A ride in the ricer

[rwhite65]

Well, very few guys here are going to appreciate this story, but I hope it will be a learning experience.

Long story short, a rich kid in the town I work for knows I am into fast cars. He bought this integra that is pretty plain jane, dirty, no wax....kinda dull paint. Showed me the thing along with a dyno sheet for what he said was 450 hp. I had him pop the hood, and there sat the little four banger, with a single turbo. No nitrous lines, no chrome, kinda a dirty engine.

A couple days later, asks me if I wanna ride in this little car, so I said what the hell. He admitted the thing would get no traction on the stock tires, so he takes me to the interstate for a 50 mph and up launch. He cracks this thing and all the sudden I thought I was riding in my buddies 408....with a shot of nitrous. This thing pulled, and hard. This car (granted pizza cutters) was spinning the tires and all over the two lanes of the interstate at 80 mph. He then lets off and pushes a button that he claims makes the turbo push over 25 PSI. The car pulls just as hard if not a little harder.

A few days later he comes back from the track with some time slips on slicks. Ran mid 11's, 125'ish speed, with 1.8 60 fts and 90 plus humidity at western Indiana's elevation.

The point, I still dont want a ricer, but I sure as heck will give him props for a screamin little car. Granted the engine was professionally built in Florida, for HUGE price tag though. The sound of that turbo blowing off pressure when he would let out of the throttle was awesome. The bright side of this story is that on the street, a quick consistent car has a good chance of beating him.

Ryan

[blue00gt]

There are definitely some fast imports out there. I'd like to see how long his engine lasts running that much boost though. My buddy had an Eclipse that was making 430hp at the crank, but he also blew up 3 engines (all forged and professionally built), 2 trannies, and 5 clutches in a couple of years. That much power in a front wheel drive car is scary.

[KiltedBanshees93GT]

Props where its due Fast is fast, LOL. Even if you have to spend twice as much to get it

Nice to hear he didnt rice it, but I'm always a fan of the sleepers.

[scootro]

some ricer kids are cool and have cool cars.......but i'm a ford guy..............granted some those ricer guys hav fast cars.......given they hav good taste in mods.....not just wings and stickers......

[eddielugnutz]

There is a big group of guys running old Supras with big turbos and stock looking cars in my area of Long Island New York, if you see one of them they look like old rusty stock piles of crap, mid to late 80's,A girl I work with has a boyfriend with a 87, he says it runs 12's, and I believe it even though it's ugly as sin, but the sound of the blowoff valve on this thing was sick. They weren't riced, and that's what I respect the most, I'm sick of seing baby blue 95 dodge neon automatics with "Fear This" on the windshield and spinning hubcaps.

[racerboy88]

keep in mind that it costs them a lot more to soup up their cars.

[I8URVTEC]

When it is all said an done you can make anything fast with the right amount of money. Hell I have seen lawnmowers with V8s. However, I just don't think you can get a better bang for your buck than a Mustang. Whether you are buying a 5.0 for a few thousand bucks and supercharging it to make a 400+hp car for around $10k or buying a brand new GT for $25k or so and starting with 300hp its a good deal.

[bmxmon]

how about a 98-02 LS1 F-body........

[I8URVTEC]

True with the LS1 F-bodies you start with more displacement and the LS1 is a good engine but you won't find a used LS1 for a cheap as you would an late 80s to early 90s fox.

[bmxmon]

A 99 Mustang gt 5spd with 75k miles on KBB is $7305. (private) A 99 z28 camaro 6spd with 75k miles on KBB is $7550. (private) Thats a difference of only $245. For that you get an extra gear and 1.1 liters. Of course comparing a fox to a ls1 camaro would bring a different result. But comparing similar years, I would definately go with the camaro. Or a civic, of course, lol. (just kidding!!!!)

[69fastback]

Dude one thing you have to remember is that if you blow enough air up a truttle's A$$ you can also run 200MPH in a 1/4. In other words anyone can do it with 30PSI. Just rember no 2.0 could ever run what a 514 can N/A. Cubic inches=Horspower

[Rev]

I think what we are missing here is the cylinder pressure (in psi) that an engine developes. Now we can do that normally aspirated or with boost of some description. That cylinder pressure is applied to pistons of some area and at some stroke.

What that means is we can develope high hp with higher cylinder pressure or with bigger pistons/stroke at lower pressures. We can also have both. Higher cylinder pressures and bigger pistons at higher rpms making even more power.

What this all means is that a bigger engine with the same cylinder pressures will always beat the smaller engine at the same rpm. The only rub here is that we have to keep the engine together at the rpms where we make the power and we have to withstand those cylinder pressures.

I know this is sort of a rambling conjecture, but I hope it makes some sense. What we at MW usually want is high everything, and that makes ass kicking power against anything else, especially the smaller CID imports.

