Has anyone read the new Hot Rod magazine this month. The boys give credit to the imports. They have realized the muscle car guys are getting old and the young crowd is ruling with their pocketbooks. I am somewhere in between.

The younger generation has grown up with imports because the American brand was so crappy you had to go import. This seems to have changed the minds at Hot Rod Mag.

A Subaru Sti adorns the front cover of HOT ROD! I can't believe it. The artical is STI vs Cobra. The Sti beats the new supercharged Cobra in every challenge. It out brakes, out corners, and is faster. Like that is a shocker. The mag said something like this "we are hard pressed to point out a winner....but don't count out this four door." The give the Sti creed in the summary. They could not say "the Sti beat the living daylights out of the Cobra" They would lose most of thier readers. They do say the Sti is faster and better handling for cheaper and it fits people more comfortable.

Times are changing.... and if Hot Rod wants to sell more Mags and survive, it must turn its head toward the import tuners. There are no muscle cars left but the Mustang for the average buyer, and it has almost price itself out of the market. The SRT will take the place of an american sports car for the average buyer.

 

It's sad... The mustage used to be the American Icon and it was teh ****. Now it is so common and crappy that most car enthusiats hate. I wish the American car manufacturers would open up their uncreactive mind and start making better cars than the Japo or the German.

 

Do a search for the '05 mustang...then drool.

 

Done.

Seems like they are still clinging to the past.

I like the rear end of the car, but thats about it. The front end is to old school for me and the interior looks retro, but horribly done.

http://www.stangnet.com/mustanggtcon...indexpage1.htm

 

i don't think american cars are all that bad...svt focus is nice, svt cobra is nice, a vett is not bad, viper is freakin hot...srt-4 is a engine in a ugly box...give american car some credit...the muscle still have its place in the drag

 

I used to have on 2001 Mustang GT . It was a phat ride after i tricked it out a little! I have to admit, I was challenged by many imports. And I whooped on many imports. I had to part with the Stang though. It was too, much to deal with in rainy conditions. And to top it off, it was too damn heavy. It was good to me the 2 1/2 years i drove it, so I can't talk down on the Mustang. But the V8 killer I drive now is the shhhiiiiizzzzlle! I love my Evo damn it! If you guys are interested, i can post of pic of it. We I traded it at , they took it with a smile and told me it was one clean ride.....

 

yeah I agree some american cars are nice. I like the cobra, vette, of course the viper. But those are high priced cars, muscle cars used to be geared (affordable to) a younger group. What has happened? I mean the stang is still there but the f-body is gone.

Is this what the '05 mustang is going to look like or is this just a concept? I hope it doesn't look like this. I am curious, does anyone under the age of 35 like this interior?

http://www.stangnet.com/mustanggtcon...magepage23.htm

 

Here in TX you can get 03 Mustang GT's with leather, CD, A/C, WITH a V-8 for $16K....you just gotta look in the paper..I see it every Sunday.......kinda sad but if I was getting a first car that looks real good....I love ALL cars though, I have soft spots for certain ones....

 

I like American cars. During the 80's they were horrible, but I think they are finally starting to turn around. Handling is getting a lot better as well. I know the good ones are the Vette, Viper and the SVT's, but I think the SRT-4 will show them that these are the kind of cars we are looking for. Now that they are selling a lot too helps a bit. You have to admit the SRT-4 isn't bad for one of the first factory turbocharged cars made in america. Lets see what else happens in the years to come.

I always had a thing for the old school muscle cars. It's great that you can take a car from the 60's - 70's which ways a ton (Literally) and race it to an import. If the muscle car doesn't win, it will at least keep up. You have to appreciate the fact that there was so much room to work on a car like that. Now handling, obviously the muscle car will loose. But lets just hope American cars see what we really want and build some nice cars for us.

 

American cars have come a long way in the past five years....

Cool american cars in 1998:
Mustang Cobra: 305 HP
Corvette: 350 HP
Viper: 450 HP
Z28 SS & WS6 Firebird: 305 HP

Cool american cars in 2003 & beyond:
Mustang Cobra: 395 HP (yeah right)
2005 Mustang: new platform, same powerplant
Viper: 500 HP (ABS & real top)
Corvette Z06: 405 HP (yeah right)
C6 Vette: 400 HP standard, 500+ HP Z06?
Cadillac CTS V-Spec: 400 HP (hottest American sedan ever)
Ford GT: 500 HP (return of a legend)
Pontiac GTO: 350 HP (yeah it looks like a Grand Prix, but it goes like a Vette - I can live with that)
Dodge Hemi engine: Dodge is joining Ford & GM in putting advanced & powerful V8s in everything!
Crossfire: 215 HP (stablemate of the MB SLK & C-series which means the bad *** supercharged 3.2L V6 will drop right in)

 

the only mustang i would get is a 2003 rouch stage 3. that is the only one that is worthy of me owning. the others just suck way to much. too damn many of them. if there werent so many of them on the road then i think that they would be more respected.

 

During the 80s, most cars were horrible, got to thank emissions regulations for that. The SRT-4 is one of the first factory turbocharged compact cars made in America by an American based car company. There were quite a few turbocharged cars put out by the Big 3 (The Buick GN/Regal T-Type made in the 80s is especially famous for having a bulletproof engine and more tuning capabilities than you can shake a stick at) along with the DSMs and other "imports" made by foreign car companies in the US during the 80s and 90s. When you're talking about handling, don't forget the 1-LE F-bodies, those were definitely no slouches in the handling department despite their rather hefty weights and solid rear axle suspensions. Too bad they're gone now

 

-DP-

 

HMMMM! No mention of a certain 8 second DSM in the same issue.

 

Actually, the SRT-4 definitely isn't the first FACTORY Turbocharged Compact made by an american manufacturer... I don't recall which the first was, but there was the Dodge Omni GLHS, Buick Skyhawk T-Type.. Both of these cars were produced in the mid 80's.. Although not the prettiest or fastest, they were respectable performers in a day when the Z28 had 160 horsepower and the Corvette barely made 200..

If I had some time to ponder, I could probably name several other cars produced earlier.. I think I even recall there was a turbocharged Chevy Monza (4 cyl)..

The Dodge Turbo II motor set the stage for alot of interesting turbo vehicles in the 80's.. None of which were all that good looking, but there was a turbo daytona, turbo sundance, turbo lebaron, turbo Caravan (not a compact)

Cheers..