so how good is a stock mustang?
 

im just wondering how good a 97 stang would be straight out the box..no mods...ne ideas? like on a scale of 1-10..

v6? v8? previous history?
theres quite a few factors....

Well.... being that it's a 97, I wouldn't rate it more than a 6 or 7. Those first few year 4.6's were pretty slow. Not saying you can't fix that(with a PI swap). the looks aren't a problem, and the interior hasn't changed(besides maybe the color, and us newer guys don't have that little clock hump) so to me the only thing wrong is the snail under the hood.

on a scale of 1-10?

what do you mean?

Performance wise, I would rate the V8 a 6. It's a good place to start from, but bone stock for bone stock, with equal driving skills, A 99 up or even a 98NPI will be faster. (the 98's had a slightly different tune and exhaust)

Like at said...its a good place to start from, especially because prices have came down on SN-95's.

Looks wise, I would give it an 8, but thats more of a matter of opinion. I like the SN-95 look better than the 99-ups. That's all in what you like. The interiors are pretty much identical, save for some cupholder and radio redesigns.

I gave $5900 for my 98 2 years ago. I have put quite a bit of money into it to get it where it is today. The real advantage to buying 97 would be initial price. When comparing performance to cost.....you might be better off going with a 99 5-speed. I have seen 99's for around $10k. The 97 is a quality car just lacking in the power dept. If its an automatic, then go with the 99 5-speed. In the end you will be faster for less money going with the newer car. For a 97 auto to be competitive with a 5-speed 99 your looking at a minimum of:
Headswap-$1200
Gears------$300
Converter--$750
Exhaust---$1000
Cams------$600
------------------------
Total of $3850....this is doing ALL the work yourself. You would be able to beat 99-04's fairly easily. But slightly modded ones may be a problem. I really like my car, but if I had to do it all over again, I would have bought a 99-5 speed. I would be going much faster for a lot less dough.


Adam

well i like the looks...performance i would agree with everyone else, they are pooches stock... i was lucky enough to find a cobra though and put a few mods on it and it runs great! my 95 z28 would eat those cars all day(gt's) but my cobra would smoke my Z ;)

ooup
 

I know some boys that would love to sink there ttteh in you