Rev

[nitrousboy]

i do not know about you guys but nothing will ever come close to my mustang. the car is just cool in every way.

My buddy had an Eclipse that was making 430hp at the crank, but he also blew up 3 engines
the eclips is a DSM to start with if any has ever tryed to work on one they would understand that they SUCK. as long as they are not making boost there ok but other then that they SUCK. the crank can only hold 400hp he proble blew so many motors beacuse he was pushing the crank to its limits and then some

i have smashed on so many ricers at school that i don't i do not remember half of them and from what i was told some were bult. one for sure had a bottle and it was full and hookeed up .

so as you can tell i fuel my car regularlyat the local ricer meeting area {chineas resturant}

[KiltedBanshees93GT]

OK, this one'll probibly get things stirred up, but what the heck....
Revs post got me thinking, and it occured to me that the whole "tuner/domestic" debate (at least as far as pure acceleration, and "ricers" arent even factored into this,LOL) comes down to a matter of practicality vs. idealism.
The domestic big-block kind of guy thinks in terms of displacement, torque, simplicity, reliability. Lots of history to fall back on.
IMHO the real "tuners" have decided to "make more out of less" , which complicates matters, but the goal can be reached. And you have to give props to 4 cyls making big hp, but it is a lot more complicated, and a lot of those motors weren't designed for that. Some may make huge numbers and be great daily drivers, but most aren't. For the guys that are able to make it happen, much respect.
Either way, we're all shooting for the same thing, i.e. fast cars (as opposed to the ricers "car that looks fast" )

Just my .02
J

[347strokerstang]

IF you want to get down to the math of it, per cubic inch...ricers are just efficient. meaning HP/Cubic inchs...but what pisses me off is all the kids think a cold air intake and 4inch buzz bomb muffler is making 50hp. 90% of the kids in my school dont understand the concepts and think that a chip on ebay for 25$ says itll give them 40+ hp...without changing the fuel economy or making it run bad...when really its just a diode that cost less than a quarter thats telling the ECM the intake air is like 32 degrees...making the car run rich...killing gas millage, causing you to more than likly fail emissons test and only giving you 10-12 hp. And they all seem to put on a cold air intake first...they pay 250$ + for and think its worth 30hp...but in my opinion...if its inside the engine compartment....then its 1. pulling air thats been heated from the engine and 2. its made of metal and sits 3inchs or so from the engine so...its heated up it self and 3. you can buy a cheap one...cause really all your paying for is some cheap allum. or steel tube...slap a K & N filter on it and spend 40 bucks you got the same thing as those 250$ + models. The kids around here are just stupid and focus on bolt ons and stickers and appearence....I dont give a damn what my car looks like as long as itll shit n get im good to go. Ive faught with so many ricers around here explaing the fact of why a v8 isnt stupid to have. The main point they argue is that they can get just as much power from their four bangers as I can my AMERICAN V8 and still have better gas economy. YES. they can...but...but by the time they spend the money on the parts to get up to an average stock hp of lets say 300 for most V8s be it Ford or Chevy or Mopar or w.e that extra money they spent, makes up for my loss in gas economy. am i right? and another thing...most of the imports use DOHC and think its so great, ....for the ones that do understand the concept, but lets think about this, you can pick up a good cam for a V8 pushrod motor for around 2-250$ how many cams, have you seen for any DOHC (meaning you must buy two) for that same 2-250$ ? Personally, I havnt seen where you can buy ONE cam, for a DOHC motor for that price range. Now, I may be carrying on a bunch of shit but I believe it all and its all fact moreso than opinion, no matter how you look at it, there is no replacement for displace ment. 5.0L N/a Vs. 2.0L N/a the 5.0 has it, and if the 5.0 has 10lbs of boost and the 2.0L has 10lbs of boost the 5.0 still, has it. I guess Im done but Ill never drive nothing but pure American Musle. Tony

[goodyear1984]

thoes ls1 are fast i posted a message about my buddys shop 98 and up ls1 can push 400hp with a cam and a dyno tune ..well and some little bolt ons..to get a ls1 camaro in the same mint shape it will cost more unless u find a really good deal ..as far as the ricers i hate the fart mufflers and the cold air intakes and the bookshelf wings stickers.i dont think its cool to spinn ur front tires ...i would rather have a 5.0 mustang and slide around corners than a 600 hp honda civic...u can make alot of hp in a 4 banger dont get me wrong but why.my good friend has a evo thats faster than my stang well it was atleast but im not goin to go out and buy a import.. idk i just dont see what people see in a 1989 honda civic hatchback..and on top of that ur buying a car from a diff country we live in america y not buy american..people like that are killing the american economy.pretty soon all the car makers will be jap owned

