American muscle. Can't beat it. Period.
Matt hit the nail on the head. Power to weight ratio. Take those rice burning engines and put them in a 4000 lb led sled and see what they do. American V-8s don't need NOS or turbos to hit 500hp, not even the small blocks. Comparing original '60s model muscle cars to todays rice rockets is crazy. Just like comparing them to today's American muscle. Today's muscle cars put out WAY more hp per cube than cars of the '60s. With head technology, etc, you can get insane hp/cube out of an engine.
1980's cars???? Are you nuts?
That was the WORST era for muscle cars. An exception would be the Buick Turbo cars. They ruled during that era and can flat fly today with just a few mods.
As far as mileage, my '70 Monte knocks down 20mpg all day any day on the highway. It has over 400 hp, weighs 3980 lbs, handles easily better than any full size modern car, imports included, and has killer classic looks. Not to mention the value of it is going up every year. How about your ricers
As for Jap shows showing equal cars bashing each other up on the track, we have NASCAR or demolition derby
. I care about my car too much to swap paint with somebody else. Paint jobs like mine cost too much
. I do take it to the local drag strip on occasion, however.
As for the Vipers, yeah, I've ridden in one. Fast cars, but can't hold a candle in the wind to a Z06 'Vette, especially with regards to handling or ride. Can exotic imports beat the Corvette? Yeah, but at what price? You won't find a better overall car for the money, I don't believe.
One last vent; I HATE Flowmasters. I'm a Borla man, myself. Only thing I even half way like FM on is Mustangs, and then they have to be the three chamber models. Two's are way too loud for me.
FWIW, I work like two miles from the BMW Performance test track in SC. I told one of the guys there that I would put my Monte up against his 7 series cars. He looked at me like I was crazy. I told him to throw a set of the same tires on there and threw him the keys. Told him he could use his driver and I would sign a release from any damage. He asked me what made me think it would stack up. I told him the mods I had done to the suspension...he said "No, thanks". Darn. I sure would like to know how it would have faired!
