I had a nice little run in my stock 5-speed HHR SS against a previous-gen (1999-2004) Mustang GT on a long 2-lane highway on-ramp. I got a bit of a jump on him, but 1/2 way through 3rd gear, he pulled past me pretty easily and ended up a couple of car lengths ahead by 90 mph when our lanes merged. I shifted at redline with no-lift shifts.

With those Mustangs only having 260hp, I thought it would be closer. It might not have been stock, but it looked and sounded stock. My HHR has been feeling a bit slow, I just figured I was getting used to the power. Now I can't help thinking that I'm maybe not making full power :(

Time to save those pennies for the GM peformance upgrade :cool:

thats why i have one. it's probably the way it is geared. unless you are really good it would be hard to change the gearing on the hhr. i had 5.0 stang with an engine that was on it's last leg , it was still fast with the t5 5 speed. i truly believe that is where the stang gets its power.

that doesnt sound right with that year of mustang......if he was all stock he shouldnt of pulled you that bad, especially if you got a jump on him....but you never know...... maybe it was a sleeper :D or if it was also a 5 speed, maybe he was just a kick butt driver and out drove you....

that doesnt sound right with that year of mustang......if he was all stock he shouldnt of pulled you that bad, especially if you got a jump on him....but you never know...... maybe it was a sleeper :D or if it was also a 5 speed, maybe he was just a kick butt driver and out drove you....

Yeah, around 60mph he pulled 2 car lengths on me in about 2 seconds. I was surprised. It could have been a sleeper, maybe a Mach 1 (it was dark so I didn't get a great look), maybe he had NOS. My shifts were good and traction wasn't an issue, so I don't think he out-drove me too terribly :lol:

He's got the same power as the SS but more torque, so I thought he'd be a bit quicker than me, but the way he flew by in 3rd gear made me sad :(

Probably not stock.My neighbor has one that he is continually reprograming it and it idles like it has a wild cam but does everything by reprograming.

I would guess that he was not stock, a stang with mods can easily take a stock SS.


Time to save those pennies for the GM peformance upgrade :cool:

^ You know what you have to do :lol: ^

And a mustang that has a lot of mods (like my '00 gt) can easily take a hhr ss w/ the gm performance upgrade. :D

And a mustang that has a lot of mods (like my '00 gt) can easily take a hhr ss w/ the gm performance upgrade. :D

You just had to point that out, didn't you :lol:

It probably wasn't stock because I pulled away from a 2001 GT

It probably wasn't stock because I pulled away from a 2001 GT


probably was a 6 banger with gt badges........:D:D:lol::poke:

It probably wasn't stock because I pulled away from a 2001 GT

They have the same HP, more torque, and weigh about the same with better aerodynamics. I wouldn't expect to pull away from one...

They have the same HP, more torque, and weigh about the same with better aerodynamics. I wouldn't expect to pull away from one...well sometimes one is faster and sometimes one is slower. Would love a rematch but I now have the stage kit.:one:

With a tune, you should walk most bolt on GT's through 04.

Stangs definitely have the aerodynamic edge.

I wonder if the SS has a higher top speed than the GT?