Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Dyno and Drag CSVT beats a G6 GTP, please!

Originally posted by The EX- Striped SVT:

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HAULT! The build quality is better, can you say dash warpage, syncros, diffs, black paint chipping, moonroof motors, etc. IMO both cars are going to have "some" issues, so thats nill and void IMO Now lets talk about price! My car stickered for $23.5K and with factoring in inflation, what would that put the 2000 CSVT up to right now. Let me say this again, I liked my old car, alot, but IMO the SRT-4 IS in the same catagory and is a better perf, turbo or not. I don't like this "well, its got a turbo and the CSVT doesn't", it is what it is, period! Its like if my Aunt had nuts, she'd be my Uncle Comparing base models, sure, the Contour is a nicer ride, but when you look at the perf versions, most enthusists will look past some things to get to perf, especially when its available at the dealership, what a concept Lets look at it like this then, $24K for the CSVT back in 2000 and about $21K for the 2005 SRT-4, what could you have done with the extra $3K you saved on the SRT-4....

-mod that suspension to outperform the CSVT
-upgrade to a stage 1 package

I'm theres other things I'm missing because I'm not into that car, but you get the point, I hope Another thing is this, the base Mazdaspeed 6 is a little over $28K, or about $4K more than the CSVT and NOW we're talking bargain, substance and exclusivity!!!

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Originally posted by The EX- Striped SVT:

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Would you say your car is maxed out Warmonger? The reason I is because you seemed to take great offense to the comparison between the CSVT and SRT-4. Don't take offense to this as you've been a huge help to many here in the CEG, but why don't we just compare both cars modded out, like yours and those SRT-4's that run well into the 12's. My point is this, give the car its due, its cheap, unrefined (to some thats a good thing and wanted) and has the goods from the git go! Atleast the SRT-4 guys learned from ALL the mistakes that SVT made and even addressed their own problems, like the lack of the LSD on the 03' and then putting it in all 04's and on, smart, very smart. Did I mention the factory aftermarket parts available too. Must be nice to be able to do that instead of getting a turbo kit from half way across the country, a trans upgrade from another part of the country, Euro suspension kits from another and so on and so on. Not everyone, myself especially, likes to "Frankenstein" their cars together with the hopes it all works together, especially with NO R&D! Also, to be clear, I enjoyed my 5+ years in the CSVT, but I'm going to apply what I learned with it on my next car, thats for sure!

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Actually, I wasn't offended before. I was trying to change way of thinking on the subject, not tell you that it is wrong to respect the SRT4. The SRT4 is a good car.
However, I do not believe it is better than the CSVT. I think that it was targeted at a different age group and for its purpose it has succeeded well. The whole comparison is usually foolish anyway because they were never direct competition in the market.
The mentality that "the SRT4 kills the contour" is what I'm talking about, because it simply doesn't.
Now, on to my car:
No, I don't think my car is anywhere near close to maxed out. I run a very porkish CSVT because I like my creature comforts. I have extra sound deadening material in the car to make it quiet on the highway. I run a large resonator and twin mufflers along with a catalytic converter. I have 150 pounds of extra stereo equipment and little things in the car. I'm running a heavier rim than I need to as a cost cutting method to getting better traction with bigger tires.
My car is more a science of refined bang for the buck.
My engine is capable of 400-475 crank HP as it sits right now. I run it less.
The transmission is fine and the suspension is a good compromise between all out race and road manners. It has been designed around a street sleeper with weekend track jaunts in mind, nothing more.

With my enginuity and experience I can create a contour that is much more potent and more than a match for a comparable import car. That hasn't been my goal.

BTW, very very few street daily driven SRT4s see 12s, even highly modded. Granted, there are more faster SRT4s than contours by far, but one is a perf. sedan versus a factory street rod. Those cars are easier to get into the twelves because of their weight, mods and suspension design. The suspension tuning was for better straight line acceleration, and now you can fathom why the CSVT was a better twisty road handler, stock for stock, and why the SRT4 is superior for drag racing.

I like to hold on to my money and I like my car to last. However, I feel confident that even with its present weight disadvantage, I could get it into the 12s with a simple wheel and tire choice swap...at a cost of around $800 I'd say.

So take that how you want to take it. I believe my car is better because it suits my needs better than an SR4.

Oh, and I guarantee you I can walk most any SRT4 I come across. I've met one guy who has one that will embarass me if he were a good driver though! His car was beautifull. As it should be after sinking $35K dollars into it!

I think you'll find that being resourcefull and coming up with an extremely powerfull car through your own creativity...wherever you resource the parts from is far more satisfying than buying stuff off the shelf thats already been figured out. Well, it is for me anyway.
If I wanted cheap power I'd be driving an evo today...I almost was. Instead I'm driving a Volvo and a CSVT.
Those Honda Geeks out there, you think they started out with off the shelf stuff almost 15 years ago?
No, they took an econobox that NO ONE thought could even get out of its own way and changed the world of big block domestics Forever! They started off like we did except that they were even more original.
They are the reason that the Factory built an SRT4 and 10 years of aftermarket R&D is why you can buy all your stuff you are looking forward to buying.
I'm doing that for my CSVT, building the collection of data that will make this car fun to build for years into the future. You'll be seeing cheap contours all hollowed out at the drag strip before long with some godawfull big 3L turbo stuck in the front and a roll cage, with a curb weight of probably 2400 pounds and running insane times.
There'll be some young punk running one who tells some guy with a BMW 3 series how much better his gutted 12s contour is too..... mark my words on that one.

