Should I be worried about Preludes?
 

Ok, so i was on my way home from the grocery store and i was at the light waiting for my arrow when this black prelude pulled up next to me blasting his music through a crappy radio with a sub. I hit the gas a little bit just to get away from him when he hits the gas and his car jumps infront of mine. Granted i started off behind him but it took me all the way to fourth to pass him. Should i be worried about Preludes? I have a 2003 gt 5 speed. He didnt have a turbo or supercharger, all i saw was an exaust. he may have had a few internal parts like an intake or something but he didnt have any forced induction, i would have been able to tell i think. Any thoughts appreciated. Thanks

Sorry man...
Don't know much about Preludes and very rarely street race.

Last time I lined up against a 'lude I was in the 450 HP Yellowjacket at a test and tune at Ennis last year.... poor kid never had a chance...
:p

you shouldnt be worried my friend has a prelude with every bolt-on and nitrous and only ran a 13.9 on slicks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Later
Matt

preludes are quick, but heavy too...

the can have a 2.0 vtec based engine, raise the compression ratio, i/h/e, cam, heads, tune, n20 and take down a GT any day of the week... but now... they have around 6k in mods.... 6 grand in engine mods can make anything fast... even a geo.

but in general, unless it has a turbo (and even then it depends) then they will stay a 15 second car.

Torinalth

If a stock prelude is a 15 sec car, Whats a run in a stock 99-03 Gt look like? *average run... not a pros :)*

Well, mi a complete newb and i ran a 16.2 my first run cause i missed 2nd, then ran a 15.4 taking my time shifting making sure i hit every gear. But i emphasize the fact that i am a newb, thoes times were the first time i ever went to the track and my car is completly stock. Ive heard theyre capeable of as low as 13.8

get a pro 5.0 or steeda tri-ax shifter, and hit the track again.

Either one will not only guarantee to speed up the shifts for you, but you won't have to worry about breaking the forks on the transmission either.

If you still have the slips, post the full times (60' etc) somewhere and we can give you some tips on launch, etc.

Preludes come with 200hp stock,but only like 150ish tq,but they're not too heawy,only around 3000 pounds.And no i wouldn't be scared of em.

Never be worried about anyone! Even if they eat your lunch, give it all you got! Never wimp out:D Best to do it on the track though!

i run low 14s on my stock GT... 14.3 and such... just takes practice... and on the streets, never lost to anything without a turbo (the 4 bangers that is)

Torinalth

I ran 14.04 when my convertible was stock, a coupe should be a little quicker from the factory since it is lighter.13.8 is not hard to believe at all. Get a shifter and some gears.If you are going to race from redlights, gears will help you more than anything. Those 3.27s have to go, put in some 4.10s and you will be amazed. Oh yeah, and I still get over 20mpg
on the highway.

GTvert, u have any ideas about what thats gonna do to my warranty? i.e. is it gonna void it or should it be no problem for me? Also, any idea on costs? thanks.

As far as the gears go, you can get them from several places.I got mine from Dugan Racing.I would deal with larger companies, I have had trouble with some of the smaller ones.The bigger companies don't take forever to send the parts.The gears were around $189 or so. I bought ford motorsport gears and had the ford dealership put them in.Depending on dealer, I would ask before I buy anything.It was about $200 for the install. When you get gears, you have to buy a module to fix your speedo.Steeda has them for like $150 or less.I bought a hypertech programmer and it does the same thing, but has more options and gives you a little hp.I actually felt a difference with it.The programmer is like $350.All together you will have about $750 in the setup if you go the programmer way.It is well worth the money, and a great way to open up the 4.6.

I would not worry about preludes they are not that quick in most cases and if you want more grunt out of your stang I would go with gears as well just like it was said above

tony






if your going to get gears go to www.gefracing.com the gears are 139 and the speedcal is around 99

Most are pretty slow. My buddy's '99 has a mild turbo on it and I still beat him. You have and instant advantage against any FWD car because they can't launch very hard. On slicks a typical 300hp FWD import still can't even usually hit 2.0 60-fts without LSD.
The generation before my friend's car (not sure of years on Hondas) was probably the quickest stock. I've seen those run decent 14s with only a couple bolt-ons.
Just beat 'em off the line and they don't have a chance.

hey, i was wondering about this too, so you talked to your dealership, let them install the gears and then they allowed you to put the hypertech on it w/o voiding the warranty? Ive heard all kinds of horror stories about people changin gears and gettin a tuner to fix the speedo and when they go in for warranty work, they void the warranty for the chip ie tuner! So your still covered under warranty? I hope so, cause this gives me hope!:D

if you a have a 5- speed all you need is a speed cal but if you a have a auto then you would need a chip,hypertech pp3,superchips tuner or a diablo predator

i've got a 5 speed, and i am seriously considering getting gears so thats why im asking about every little thing, im not trying to ber annoying or anything. What exactly is the speed cal? what does it do and where can i get it from?
thanks

Speedcal...

Here: http://www.dallasmustang.com/index.mvc?prod=9910

ok so around 300 minus labor for gears, what kind of a diffrence can i expect?

Trust me.The gears might not give you any horsepower,but your car will feel like it did.It's definitely worth it.I got 3.73 gears and i gotta say i'm VERy satisfied.This should definitely be one of the first mods in your mustang.

what number (ratio?) should i get, ive heard 4's, 3 somethings, etc. all kinds how do i know which is the best and which will be best for the track?

But for us automatic guys, I was under the impression that if you did the gears and, since its an auto, got a chip or tuner to correct the speedo, you could pretty much kiss your warranty goodbye. Is this incorrect? I have read that any change to the computer kicks up a red flag in the computer that cant be removed and will show up if you ever take it in for warranty work and would cause you to lose the warranty! Does anybody have a different story, or have an auto that theyve done this too and still being covered under warranty? Sorry for all the questions but i dont want to lose that warranty!

Will

I don't really care about warranties.Anyway.If it's an automatic most people will recommend 4.10s,if it's a manual most people will reccomend 3.73s.And that's for daily driven cars.

Yeah, I'm still under warranty.I keep the programmer in my car with me in case it breaks down away from my home dealership.In about 15 minutes, you can put all your stock settings back into the computer.Then they can put your car on a scanner and everything will show up normal.It resets your codes when you de-tune it.Just tell them you had your battery cables off when you were working on the stereo or whatever.That resets your computer too.My dealership didn't care, they knew I had the programmer, and I just made sure I put everything back to stock before I took it in for service.

Aftermarket gears generally aren't enough to void your warranty.

The greatest issue with warranty work is the dealership's policy on servicing lightly modified vehicles. Some will do the install for you, hence not warranty problems.

As for the topic, Preludes ---- no a worry. If highly modified, well that's a different story.

Stock vs Stock no sweat, victory in the blue corner.

heckno!