alot with the person behind the wheel, but I have beat a couple Mustangs, I had very little gas in the Caddy at the time. The weight between the two is enormous. Dump some bricks in the back of Mustang and it would be pretty equal race.

I've noticed when I race stangs Im either ahead by a bit or just behind.

But when I lose I just hit the lumbar and sink into my precious seats. Gotta love the Cadillacs!

"Cadillac, it's not a car, it's an obsession"

-W.Kingdon

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It all really boils down to what year mustang we're talking about.

Older fox bodies (pre 94), yeah, probably a win for the caddy.

94-95 might be a win for the moosetang, at least cause problems, but 96-98 are slower.

99+... forget about it B)

But then, there's the challenge of finding a stock mustang to race, they're rare.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I drive my fathers stock 2002 GT with auto all the time. This car has 260 horses...and is clad with plastic everywhere...but I have no doubt this will SMOKE my eldo off the line. Not sayin the eldo is slow, but the mustang, even with auto, is made simply for the purpose of going fast. Everything on the car is geared for performance..hence cheesy plastic interior...ugly body cladding everywhere...uncomfortable leather seats...the auto on the 2002 actually shifts rather hard for a stock tranny as well.

The caddy is obviously geared for comfort...every option imaginable...sound deadener everywhere...cofortable leather seats...etc.

My pops is planning a K&N filtercharger and x-pipe to eliminate the cats...these little upgrades will probably give him 20-30 rwhp for less than 500 bucks. The car will be basically stock, but will definitely do a sub-6 sec 0-60. Good luck hot-rodding the caddy to beat that for 500 bucks.

I love my caddy, but it is what it is. I have driven muscle cars my entire life, but now, at the old age of 29, my tastes are changing. I want my car to have style, creature comforts, refinement, and POWER and the caddy delivers this in spades. Not only that, the caddy has an image about it. I am a young attorney, and for the last 5 years, i have been pulling up to the courthouse and meeting clients in an 86 red Trans Am...79 Trans am painted primer black...81 Monte Carlo painted smurf blue, all of these cars running cams, headers and true dual exhaust. There is NOTHING like pulling up in a Caddy...especially pulling up next to an old-time lawyer in a honda civic. Does it make me a better lawyer?? of course not, but alot about being a lawyer is attitude and confidence. Since I got this car, my confidence is through the roof!!!

Will I beat a mustang? Probably not. Is it fun trying to beat a mustang with my extra 1000lbs, heated seats and power everything out the wazoo?? HELLLLL YEAH!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i have a 1995 sts and i race gt mustangs all the time. i beet them from stop and rolling. At stop he gets a jump but then i pull back up beside them and when. My friend has a 2000 gt with flowmasters and gears and i beet him but it is very close.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It sounds like everybody has an opinion here, but I would like to throw my unbiased opinions in the mix.

First of all, it has to be the 5 litre Stang, as the 4.6 wins every time. But the only chance for the NS is the 300 HP engine, selecting 2nd manually, and not shifting!

Assume equal driver abilities, same conditions, and the fact that the Stang owner did heat the tires.

The Mustang 5 litre will win in the 0-60, by as much as 1/2 second, depending on whether the NS is the 275 horse, or the 300 horse version, the former having a bit more off the line.

If the NS had a bit more low end, it would always win in the 1/4. But as it is, the 300 HP version is about equal, with the 275 HP car a tenth or two slower. The NS really shines above 75, and makes up huge ground in both configurations.

If you could do a rolling start at 75MPH, either NS would dust the stock 5 litre from 75 to 105! I haven't taken my STS much past 110, so I don't know what happens after that.

If you don't "force" the NS to use the rev limiter to shift, the Stang wins every time in the 1/4, and wins in the 0-60 regardless.

Although your best hope in the Caddy is even, or slighty better in the 1/4, it is impressive to see how stronger the NS pulls after 70! It makes the 5 litre guy think you've held something back!

It is easier and cheaper for the 5 litre guys to beef up their cars, so be aware of that. But the NS is far easier to drive, and therefore more consistent. Run the NS cold, I.E., not at operating temperature. Resist the temptation to shift out of low, the rev limiter will do it's job! Make sure you performed the WOT procedure the night before, the car just pulls harder the day or two after you do it for obvious reasons!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...