I have a Satin Silver v6 and i raced a old Nova, the thing sounded brutal, but we took off on the light, and we passed him a fair amount, it was great! the v6 has some serious power, and the kid in the nova got all mad and cut thru a gas station just so he wouldnt have to stop next to us at the next light LOL!

 

thats great.
I had a Hyndai excel pull up next to me and he started revving his engine like he wanted to race me. I had to laugh, anyways he floored it when the light turned green. I did not. I just sat there for a second before creeping slowly to the next red light!

 

Good story David, Funny stuff

 

Yeah, those 1986 Chevy Novas based on the Toyota Corollo were BAD! Major kill.

Now, if you run up against a 1969 Nova SS with a 375 hp L78 you'd best say "Yes, sir." and get out of its way.

 

If the Nova wanted a race and you smoked him, you have a right to be proud, after all you had no idea what the Nova had for power. But no matter how many guys post "kills" here, there is ALWAYS something out there that can peel the paint off of what you drive, no matter V6 or GT or whatever. The moral here is if you don't want to get beat, don't race, if you race, expect to be beat at some point, in the mean time savor the "kills" you garner. But either way you deserve congrats for having the nuts to race a Nova and giving him a lesson in V6 power.

 

Yeah, those 1986 Chevy Novas based on the Toyota Corollo were BAD! Major kill.

Now, if you run up against a 1969 Nova SS with a 375 hp L78 you'd best say "Yes, sir." and get out of its way.
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the nova we raced was like a 71 or a 72

 

the nova we raced was like a 71 or a 72
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No offense to your driving skills at all, but you had -no- right beating him lol. Good kill, and even better tickin him off!

 

"No right beating him?" It's extremely unlikely that he ran up against a fast Nova. A very common Nova engine in 1971 was the 350 cid 2V L65 rated at 245hp gross. That's probably 185 hp net. It was a high 16 sec. car on a fresh tuneup and no match for most modern cars. Hence my earlier comment "Yeah, those 1986 Chevy Novas based on the Toyota Corollo were BAD! Major kill." which was somehow taken seriously. It's a joke son. :bang:

The point is that most cars from 35 years ago were no match for a 2005 4.0L Mustang. Even a 1969 GTO with the base 400 cid engine and 3-speed automatic only ran in the high 15s. Sure, a Ram Air III GTO would run in the low 14s, but even in the early 1970s you could go a whole year and never even see one. The base 400s outnumbered them 1000 to 1. Same with COPO Camaros, 427 Fairlanes, Drag Pack Mach1s and other really fast cars. They're very common these days at auctions and in museums, but were very rare back then on the street. 35 years later? There probably aren't 3 guys in the whole country who are street racing really fast, classic Novas.

Now, as to the Nova's driver getting hot under the collar at losing? It takes all kinds. It sounds like he should invest some money in a few sessions with a good shrink.

 

Ive tried racing a 1971 Nova several times. 350 small block, auto 3-speed w/ a throw kit and stall converter etc etc. One of my best friends owns it so we've given it a run more than a couple of times. Hes running over two seconds faster than I on the quarter and a second in the 8th. Maybe Im just basing it on limited personal experience, but 4/5 novas I see now arent "stock." If they were, they'd probably not be on the streets -or being raced at all for that matter.

I just dont understand the mechanics of how a car with more hp/torque, a larger displacement, thats several hundred lbs lighter being slower? Thats why I chalk it up to driver. But hey, Ill be the first to admit I could be wrong.

 

Modified? Anything's possible. All we know for sure, since the original poster said "we passed him a fair amount" is that THAT Nova is a good bit slower than 15.2 sec. By the way, the 1971 Nova's curb weight was 3310 lbs. and the 2005 V6 Deluxe Mustang's is 3371 lbs., so they weigh about the same. He also said that the Nova was a '71 or '72. The industry switched from gross to net ratings in 1972, but the compression ratio of the L65 (8.5:1) didn't change, since it was originally designed to run on regular gas, so the 1972 was essentially identical to the 1971. In an earlier posting I overestimated the power of the 350 cid L65. In 1972 it was rated at 165 HP and 280 lb-ft of torque. The 4.0L V6 makes 240 lb-ft of torque, but has a much larger area under the horsepower curve, which is what dictates 1/4 mile time. Peak values don't really matter.

You're right, though. Jump a Nova these days and you have no idea what you're getting. Anything from a clapped out Pep Boys rebuilt 350 to a 502 GM crate motor. He obviously got a slow one. And I'd be surprised if there weren't more slow ones than fast ones on the streets.

 

I guess a "nova is a nova" just the same as a "mustang is a mustang"