Sorry, For some reason I thought that you were one of the guys that I have met on some of these forums that had supercharged your ride.

No problem nanders! In a year or two, I may get a Trilogy (roots)blower for my car. That one change puts a stock Marauder in the 12's.

It's the $6000 price tag that sucks.

Personally, I would have rather gotten a 4spd '68 Cougar instead, but they just don't exist in Minnesota anymore. (imagine rust from the door handles down).

I did test drive a '95 Firebird Formula (6 spd, T-Tops) before I bought the Marauder. I hated the crappy plastic interior, poor visibility, and almost high-centering it in the dealers steep driveway.

The weight distibution on the Marauder is 55/45 so it handles great too. (thanks to the aluminum block, heads, and cross member).Try that with a 302-351-460... etc!

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/sedan/112_0410_rally_sedan_comparison/specs_price.html

well...lets see...he claims he'll run a 14.7 in his marauder and motor trend ran a subaru wrx sti at a 13.3...do a little math...yeah about a second to a second and a half in the quarter.  You can eat your own crap now.

I don't doubt him blowing by them on the interstate...they tend to die out towards the upper end, as is given by the chart in the link posted above, but all wheel drive sure will kick it from a stand still.

Sorry 281Marauder if you thought I was going after you too...I actually agree with a lot that you said, and was simply pointing out that you chose your statistic well.

Some people need to read up on what the market is doing though...these little things and the Evo's are pretty quick...don't plan on taking your 14 or 15 second stock third gen camaro or stock 5.0 mustang against em...you'll be the one embarassed.

The STi is a different animal. 300 hp and it is a low 13 second car. the regular WRX isnt too big a deal. the run a bottom 14.

Logan is the one with the 10 second Marauder? he ran the Trilogy setup right? im also on MercuryCougar.net which was also his site before he decided to sample half of Fords new car fleet lol. he drives a Caddy CTS-V now though doesnt he?

lets just face it, all motors will eventually break things. for the sheer volume of 4.6 motors out there im sure the problems are statistically small. the Mustangs, Crown Vics, Trucks and basically any RWD car Ford makes houses the Romeo motors. seeing as they have been on the road 15 years now, i dont think its that big a deal that a few might pop a head gasket. look at the Toyota Tacoma motors or the Dodge 2.4L turbo motors  same thing. They arent a Ford though so of course its not a POS right? of course, there are people that will argue that the 5.0L is a POS too because they are known to break at 550 - 600 hp. so of course its a turd.

a friend of mine works on Fords often in his job. mentions some of their problems but also works on the GM cars too. they also have problems of their own. as far as im concerned, neither is better than the other, not of Import, Domestic, General Motors, Ford or Der Moparheissein boys. maybe its because im young, stupid and willing to try and take the cars for what they are. then again, seeing as ive only owned Ford products and i am in the market for a nice 97 or 98 MarkVIII i might be biased.

by the way, ive had several Cougars in the past 281Marauder. a 67, 2 69s and a 70. 68 is the one year i havent had and none have been a 4 speed. sounds nice.

Sorry, I assumed he was talking about an STi...but after re-reading he was only talking about the regular WRX, which runs similar quarter times to his marauder.  But still if people think that a four cylinder car cant run with their LS1, modular, or 5.7/6.1 hemi  powered car, they got another thing coming.  Especially since they don't have to tear their motor apart to make more power (i.e. turbo, intercooler, etc...look on ebay and it won't take any time at all to find one thats been upgraded in some way)

But again, sorry for the misunderstanding.

The crack pipe is down and I am bowing in silence!!!!! LOL  

I think we can all say that in the stock configuration all motors are the same. Meaning that they are reliable, and most likely won't have the problems that may come in a performance application. It is a proven fact that the reason they went with a cast iron block on the '03-'04 Cobra's was because the blocks were cracking right down the middle. It is a common problem with the aluminum blocked 4.6's and 5.4's, once you start making to much HP the blocks start to crack. As for the LS1 they seem to blow head gaskets when applying major amounts of boost. There are actually guys that run in the 7's with LS1 motors and a single turbo. As for the Hemi it might be a good motor if they would have stuck it into a car the weighs less than 4000lbs. The fact is all the cars that the Hemi comes in are boats, and the one person I know that has a Hemi Magnum already has a ticking in the motor. Probably from that system that shuts down 4 of the cylinders when at idle and light cruise. I'll say this now, in 10 years just like the small block chevy the LSx motors will be the hotrodders motor of choice. You can't beat them and the aftermarket is just making them better.  

I like your style, I have a 68 cougar.  mine is an auto though.

CSIROC, I can eat my own crap now?  Um.....did you read the part where I was under the assumption that the marauder had a super charger?

