Office Wars

Mustang vs. Pontiac G8- Part II

Earlier this year, one of the Super Chevy staffers picked up a Pontiac G8 as a daily beater. I will admit it, I really dig the car with its LS-style engine, comfy interior, and pretty good looks. The first payment check hadn't even cleared before this individual, who will remain nameless, started trash talking Mustangs. It seems his buddies were running real quick with their G8s and so he actually called out Editor Smitty for a track duel. Smitty's wife drives a 2007 Mustang GT Auto car. So Smitty had JDM mail him a tune, in preparation for battle. It was nothing too crazy since his wife does the car more than he does. The nameless trash talker had a tune thrown into his G8 and it was off to the track. Long story short, the G8 took out the Stang in a best of 3 match race. Both were running mid-to-low 13s, with the G8 running slightly quicker with its massive LS engine.

Apparently the extra weight of the car (some 400 pound difference) didn't alter the outcome. The G8 was far too powerful to let the weight become a factor. Somewhere along the way, this G8 owner grew confident. I mean, after all, he beat Smitty's wife's car (insert sarcasim). That same day, for the record, my S197 ran quicker and faster than his G8 with just a tune up. That was with me driving and even quicker with Justin Burcham behind the wheel. I ran 13.12 while Burcham dropped to a 13.10 in my stock '07. It had a custom tune, then we added a Ford Racing cold air kit and he ran 12.98 while I cruised to a 13.07. He is lighter and had a better 60-foot time. The G8 knocked off a best of 13.17.

So, said G8 owner is now getting his pride pumped up with a ProCharger blower. Let the office rivalry start up again. His new found beer muscles has him calling me out! He was in my office bragging about how his car will make 480-505 rear wheel horsepower once the blower and new exhaust system are on the car. He was picking on me because he knows I have a Ford Racing/Whipple H.O. kit sitting in the storage room waiting to be bolted on.

 Those who haven't been to the Source Interlink Media New Jersey office, trash talking between the three magazines is a daily occurrence. It is all in good fun, though. What else would expect when you have Mustang guys, old-school Chevy dudes, LS F-body folks, Grand National creamers, and one Evo enthusiast (damn art directors have to be different all the time!)? Myself and the G8 guy traded fun barbs back and forth, but I got the last word in. I eloquently reminded him that he should have thought be he started tossing junk around the office.

Let the bench racing begin, according to several tech stories and proven results, the Whipple blower with some mild exhaust upgrades will net me around 450 or rear wheel horsepower. On track, similarly prepped Mustangs with drag radials out back have gone 11.40s-11.50s in the heat. We are talking in daily driven trim with fat front wheels, sedate rear gears, and stock torque converter in place. That is a proven fact, time and time again. Just checkout Project MILF in the tech section of this website, it is a near identical combo to what I will have shortly.

For the G8 to run with that, despite making 500 or so rear wheel horsepower with just the blower, he will need to add nitrous, meth injection, camshaft upgrade, or something else to get more power. The G8 is 400 pounds heavier than my '07 Stang and it certainly won't be hooking nearly as hard. The trash-talker didn't think about the challenge before he opened his mouth. The IRS rear suspension is a huge handicap for the car. If it holds, which I doubt it would with drag radials, then odds are the tires will spin out of the gate or the car will squat and have slow sixty-foot times. Would another 50-60 horsepower make up for what is sure to be a few tenths at the sixty-foot clocks and 400 pounds? I doubt it highly. The car will need a loose torque converter, somehow figure out the rear suspension combo and hope the axles don't snap, then add so much more power to the engine and hope he does toss the rods out of the side of the block.

The G8 guy has a big battle ahead of him, if he still wants to race that is.