Respectable street car?

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318willrun said:
Older respectable mopar street car to me is:
  1. No overheating, period!
  2. at least 14 mpg, hopefully more
  3. 2500 or less rpm's at 55 mph
  4. You can talk in the car without yelling (in other words, tolerable exhaust)
  5. Runs off of normal pump gas
  6. performance is strictly "doing good with what ya got". PERIOD. A 16 second stock super six with 3.23's is more impressive than a 12 second aluminum head built 440 with 4.11's. Get the point?
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7 no hot black interior
8 starts and idles easily and doesn't load up
9 handles and stops nicely
10 very quick street light to street light
11 mid 14's
12 20 mpg Imperial gallon
 
I left it out on purpose,heehee
Drifting is the most funnest part of having the car to do it with, and the experience to pull it off. But I get flamed for it almost every time I mention it, so "Mums the word"
But I'm with you,Bob, let's get it on! You go first so I can watch your azz
 
ir3333 said:
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7 no hot black interior
8 starts and idles easily and doesn't load up
9 handles and stops nicely
10 very quick street light to street light
11 mid 14's
12 20 mpg Imperial gallon
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I get this; 223/230 cam,360 cubes,5 speed close-ratio,11/1 starter gears and second gear right there. Zero to 40/50/60 in the blink of an eye.This can go low 13s/hi 12s and hit mid 20s mpgUS,with the right tunes.And man that 223 makes amazing torque right off idle; kindof like Stingers MRL. That cam was so much city-car fun.
 
Working hard to continue to fine tune mine. So far meets most all of my goals. Start it and drive anywhere, runs on pump gas, 3.55 gears so about 2500 rpm at 60, gas mileage over 10 and under 15 (oh well) quiet at cruise, healthy sounding when you get on it, drive it to the race track, runs mid 11's at almost 120 mph in full street trim, drive it back home. It does have a back seat, but the wipers don't work, so I keep plenty of rainX on hand.
 
qkcuda said:
Working hard to continue to fine tune mine. So far meets most all of my goals. Start it and drive anywhere, runs on pump gas, 3.55 gears so about 2500 rpm at 60, gas mileage over 10 and under 15 (oh well) quiet at cruise, healthy sounding when you get on it, drive it to the race track, runs mid 11's at almost 120 mph in full street trim, drive it back home. It does have a back seat, but the wipers don't work, so I keep plenty of rainX on hand.
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Waitadoggoneminute!
mid 11s with 3.55s? And almost 120; probably at 5300ish? AND in street trim?
Wow, that's a sweet combo. I'm so jealous,lol.
 
qkcuda said:
Working hard to continue to fine tune mine. So far meets most all of my goals. Start it and drive anywhere, runs on pump gas, 3.55 gears so about 2500 rpm at 60, gas mileage over 10 and under 15 (oh well) quiet at cruise, healthy sounding when you get on it, drive it to the race track, runs mid 11's at almost 120 mph in full street trim, drive it back home. It does have a back seat, but the wipers don't work, so I keep plenty of rainX on hand.
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Working on getting there.
Chasing a few little leaks, but have oil, will travel.
Was getting 14mpg highway with an Edelbrock 800, haven't calculated so not sure with my Proform 750, but it feels like less.
28" Cooper Cobra tires and 3.23 gears, so 75mph is about 3100rpm.
Best run so far is 12.66 @ 102mph, but still tuning and learning, has run 107mph.
 
At least a low rot body. But I'm not so worried about pretty.

Performance wise, good stopping & good handling. So at least a stock suspension & brakes in proper order.

Oh! And yes, get in, go anywhere @ anytime, no worries!!!!

Engine wise, small block, a respectable car in the low 13's is what many around here consider the min. BUT no where close to any street contender status. Low, low 12's, mid 11's for respectably. If it is a Blvd. bruiser, then a car should be at least low 11's. A more serious machine will be low 10's & high 9's.

Big boy territory is another subject.

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This is a highly subjective subject. A lot depends on your area and your peers that you contend with.

How your car makes you feel when you drive it is all that really matters unless you need the finish line first. Then it is a bever ending battle with the wallet.
 
From what I've read here, and from what most people's opinions stated, better be low 13's, and handle like a 2017 pickup, stop like a 2010 Mustang. Really, are there any factory muscle cars from made from 1965 to 1975 would be considered a respectable street car?
  • 340 Duster - NOPE
  • 383 RR - NOPE
  • 440 GTX - Not Really
  • Hemi Cuda - Not Really
  • 273 Commando early A - GET IT OUTTA HERE

This is why it's near impossible to advertise an older car, because somebody will argue on the phone or be mad when they make the drive and it doesn't meet their "criteria".
 
KnuckleDuster said:
What is your definition?

