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Originally Posted by Mike 94PGT
In the big picture though, there's a law of diminishing returns, especially when physical realities are considered.
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Precisely that is what makes the 1g MX6 so attractive, the return on investment is wonderful. You can but a 1g mx6, for under USD$1k now, and aside from regular maint issues, have it running high 13's for well under an additional USD$1k of investment(maintence aside). Sure, it will never be as fast as some other things, but the return for the investment is phenomenal.
You can't do that with a mustang - buy one for <$1k, and for less than $1k in mods have it running those speeds.. at least not easily.
Honestly, the biggest cost of the GD platform at this point is maintenance, and keeping stuff from breaking. Buying the cars is cheap, increasing performance to a reliable maximum (e.g. exhaust, ecu, t-bird hybrid, boost controller, boost gauge) is *CHEAP* compared with maintenance costs. Unlike say, a Mustang.. where the upgrades are far more expensive then the maint costs. But the cost benefit is still in favor of the mx6. That's the point.
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So okay, let me rephrase things a little: There will always be someone faster and there will always be someone starting with a better platform for a given task.
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That statement is absolutely correct, but totally useless.
The point is, the guy had a cheap old mx6 gt, and it was *relatively fast*.
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For a year-round commuter I'd rather start with a small, FWD car, preferably with a small, responsive turbo; I'd tighten the suspension a bit and up the power but not at the expense of lag, balance or economy.
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Precisely why the 1g mx6/626/GD platform crowd is still around.
Plenty of power (when stuff isn't breaking on these 20 year old cars, damn it, I just broke an exhaust manifold stud - immediately after fixing a leaky tb boot... but with that leak I still got nearly 33 mpg on a quick 200 mile round trip to the beach this weekend- granted the leak kept my boost down, which probably helped on the fuel economy going over mountains and such.. )
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Sorry, but putting $6K worth of power mods into a later model Mustang, while not something I would personally do right now, still makes way more sense to me than doing the same thing to a front-wheel drive car built when Dubya's dad was in the Oval Office.
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Depends on what your goals are. Most of the 1g people are totally happy with high 13s/low 14s, and that is an optimal spot for the 1g mx6.
A $500 modded mx6 will beat a $500 modded mustang 4.6. Sure a $6k modded mx6 probably won't beat a $6k modded mustang, but that isn't the point. No one would put $6k of mods into a mx6.. That is totally ridiculous, the point is you get more from $1k of mods in an mx6, than you can just about anywhere else. Sure it isn't the end all be all, but for a little bit of cash, you go a very long way. That's the point. The law of diminishing returns - you don't have to put much into the mx6, to get a lot out. Put in much more, and you get nothing. You have to put less into the mx6 than you do the mustang, that's the point. Sure you can get more out of the mustang, no one is arguing that.
BUT THAT ISN'T THE POINT.
The which you seem to get and simultaneously ignore, is that for $500 on top of purchase price, the mx6 gt is an excellent return on investment. It is a quick 4cyl which will shut up most v8 fan-boi-s. Not the serious drag racers, but that isn't the point.. it's a 4 cyl that shuts up the idiot v8 fans who are v8 fans because their daddies drove a v8. v8 Fans, who build 600 whp drag machines don't care, because it is a totally different class of drivers.. it is the guys in a v6 Camaro who like to talk trash about Ricer burners.. those are the idiots..
The group that believes that since they have a v8, they have the end all and be all of cars, and we come along and to quote James Gardner, "I love the look on their faces when I blow their doors off with my 626 GT Turbo" -- granted that quote is in reference to a BMW, but the quote applies equally well here.
It is all about cost benefit, and the law of diminishing returns, and a turbo 4 cyl has high value, and low cost. Something the "v8" people just don't get.