Originally posted by The EX- Striped SVT:

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HAULT! The build quality is better, can you say dash warpage,

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Dash Warp???? Maybe get a 98 csvt

Originally posted by The EX- Striped SVT:

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All is good War BTW, if someone bought their CSVT brand new its VERY easy to spend that $35K to get their car to run well too, something to consider

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Yeah, I suppose, but I knew this guy on a personal level because he was stationed at Ft. Hood with me. He should have been thinking about retirement
I mean I watched him take his car from $20K new, add about $8K for rims and little mods and such, then drop 3-4 grand on the higher stages that dodge sold for it, then change his mind on the rims and realize what I was telling him about his heads, intake and turbine being a bet small for the power he wanted to make.
He then went and dropped $35K on top of that over about a 4 month period. When it was done, hand ported heads, intakes, larger turbo, all polished, I mean everything was bling and chromed or carbon fiber. It looked great.

Funny, he was still no faster in first or second gear than I was being limited by traction, but after that

So having $50-$60K into a car if you include the purchase price... for a neon....well,you see where I'm going with that. I like the neon but I don't like it that much.

A contour like DemonSVTs that is selectively modded for performance and with a specific weight reduction plans is really the way to go. With some deliberate suspension changes for drag racing, more weight reduction and a $100 shot of nitrous, he'd be running 12's all day long..and all night!

I fully believe that the duratec motor is far superior to the Dodge SRT-4 motor. People say it doesn't take well to mods....bullsh|t! It is just that mods have been relatively few and far between because the car is a sedan, it has a tightly packaged engine bay so people don't want to work on it, and consequently the ones out there are expensive.
The motor is phenomenal for what you can do to it. Have you seen what a simple 75shot of nitrous on a stock motor will do?? And the motor handles it like nothing, no problem? Wow. If anyone asked me the way to go on this car, I'd say moderate 3L with a good nitrous kit tuned it. It is soooo cheap to make power that way.

Imagine buying a 98 or 99 Contour GL 5spd for about $1200 bucks right now. Now add $600 for a 3L. Then lets assume for good luck that the tranny is good, and we add in a LSD forks, clutch, and little mods, $1500.
So far that is $3300.
Now you run a $1000 nitrous kit with about a 100 shot.
You run an off-road exhaust, 2.25" duals with headers, $700.
You gut everything out of the car... Free.
You put in a Roll cage, $1000 unless you do it yourself
Finally, Two 15" steely rims with drag radials or slicks, $400-$500
Add $500 for an XCAL2 and a good tune.


By my total that is $7000 total. I promise you that it will run like a bat out of hell, stock suspension and all. Demon pulled a car with a 13.4 on drag radials. A car like this could pull much lower, probably in capable of low 12's if the axles hold....and they probably will hold if you keep reducing the mass of the car and therefore the shock.
You'll need some poly roll restrictors, little things, and that is of course doing all the labor yourself.
You can only go up from there.
Just think, what if you got a blown contour from grandma for Free??

Originally posted by The EX- Striped SVT:

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All is good War BTW, if someone bought their CSVT brand new its VERY easy to spend that $35K to get their car to run well too, something to consider

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Yeah, I'm sure that's happened more than once. I spent right at $32k, doing all the labor myself, for just a very very basic mods. When I did a mod I did it right, but I never even considered doing major mods like a new block, forced induction, differentials, HP flywheels, showstopping audio, etc...

For around a total investment of $32k I'll be able to get at least 450 hp at the wheels of my new GTO, with *all motor* mods like heads, cam, LTs, cat-back, CAI...might even have enough left over to buy a new shifter.

Pretty good price for a new car that's capable of 11's.

Originally posted by warmonger:

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Originally posted by The EX- Striped SVT:

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All is good War BTW, if someone bought their CSVT brand new its VERY easy to spend that $35K to get their car to run well too, something to consider

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Imagine buying a 98 or 99 Contour GL 5spd for about $1200 bucks right now. Now add $600 for a 3L. Then lets assume for good luck that the tranny is good, and we add in a LSD forks, clutch, and little mods, $1500.
So far that is $3300.
Now you run a $1000 nitrous kit with about a 100 shot.
You run an off-road exhaust, 2.25" duals with headers, $700.
You gut everything out of the car... Free.
You put in a Roll cage, $1000 unless you do it yourself
Finally, Two 15" steely rims with drag radials or slicks, $400-$500
Add $500 for an XCAL2 and a good tune.


By my total that is $7000 total. I promise you that it will run like a bat out of hell, stock suspension and all. Demon pulled a car with a 13.4 on drag radials. A car like this could pull much lower, probably in capable of low 12's if the axles hold....and they probably will hold if you keep reducing the mass of the car and therefore the shock.
You'll need some poly roll restrictors, little things, and that is of course doing all the labor yourself.
You can only go up from there.
Just think, what if you got a blown contour from grandma for Free??

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