Tommyh Posted July 16, 2005 Share Posted July 16, 2005 When I was in high school (mid 90's), and I'm sure many of you can agree with this. The metric by which all other fast cars where compared to was the Mustang LX 5.0 with a manual transmission; faster than the GT or automatic by way of weight savings. Yes there were faster cars than the Mustang, but they were few and far between and always outside of the price range for a kid from suburban/rural PA. As a fledgling car guy at that point I had wanted a car that was faster in a straight line then "The Metric". Years ago I had given up the idea of besting The Metric when I bought my Saturn and started autocrossing. Today, as a pulled up at a stoplight on my way to the grocery store The Metric pulled up next to me. There I am, 2005 Subaru Legacy 2.5GT station wagon in "Atlantic Blue" with some of windows open and "The Prairie Home Companion" from NPR on the radio. The Metric is a beautiful, bright red '93 Mustang LX 5.0; it's obviously been well taken care of by the trucker hat wearing, 20-something, redneck-ish driver. The light turns green, I slowly accelerate away to see what this guy wants to do, he drops the clutch and hammers the gas. I must face the test of The Metric. Foot smoothly, quickly flattening to the floor I'm done with 1st. The Metric who had taken the jump on my at the light has fallen to behind my drivers door; the sound of the knarly V8 drowning out Garrison Kealor. I drop into 2nd, and drop the hammer, quickly putting a car length on The Metric. Because I'm not a drag racer an not used to it I bounce off the rev-limiter before shifting to 3rd. Rapidly approaching civilization on this back road I let off the gas and give a friendly wave to the driver as he continues to flog on one of Detroit’s classic V8's. As I sat in the parking lot realized that I had killed The Metric. Martin Luther - "Who loves not women, wine and song remains a fool his whole life long." EL4NFZT7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PGT Posted July 16, 2005 Share Posted July 16, 2005 the old 5.0 LX was indeed the car to have back in the day. It wasn't powerful by today's standards.....205HP stock (they were rated 225 but the spec was downgraded since they didn't come close to that in production). It didn't take much to make them REALLY fast though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommyh Posted July 16, 2005 Author Share Posted July 16, 2005 Oh, and my AP hasn't arrived yet, so the car is still stock. Martin Luther - "Who loves not women, wine and song remains a fool his whole life long." EL4NFZT7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
axis008 Posted July 16, 2005 Share Posted July 16, 2005 And here I thought you were going to complain about how the metric system isn't used here. Good beat though! Must have felt great. -ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KTM 525 Posted July 17, 2005 Share Posted July 17, 2005 To this day still my favorite of the Mustangs-notchback LX 5.0. Remove cats add flowmasters and your ride sounds deadly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mccorry Posted July 17, 2005 Share Posted July 17, 2005 Great story. You should be a writer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitestar Pilot Posted July 17, 2005 Share Posted July 17, 2005 It was a good story, but I wish you had stayed on it a little longer. Looking back to that era, it is interesting how much faster cars have become. Back then a Taurus SHO wouldn't touch the 5.0 LX, but it was a respected performance sedan. In fact, the only two affordable sports sedans of that era, if I recall, were the SHO and the Nissan Maxima, neither of which ran below a 15-second 1/4 mile stock. It would be great fun to time travel back to the late 80's with a Legacy GT! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mccorry Posted July 17, 2005 Share Posted July 17, 2005 Heh... that would be awesome. I've always said that I'd love to go back to the early 70's with my '69 Camaro. I would run with the pro stock cars back then! LOL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TSiWRX Posted July 20, 2005 Share Posted July 20, 2005 I'm sorry to have been so late to this great tale - work's killing me lately! Thank you so very much for sharing, and also for bringing back many fond memories of days past. I, too, am of your generation, and look back fondly on "The Metric." Had paying for insurance not been an issue back my pimply-faced days, I would certainly have chosen this classic Pony over my N/A-DSM. Great story. -A <-- I love Winky, my "periwinkle" (ABP) LGT! - Allen / Usual Suspect "DumboRAT" / One of the Three Stooges '16 Outback, '16 WRX, 7th Subaru Family Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deimos Posted July 20, 2005 Share Posted July 20, 2005 the old 5.0 LX was indeed the car to have back in the day. It wasn't powerful by today's standards.....205HP stock (they were rated 225 but the spec was downgraded since they didn't come close to that in production). It didn't take much to make them REALLY fast though. Wasnt the 5.0 really torquey tho like, 260-280 ft lbs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SBT Posted July 20, 2005 Share Posted July 20, 2005 Evokes a lot of very fond memories. Nicely framed and captured writeup. I hate banging off that rev limiter, it sounds dorkish, and makes you feel amateurish. But the LGT stays with you and still delivers. I wish that I had another 2-300 rpm above that because that is where my ear and my butt tells me the sweet spot is for the revved shift. I understand the AP does raise the limiter so that is one option. SBT - Pro amore Dei et patriam et populum - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fancub Posted July 20, 2005 Share Posted July 20, 2005 Unfortunately, I am old enough to remember with awe the LX 5.0's of the late eighties. They were the standard, or 'metric', for the MBA's out there. Nice description of the encounter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fzanetti Posted July 20, 2005 Share Posted July 20, 2005 They were the standard, or 'metric', for the MBA's out there. Nice description of the encounter. This is