To me, it is a get in, go anywhere car.
It gets over 10 mpg.
Less than 3500 rpm on the highway.
Tops out over 120 mph.
Scares your in-laws.
Does at least a teen quarter mile.
Looks awesome from 30 ft away.
Has a back seat! ;-)
Can drive in the rain.
Not a TOTAL cop magnet.
Won't suffrocate you.


Please add to this list, and share your examples.

This should be great fun!
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Really man? My mother-in-law's driving terrifies the **** outta me. I doubt even a 572 in a 64 Dart would frighten her.

:eek:
 
respectable street machine...11's that's Fast! I don't think there are very many street machines around here in the 11's...if any!
 
ir3333 said:
respectable street machine...11's that's Fast! I don't think there are very many street machines around here in the 11's...if any!
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I agree. I don't see many 11 second cars driven in. I see even less on the street driving around. At least where I lived and now live.

I had a customer who loved to tell everyone he had a crate engine mustang street car that went 9's.
I did go 9's. It wasn't a crate engine. It came out of the shop I worked at, and had my porting and intake mods. It never saw the street, unless you can't backing it out of the shop and driving around the building.
 
my street car story depending on age
16-22 biggest cam possible nothing else matches
22-26 purchase converter and gears to make huge cam work
26-30 upgrade engine with smaller cam
30-34 make everything work with gears you had when you were 16 (3.23's)
 
We (Long Island) lost our track.
So guess where they are now!
Yup! Roaming the streets, racing back alleyways.
 
I admit I never thought of mid 12's as that fast, but a lot of people seem pretty impressed when they hear I run them with 3.23's and street tires.
Of course I hear "You need more gear!" a lot, but I'm not gonna change them anytime soon. It is tempting sometimes, but this car LOVES the highway, and speed limits here are 70-85mph. I WILL get this car into the 11's, but it won't be with gears, it would defeat my purpose.

My plans for next are port the Edelbrock heads, thinner head gaskets (1008's right now) , maybe a bigger carb, drag radials and suspension mods( best 60 ft so far is a pitiful 1.94, I know, gears are a big part, but I still think I can make it better.)
Compression right now is 10.1:1, I might try to bump it to 11:1, I run 93 octane anyway.
Pretty happy with the Comp XE285HL, but that's not set in stone.
How much do you think I can gain with those changes, without sacrificing streetability?
 
IMO, having had a similar set up in a 4spd car, a lot is in the gear BUT to do without will be difficult and you'll need a converter. Custom built may be in order. Since I'm not huge on automatic transmissions, I had Pro Torque (down the block from me) handle my needs after discussing things.

My last Edelbrock headed 360 used a .028 gasket on lightly milled (trued) heads. 93 octane was good to go.

Cam(S) were the MP 292/.509 Hyd. & then a Comp 294S/.525 lift. I had a slightly smaller Hyd. Cam in it as well. The MP 1/4 mile banked oval @ a advertised 288/.499 lift at the valve on a 106.

But I did have 4.10's and 28 inch tires. Weigh that against your 3.23's and current tire diameter. Which could be interesting.

@AJformS could help with how things could work between the gear, tire and other needed items. He normally produces a long but well informative read.
 
Converter right now is a Turbo Action 'Tight 10'.

I think (but could be wrong) that I can make the soft hit of the 3.23's work for me in the traction department.
Tire height might play into it.

Head gaskets- i was thinking of Mr Gasket 1121's with a litlle milled off the heads.

Just spitballling right now, but I think it would be fun, and maybe satisfying to work around the gear ratio.
I could probably throw 3.91's or 4.10's in and get 11's quicker, but the whole premise is this is a STREET car, not a drag car!

Kinda why I posted this thread. I wanted to see where the compomise lands between E.T.'s and practicality in other people's views, and what they planned , or how they actually got there.
 
I don't know why more people don't use nitrous when building a streetable street strip car especially when they refuse to gear it properly. Since Cid, Boost and or Nitrous only way to build a lot of low rpm hp (getting more speed in 1/4 mile without adding rpm)
needing less gear or making your high ratio to work.
 
273 said:
I don't know why more people don't use nitrous when building a streetable street strip car especially when they refuse to gear it properly. Since Cid, Boost and or Nitrous only way to build a lot of low rpm hp (getting more speed in 1/4 mile without adding rpm)
needing less gear or making your high ratio to work.
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I just don't care for nitrous at all.
'Properly' gearing s subjective, race or street...like I said, compromise.
LOL, yes, I refuse on both counts.
I just want to have some fun making it work within my parameters.
 
Any Mopar that drives on the street. It doesn't have to be fast.
 
KnuckleDuster said:
I just don't care for nitrous at all.
'Properly' gearing s subjective, race or street...like I said, compromise.
LOL, yes, I refuse on both counts.
I just want to have some fun making it work within my parameters.
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4.30 gear and add a gear vendor box.
 
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