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There was a time when I wanted to buy a muscle car, and I was
looking at a few of them.
And I got some good advice from my father.
He said, Matt, those cars were crap when they were new.
Why would you want one now that it's 40 years old?
And he made an excellent point because these cars weren't
built very well, and most of them have not
stood the test of time.
But all of that seems to go out the window the second you
turn the key.
I'm Matt Farah, and you're watching TUNED.
John Hotchkis knows a thing or two about suspension tuning.
Since 1993, his company has been helping muscle car owners
bring their rides into the modern age with state of the
art suspension and chassis components.
And this is his showpiece--
the 1970 Dodge Challenger TA with a 340 and a six-pack.
And while the 348 V8 is as useless for drag racing as a
rear wing is on a Civic, it's lighter weight and higher red
line make it great on a road course.
Now these things handled sketchy at best back in the
day, but we had to find out just how much Mr. Hotchkis
could improve it.
For that, we'll need a racetrack.
Because we're on a budget, we weren't able to get a track
all to ourselves today.
We came to a track day, which is what you guys would see if
you wanted to go to the track.
Extremespeed.com, you go to their website, you sign up for
their track days, and they divide it into run groups.
And that's good-- more people on the track,
more fun for everybody.
The bad news is I will be out there trying to review this
car on the track while surrounded by about 50 other
cars, none of which are muscle cars.
I see a couple EVOs, STIs, 350Zs.
I got a Camaro in front of me, an Ariel Atom behind me.
Let's feel the power.
Man, does that sound beasty or what?
Oh, I can already feel the steering.
The handling is going to be good.
How about the brakes?
Oh, that's kind of a squishy pedal, though.
That's going to take some getting used to, I think.
Turns eight and nine can be kind of scary when you don't
know the car.
Yeah, the brake pedal travel is a little more
than I'm used to.
Race seats, so important in a muscle car.
When you're driving an old muscle car, it feels like
you're going fast even when you're not.
And obviously, some of these modern cars are showing me
what fast really is right now.
I'm not embarrassing myself, but I definitely not hauling
*** like I would if I was in a new car.
I'll be totally honest with you right now.
And I'm probably going to get another point-by soon.
What are you going to do?
I got the only muscle car out here.
The fact that I'm not in the dirt right now
is pretty damn amazing.
Something tells me that if I wanted to build a track car, I
wouldn't start with a 1970 Challenger.
But it does make you have plenty of respect for the guys
who used to race these things in the '70s.
Guys like Bob Bondurant winning Le Man in a Cobra, Sam
Posey out on the track racing against Bosses and Z28s in one
of these things.
This is a Challenger.
It's a Dodge [BLEEP]
Challenger.
So to get out here and drive it and have it be difficult is
sort of what I expected.
And the session ends right as I started to get comfortable
with the car.
Of course.
Now we're going to head in the pits, and I'm going to try
something a little bit more modern.
What do you say?
This is the 2011 RTR Mustang GT.
It has a supercharger, so it goes fast.
It has big brakes, so it stops short.
It has racing seats, so you can drive it properly without
hanging onto the wheel.
It has Hotchkis suspension, so theoretically, it should go
around corners, too.
But most importantly, it sounds like it's about to win
the Daytona 500.
All right.
Here we go.
The 2011 Mustang GT.
560 wheel horsepower, big brakes, full suspension.
To start off, you got the supercharger, Magnuson.
TVS2300 blower kit.
It's quiet, and it makes 560 at the tires.
We've got Wilwood big brakes.
We've got Hotchkis suspension.
We've got everything we need to get out of the track and
drive fast.
Now, the suspension in this car is similar to the BBI
Autosport Porsche I drove in that they removed all the
rubber bushings, and they only had the metal spherical balls.
Not a ton of torque from this motor.
It's a high compression motor, relatively small displacement.
The torque's in the 400s, but the horsepower's way up there,
and it does handle.
I trust this car a little more.
It's got full RTR body kit.
That's Vaughn Gittin Jr setup.
So you get the sides skirts.
You get the wheels.
You get the nose piece.
You get all the good stuff.
I'm going to let these guys by because I can't concentrate.
Try to think about talking and driving at the same time is
ridiculously hard.
The thing about muscle cars in general is people tend to not
use them for stuff like this.
The Mustang tends to change that.
See, a lot of Mustangs attract these, but they're really not
known for their handling.
Yes, they can handle, but they're not known for it.
With the Hotchkis suspension, the turn-in feels crisper.
The rebound is better.
We've removed all the rubber from the car.
So the metal bushings help keep things in line and give
everything a more precise feel.
And of course, this 5-liter engine, unlike the 340 in the
other car, which is sort of a mild-tuned 400 horsepower,
this thing is just an animal.
So much power, it can easily overpower the tires
before you know it.
I think I better put this car away before a Formula car ends
up under my rear bumper, and I have to buy a
very expensive Mustang.
It's been a good day here at Willow Springs, and I've
learned a few things.
Number one.
If you are going to drive a muscle car, you must upgrade
the suspension, OK?
You must.
Because compared to every stock muscle car I've ever
driven, this is leaps and bounds beyond that.
Now, I know the first session was a little scary, a lot of
traffic, new car, valuable car, trying to talk about it
and not wreck it at the same time.
But by the end of the day, like all old valuable muscle
cars, the more comfortable you get with it,
the better it drives.
The better it feels.
And by the end of the day, I feel like I could comfortably
get this car around a track quickly.
I love the power.
I love the sound.
I love the looks.
And the suspension ties it all together along with the brakes
to make it totally trackable.
Now the new Mustang GT.
This thing already handles great from the factory.
Does the Hotchkis suspension make it better?
Definitely.
Does the power work for it?
It's a lot.
It's so much power, in fact, that I think the car doesn't
have enough rubber.
And upon conferring with the owner, Mike, he agrees.
He wants bigger tires in the back, and I
agree with him there.
But again, the power, tons of it.
It feels good.
It definitely feels quicker than--
it's riding Shelby territory.
Let's just leave it at that.
It's close.
Either way, if you don't want to buy a Shelby, you don't
want to buy a Boss, you want to start with a stock GT,
here's a great example of what to do.
Brakes and suspension first, then power.
Brakes and suspension first, then power.
That's the lesson we have to take away from this.
So Matt Farah here.
Thank you guys for watching.
A little housekeeping.
We have a new audio podcast on The Smoking Tire.
You can download it on iTunes, also via RSS at
thesmokingtire.com.
Check out our Dylan Optics ads.
We will hook you up with a free Smoking Tire T-shirt if
you buy a pair through our website.
Zack, what else?
Nothing.
Zack's got absolutely nothing.
Thank you guys for watching.
For Matt, the whole Smoking Tire crew, and those of us at
Drive, I will see you guys next week right here on TUNED.
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