funny, so today we could make an analogy with BMW M3's maybe??? :-) Flavio Zanetti Boston, MA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mblock66 Posted July 20, 2005 Share Posted July 20, 2005 Hmm I was in HS the same time and maybe b/c I am in NJ as apposed to CT but "The Metric" was the LT1 Z28s. They were a dime a dozon. Since 1993 they were really really popular among the 17-22 year old crowd at the beach here. They are very fast though. I don't think the LGT stock can take one much past 40 MPH. I think the 93 Z28 (first year of the new model) was like 5.3 14.0 stock! Other then that I would agree it was the 5.0 right behind it. I personally used to LOVE the Buick grand nationals but that car is in a league of its own! hahahha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TSiWRX Posted July 20, 2005 Share Posted July 20, 2005 Unfortunately, I am old enough to remember with awe the LX 5.0's of the late eighties. They were the standard, or 'metric', for the MBA's out there. Holy %^&$! I was in, like, fifth-grade back then. How do I remember? Love for cars, in-part, had a lot to do with how fast I learned English as an immigrant. I remember reading about those LXs in the car rags. -A <-- I love Winky, my "periwinkle" (ABP) LGT! - Allen / Usual Suspect "DumboRAT" / One of the Three Stooges '16 Outback, '16 WRX, 7th Subaru Family Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fzanetti Posted July 20, 2005 Share Posted July 20, 2005 I was also in 8th grade back then and I really loved to search, talk and read magazines about the monster (back in the days) 5.0 LX Mustang... heheheeh Flavio Zanetti Boston, MA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S4 Posted July 20, 2005 Share Posted July 20, 2005 Queue "Ice Ice Baby". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodan Posted July 20, 2005 Share Posted July 20, 2005 I never took my '89 LX to the track when it was stock, but it would have been a very close race with the LGT. Definitely would come down to the driver... 'Course the Legacy probably won't ever see the 11's that the LX eventually ran (in '92). For the money, you couldn't touch 5.0's back then. I remember smoking a first gen Viper, 512 Ferrari, Porsches, all kinds of fun times... even a Subaru SVX with manufacturer's plates before they went on sale. I don't know why he wanted to take me on, but he did, and lost badly. Ahh...memories! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommyh Posted July 21, 2005 Author Share Posted July 21, 2005 What's your opinion as to what is the "New Metric"? Someone has already mentioned the BMW M3. Could the new '05 Mustang GT be the New Metric, the STi, the E55 AMG or something else that hasn't been mentioned? Every standard needs to be updated once in a while. Martin Luther - "Who loves not women, wine and song remains a fool his whole life long." EL4NFZT7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eles1 Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 When I was in high school (mid 90's), and I'm sure many of you can agree with this. The metric by which all other fast cars where compared to was the Mustang LX 5.0 with a manual transmission; faster than the GT or automatic by way of weight savings. The 5.0 may have been the "metric" of the late 80's (when I was in high school ) but by the mid 90's, the LT1 had changed all of that... What's your opinion as to what is the "New Metric"? Someone has already mentioned the BMW M3. Could the new '05 Mustang GT be the New Metric, the STi, the E55 AMG or something else that hasn't been mentioned? That's gotta be the LS1 f-body and/or vette. Still many around in good shape, but now very affordable to buy. They're faster than 98% of cars on the road when stock, faster than 99.9% when lightly modded. Without the LS1, there would have been no supercharged '03 Cobra, IMO (another potential metric).. If you can beat even a stock LS1, you've got a fast street machine. However, I may be a bit biased STi and Evo are also good contenders... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fzanetti Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 Probably now we could be talking about the AUDI RS6 or even RS4 for the MBA graduates car!!! Forgot about those, as well as the M3 and M5... :-) Flavio Zanetti Boston, MA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommyh Posted July 21, 2005 Author Share Posted July 21, 2005 What about the Dodge SRT-8 Charger? It's got a 425hp Hemi V8, is relatively affordable and potentially "common". Martin Luther - "Who loves not women, wine and song remains a fool his whole life long." EL4NFZT7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eles1 Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 Probably now we could be talking about the AUDI RS6 or even RS4 for the MBA graduates car!!! Forgot about those, as well as the M3 and M5... :-) Flavio Zanetti Boston, MA Those are all nice cars to be sure, but IMO, too far out of reach for the average consumer and too rare to be considered the official measure of a fast street machine. If money is no object, the obvious choices would be cars like the new Z06, Viper, Ford GT, turbo 911, etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eles1 Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 What about the Dodge SRT-8 Charger? It's got a 425hp Hemi V8, is relatively affordable and potentially "common". They look good on paper, but they still have to prove themselves at the track!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommyh Posted July 21, 2005 Author Share Posted July 21, 2005 Those are all nice cars to be sure, but IMO, too far out of reach for the average consumer and too rare to be considered the official measure of a fast street machine. If money is no object, the obvious choices would be cars like the new Z06, Viper, Ford GT, turbo 911, etc... Good point the New Metric should be "affordable", not cheap, but affordable for a creative and dedicated performance addict. Martin Luther - "Who loves not women, wine and song remains a fool his whole life long." EL4NFZT7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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