99 ATX Cougar Vs. 00 Civic Si (Canadian model)

[performancepartz]

Wow,
My buddy has a no-non-sense 2000 MTX Civic Si. He has spent aproximately $1800 in performance parts and has the following mods done:
1. Airmass ShoCrom Header
2. Apex'i N1 exhaust setup
3. AEM short ram intake
4. MSD wires and plat plugs
5. He's removed the entire rear seat and kept his civic without heavy mods

My cougar is fairly plain right now in the performance department. Its a 1999 ATX V6 and all I've done to it is added Ford racing wires, platinum plugs, and an AEM short ram.

We were rolling down the highway around 1 am and I signalled him for 3 honks. Well, I don't think he's too smart and after the 3rd honk I gunned it and he didnt catch on. I proceeded to slow down and let him catch up, I had my foot totally off the throttle and was just coasting and slowing down decently fast. I heard him gun it, about a car length behind me, I looked at the speedometer and we were at about 60 km/h. I wasn't ready when he gunned it past me, but I floored it (with overdrive on) and slowly caught him then stood neck to neck with him as he was trying to pass me, as soon as he shifted I gained about a foot, and then I started to pull on him slowly around 120 km/h. I pulled on him about half a car length to 140 km/h then hit the brakes and he did a ricer flyby.

I am VERY surprised that I was able to out muscle this car, especially when I had no idea he was going to gun it and my reaction time wasn't exactly spectacular. My buddy knows how to drive his car, and he wasn't shifting until redline and kept it in VTEC the entire time.
I know the ATX isn't the fastest car around, but I definately have renewed faith.

[Nemesis]

great kill man! gotta love handin it to Honduh boyz

[performancepartz]

Hey Drgn,
Your running an auto right?

[Nemesis]

yep sure am

[performancepartz]

Dgn,
Not to get too far off topic, but have you ever dyno'd and do you buy the claim of 120 whp for an ATX Cougar?

[Nemesis]

Well without nitrous I dynoed at a tuned 143hp.. cant remember the TQ off hand. Ive made numerous trips to the dyno and my numbers have steadily been going up. On a tuned 50 shot of Zex, I put down 189HP and 190 TQ. Throughout the entire run both on and off nitrous I was running abnormally rich. When I saw that, I relized why my car bogged down a lot, ever since the first stage of tuning I have noticed a greatly improved throttle response and pull throughout the RPM band. Honestly I cant even remember where I put my stack of sheets. Ill look for ya though and see if i can pm ya some sheets. To your other question I dont doubt an atx cougar would dyno in the upper 120s lower 130hp with a couple bolt ons.

[pgtatx]

I've seen sub-120 hp dynos, but most between the 125-135whp range for an ATX coug...

so yes it is true...

[performancepartz]

That's such a kick in the teeth, its so hard to believe that a 170 HP engine can dyno to only 120 HP at the wheels, what the heck were Ford engineers thinking about when they built the CD4E? Does anyone know if a newer CD4E from a Escape or Tribute would have less drivetrain losses?

[Frank]

My personal opinion is that the horsepower levels vary from car to car, and the 170 number is not very reliable. My ATX put down 155 with a stock UIM. At it's best, it was probably making about 160-162 WHP. I know those few mods I had didn't make that much of a difference. I think some cars are slugs from the factory, or are not in perfect running order. Some dynos are also out of calibration, like the one at CF'03 (which was still fun of course).

If the car really has 170HP, it should be able to put down at least high-120s with an auto or low-140s with a stick Most FWD ATX powertrains are around 75-78% efficient. If your car is only putting out 120WHP, it is not making 170 at the crank or the dyno is off.. Because if that's true, then my car would've had about 230HP, which is ridiculous.

[B3NN3TT]

A guy on my Saturn forum just dynoed his 8-year-old, stock, ATX Saturn, and put down 110 to the wheels. Those cars are rated at 124, and there's no way that tranny is 88-89% efficient. So yeah; either it's the dyno or the car. Factory numbers are an educated guess...

[Gooch]

Where do you dyno a car?

[Tygerr]

Hey DgnZ, if you find those pm to me also. Wanting to get my car dynoed, I def. need some weight redux also. Anyway.

Awesome kill dude. :thumbsup: My coug's pretty quick now, though it can always be quicker. People underestimate the auto's. No, they're not as quick as 5speeds but def CAN be made fast. Just takes a little more money and time is all, so forget that myth.

[Frank]

Just to remind everyone b/c I just realized this... the Canadian Civic Si is the same thing as a Civic EX over here. The Canadian SiR = US Si.

[BigDaddyTiberius]

Originally posted by: Tygerr
Hey DgnZ, if you find those pm to me also. Wanting to get my car dynoed, I def. need some weight redux also. Anyway.

Awesome kill dude. :thumbsup: My coug's pretty quick now, though it can always be quicker. People underestimate the auto's. No, they're not as quick as 5speeds but def CAN be made fast. Just takes a little more money and time is all, so forget that myth.

It's true they can be made fast, but the truth still stands. If you do the same stuff to an MTX it'll still be faster in the end. Unless you put someone in the car that can't shift. Not Hatin just keepin it real. (What she didn't know is the other three women were serving consecutive life sentences and kept it realer.)