new to panthers and carbs

[gabegt90]

welcome mang sweet wagon glad you saved that one. i bet your festiva is so much fun to drive

[1987cp]

^^^ just a little done to the festiva lol... like an Escort GT motor, Ford Aspire brakes (bigger and waaay better than the factory brakes), larger wheels and tires (from an Escort LX), KYB struts on all four corners, and thats about it for performance stuff. Turns out if you take a pretty good motor from a 2400lb car and stuff it into a 1700lb car you get a pretty quick little demon that still makes decent gas mileage, plus its the ultimate sleeper, who would ever suspect a festiva?

I know I wouldn't! The ones I see still on the road usually look like they're just barely dragging themselves around the parking lot.

[Chuck Norris]

That is a cool pair of Fords you've got there! The modded Festiva sounds like alot of fun. I'd love to have one myself with a few extra horses under the hood, as I've always been patial to them. They look like cuddly little toasters. And the wagon, man, that thing has got potential! Sounds like you may know your way around a car anyways, so looks like you're saving some real American iron from the scrapheap. I hope it works out well!

Wes

[ReverendRevival]

All your base are belong to us. LMAO Fucking classic.

[grandpaslincoln]

Welcome!

[Chuck Norris]

All your base are belong to us. LMAO Fucking classic.

Thank you sir. I try real hard.

[gadget73]

^^^ just a little done to the festiva lol... like an Escort GT motor, Ford Aspire brakes (bigger and waaay better than the factory brakes), larger wheels and tires (from an Escort LX), KYB struts on all four corners, and thats about it for performance stuff. Turns out if you take a pretty good motor from a 2400lb car and stuff it into a 1700lb car you get a pretty quick little demon that still makes decent gas mileage, plus its the ultimate sleeper, who would ever suspect a festiva?

There was a Festiva running 16.2 quarter miles last year at the track. Shame because its faster than most Panthers lol. No idea what he had done to it but it was moving pretty well.

[htchbck]

^^^ we've had some festivas get down into the 14s with a 1.6L turbo swap from the mazda 323 turbo cars... I went N/A cause I'm not a big fan of turbos and because 1.8 is a bigger motor that holds up better. Last time (actually the only time) I had mine at the track I was running high 15s. Probably could've done a lil better but I'm still running the stock trans with over 200k on it and I use a weaker clutch so it slips a lil and saves the tranny from a little bit of the stress of launching lol

[1987cp]

Dumb question ... for a 1700-lb rocket, why a Festiva and not a Honda? Friend of mine claimed he had his '88 hatch down to 1700 lbs.

[htchbck]

^^^ several reasons... the Festiva is more unique, I like Mazda a lot better than Honda(festiva drivetrain is all Mazda), I like the way the festiva looks, I only paid $100 for the car and $250 for the motor with 27k on it, and it weighed in at about 1700lbs when I bought it. I didn't have to "get it down to 1700," thats just how much it weighs... still have all the interior, all the seats, even a sound system. If I wanted to I suppose I could loose the passenger seat and the rear seats, along with the sound system and drop it down close to 1600lbs, and thats still not even getting involved in any serious weight reduction like ripping out carpet and dashboard and all. I just like the car, and I like being different... plus I like the look on people's face when I stomp all over their expensive modded cars with a festiva. I guess I just like destroying people's egos lol

[Nathan in MI]

Dumb question ... for a 1700-lb rocket, why a Festiva and not a Honda? Friend of mine claimed he had his '88 hatch down to 1700 lbs.

Actually I'm a bit surprised at you asking a question like that--that's much like asking "Why a Panther instead of a Mustang?"

[torquelover]

I think the '88 Civic was made out of aluminum foil. I had one, and that was my impression.

Does the AWD 323 drivetrain work with the Festiva unibody?

[1987cp]

I just like the car, and I like being different... plus I like the look on people's face when I stomp all over their expensive modded cars with a festiva. I guess I just like destroying people's egos lol

Kewl! Good enough for me. Cheap is good, too.

Actually I'm a bit surprised at you asking a question like that--that's much like asking "Why a Panther instead of a Mustang?"

Well, if Mustangs weren't such overpriced bellybuttons ...... oh wait, that's your point, isn't it.

I think the '88 Civic was made out of aluminum foil. I had one, and that was my impression.

Not my experience from riding in my buddy's hatch, but maybe he had more done to the chassis than I realized (all I can quote is front and rear strut tower supports).

[htchbck]

Noone's tried the GTX AWD drivetrain yet as far as I know... we do have a homegrown SHOgun though (taurus SHO swapped into a festiva rear engine, RWD style) and a 4G63 (eclipse motor) done the same way. There's also a miata 1.8 turbo thats being built now in a F/R setup with a toyota rearend. Check out Fordfestiva.com of your interested.