[Unit 5302]

Chronologically my cars:

1977 Ford Mustang II Fastback 302 V8 - Auto
1988 Ford Mustang LX Hatchback 2.3L I4 - Auto
1988 Ford Mustang LX Hatchback 2.3L I4 - Auto
1988 Ford Mustang GT Hatchback 5.0L V8 - Manual
1991 Dodge Shadow Hatchback 2.5L I4 - Auto
1985 Ford Thunderbird Turbo Coupe 2.3L I4 - Manual
1991 Ford Escort GT Hatchback - 1.8L I4 - Manual
1987 Ford Mustang GT Hatchback 5.0L V8 - Manual
2001 Ford Mustang GT Coupe 4.6L V8 - Manual
2002 Ford Mustang GT Coupe 4.6L V8 - Manual
1996 Ford Explorer Sport 4.0L V6 - Auto
2002 Nissan Pathfinder LE 3.5L V6 - Auto

The best fuel economy I got from any of those vehicles was the 1987 Mustang GT. On average 19/28. The worst fuel economy I got from any of those vehicles was the 1977 Mustang. On average 16/??. I think it might have been able to pull a 20mpg freeway run out, but I never used it for that. The next worst fuel economy vehicle I have is the Nissan Pathfinder. It gets about 16/19. I ran it hard on the freeway back from Dallas, TX to Minneapolis, MN. I'll get another chance to test it out from Minneapolis to my new home in Denver, CO soon enough. The little Escort GT with it's DOHC 16v I-4 and variable intake runners with all that jazz got about 20/23. So what's my point? The point is that high powered little engines generally spin at much higher rpms on the freeway so their fuel advantages drop through the floor at 70mph. The bottom line is that if you're interested in fuel economy with performance, you should be riding a motorcycle, like one of the two bikes I have now.

Buying American is not buying American anymore. It hasn't been for years. Domestic auto manufacturers don't assemble a bin full of American made parts anymore. There is little, if any, difference between the component points of origin and assembly of domestic and foreign autos these days.

As for the ricerphobia I've come to expect and witness on sites dedicated to domestic automobiles, I think a lot of people need a reality check. Big scoops, big wings, and fancy air cleaners were invented by domestic auto manufacturers. Remember the Superbird or the Grand Torinos? Even the old Mach 1's came with pretty good sized rear wings. Big air cleaners that screamed "Ram Air" or "427" with racing flags, etc. Mach 1 hood scoops. How about those scoops, spoilers, and big snake on the hood of the late 70's Mustang II King Cobras? Maybe those giant 1950's vintage tailfins added power? I know, it was the jacked up leaf spring rear ends that were popular in the 70s that added power. Domestic manufacturers and domestic owners started it all. "Ricers" are just carrying on the tradition of modifying their cars. I can respect a car that runs 11's but sits in primer with a little rust and dome dents. That doesn't mean I'm all that impressed by it. What impresses me is somebody that has invested time and effort into making their car what they wanted it to be. I don't have any respect for people that don't recognize effort and time spent on customizing or improving performance on cars because the subject car is made by a foreign auto manufacturer or doesn't involve making the car faster. There are modifications that I think look like crap or are done cheaply. Reflective stickers all over the place instead of paint, chrome curb feelers, suspensions dropped down without having the caster camber adjusted, peeling paint on dashboards, and tires rubbing on the inner fender. Bascially cheap ass hack jobs.

[Stang_Gang]

i agree with most everything everyone said. you can make alot of power on a little motor, but torque is what wins races and the little imports just dont put the torque a big displacement motor will. but i do understand the pide they get by saying "how does it feel to get your 5.0 beat by a honda?" then i turn around and say "you could have beat me by more if you didnt add all that weight from your gooffy looking body kit and big ass wing and by the way how does it feel to bearly beat a mustang with 4500 in it aginst your 10000 gand under the hood, oh but did i mention that 4500 includes the 3500 i paid for the car." lol they change there adittude pretty quick after that. its all a money game the more you have the faster you go. my friend has 25 grand in the motor and trans in his jacked up 4x4 dodge diesel, its twin turbo, fully built with nos on it. yea that money could build one badass v8 racecar, but to have a 8inch lifted extended cab truck with 39" tires run a 7.10 in the 1/8 mile and beat a new z06 vett. the look on peoples faces is pricless, so i understand the pride in making the imports fast, just loose the attitude that imports are better then anthing else on the road and there wont be as many problems. but ill stick to my v8. ill put my twin turbo 347 stroker with viper 6 sp up aginst the big boost hondas and show them what 30 pounds of boost on v8 will do. i just got to finsh building the car lol.

[USMC302]

I can't agree more, seems like if you willing to drop $4k or more for a good turbo setup, why not buy it for the V8?