Give me a turbo, as well as a bling-wing and I will have my festiva with 189,000 miles on it, spankin' the life out of wrx's.  Eat that.

i dont think anyone here is underestimating the potential of a Turbo car. hell, 2 words - Turbo Buick. anyone that has been in one knows that they pack alot of potential. a friend of mine has one with a pretty well stock engine, but upgraded fuel system, intercooler and exhaust. its hit the 13.20 range i think with a boost controller that wouldnt let it push anymore than 15 PSI (on the track he has it set up to run 23psi.. damn thing pulls hard even with 'only' 15 pounds).  and it still has AC, power windows, and gets 17 mpg in the city without a sweat.

CSIROC, MartyO is the one with the 10 second Marauder. (10.63 I think).If I had his wallet, I'd be in the 10's too!

I realize that the Marauder is a huge car (I own one, I know!!), and it's not the hottest thing on the road, but it does do a lot of things right. I NEVER said that I have the fastest car on the road.

New cars, and I don't care what it is (GTO, 'Vette, or Marauder) are spendy to upgrade! Both the 'Vette and GTO are pushrod motors too, so it doesn't matter which "style" you go with. Saying that these motors (romeos) are "junk" just isn't fair. These motors can and DO respond to mods/power adders. MartyO, and others, have proven that.

New cars keep getting better (or at least faster) all the time, so keeping up to them is the challenge we Car Crafters are faced with.

How many 300+ HP cars were available 10 years ago? How many 300+HP cars are available today?

CC's project Mustang HAD BETTER BE faster than my Marauder when done!!!!! (I suggest a 32v Romeo engine!)

sixt9coug, that's your '69 Cougar in Car Craft? Hey, I love it! Nice car. Great color too, and I especially like the Marauder center caps!

About the Romeos aluminum block breakage at 500-600hp, all that means, is that the engine should be in a lighter car. Lighter car=less stress and greater durability. Engine swaps are the foundation of Car Crafting.

My Marauders 32v 4.6 is basically gutless below 3000rpm and would be perfect in a lighter car. That, and the cost of speed parts, is all I can complain about.

Did you read that I was comparing the Subaru to HIS Marauder and not anything else... YOU assumed I was talking about a supercharged one.  

You call yourself a gearhead and you own a festiva???  And past that you've actually driven it 189,000 miles???  I'm sorry...that was a cheap shot.  I hope we can still be friends..."You know, if I didn't think you were my friend ... I don't think I could bare it."  

Lemme know how that turbo project goes...remember, 13.3 in the quarter...now we must define "spanking the life out of"...I'm thinking at least 3 seconds...I mean, "spanking the life out of" sounds much worse than "getting your &%^ handed to you", which would probably be in the 2 second differential range...so good luck.  When you show the timeslip, you'll have your apology.

This is all in good fun though, cuz when it comes right down to it, I'd be cheering for 281Marauder if lined up against anything in the ying-ying crowd.  I know how fast many of the import cars are...just cuz its good to know the competition.

I don't have a problem with the romeo motors...never driven one, never had a friend have a problem with one...and the company I have an internship with (makes service truck bodies) hasn't had problems with any of those.

By the way...what do you actually drive?  I seriously hope its not the festiva.  I got a 68 Cutlass I've been building for the past five years...I've had it since I was 15, worked at burger king for 3.5 years and got an internship the past year and a half to pay for it.  I've also got an 88 IROC and a 85 Delta 88.

Oh I agree with you...I thought the marauders were cool when they came out...very similar to the impala ss from 94-96.  I don't have a problem with your car...and I actually like big cars (I have an 85 Delta 88 with a 307 olds...I am NOT saying your car is slow...that thing is a dog).  Like I said, I just thought it was clever the way you compared your car to the Subaru...you are correct in what you said...they tend to lay down at the upper end...its really just the all wheel drive that makes em so quick...

But yeah, newer cars are more expensive to build...not to mention there are restrictions because of smog laws.  But the factories are consistantly putting out faster and faster cars.  I mean, how many cars are in the 13's from the factory today?  How many were in the 13's in the 60's?  The technology is amazing nowadays...for example the new Shelby GT500, or the Z06 Vette...the 450-500HP motors back then had solid lifters, manual brakes, manual steering...no luxury items...now you can get it with NET SAE figures with AC and power brakes, power steering, power mirrors, power windows, etc.  

I never intended to knock your car...or your motor.  I think its a cool car...you just need to find 6 grand layin around...hey heres an idea...buy a couple of those raffle tickets for the Ford GT (in the new issue) and when you win it...take it to barret jackson...get 150-200grand for it...and drop it all in your car!  It'll work!  That'll be one sick Mercury...

Hey 281Marauder, I never meant to bang on your car one bit. You know this is all in fun. If the truth be told I drive a 1965 mustang every day to work! Little thing runs like a top and I pull down 18 mpg with a 289 and an auto trans. I stoped driving my 92 chevy truck 'cause it eats gas! Maybe the sheer number of romeo motors out there is the reason I see so darn many of them. A to tell you the truth they are a pain in the but to work on. The labor guide gives you like 19.3 to 21.5 hours to do head gaskets on one. That is alot of time and alot of skin donated to the car gods!!!