How come the svt mustang is called Cobra...the svt f150 is called lightning...and the svt focus is well just the svt focus????? it sucks to still have to say that ur driving a focus instead of a cool soundin name like a cobra or lightning....

http://homepage.mac.com/davlafont/piranha/ad-home.html .................... learn young jedi....lol

Not enough leafspring [dunno]

because it doesn't have enough cylinders to qualify... they were gonna buck the trend with the pirahna badge, but in the end, we just get letters and numbers just like every other 4cyl or import sports car (300zx,wrx sti, s2000, mr2, 350z, srt4, etc)

I'm glad they didn't call it the 'Pirahna' way too tacky.....

I think "Scrappy-Doo" woulda been a great name for the car

horrible name....cobra and lightning sound fast and crazy....pirahna???? wtf

Piranha's are fast & crazy. Try sticking your hand in a tank full of hungry ones [;)]

Besides, people are gullible. If the cars says it's something other than a Focus then it simply has to be true because they read it, lol. No more "it's just a Focus" responses.

wat about python? venom (i know viper has that in special ed cars)? scorpion...pirahna just sounds weird...

I like Pirahna. It's not the biggest fish in the river, but it still packs a little punch.

Originally posted by Crimson
I like Pirahna. It's not the biggest fish in the river, but it still packs a little punch.
lol interesting way to see things...

Ford probably would have gone with Piranha but Pontiac had the rights on that name, it was the name of a concept car they did. Doesn't explain why the SVT Contour didn't get a special name, though... never heard if that car was supposed to have a special name.

Piranha is kind of a dorky name, but the real thing is one crazy, ferocious, scrappy little meat-eating killer, so I guess it kind of fits.

ford is weird...ill never forgive them for not givin us a special name for us svt owners....i dont wanna be know as a focus :(

I'll tell you one thing, it needs more cowbell.

Originally posted by WhiteZX3
I'll tell you one thing, it needs more cowbell.

Aaahahaha ROTFLMBO!!! [rofl]

idk why people dont like the name personally i like it alot..Paranha just sounds evil. im definatly getting one of those things...just my 2 cents

i dunno bout u...but i wouldnt be able to go up to someone and be like...i have a piranha..they would probably look at me and either think im crazy or just laugh at me....dont wanna deal with either....

just call it the mini-cobra lol

I'm in the Piranha camp, and will own one of the badges soon.

After following Sport Compact Car's SVT Focus project car, whose sole purpose is to "outperform the SVT Cobra Mustang in all our standard performance tests, while keeping the total project bill less than the cost of a Cobra", another name came to me.

It's got a similar cheese factor to Piranha, but here goes: Mongoose, aka Cobra killer. Go Ricky-Ticky-Tavy!

Here's the sport compact car article if you haven't been following it:
http://www.sportcompactcarweb.com/projectcars/0404scc_projsvtfocus/

"Perhaps the most surprising thing about the final assembly process is how staggeringly boring it is. The process takes only five hours, which seems quick for something like building a car, but the actual assembly operations are so well-thought out, and so efficient, that the car spends a good deal of that time just hanging there, waiting for someone to bolt something to it. The entire drivetrain, for example, takes about two minutes to install. The engine, transmission, axles, front suspension and brakes are all bolted to the front subframe on a separate line, and join the car in an operation so simple that pulling the engine out seems like a reasonable theft deterrent measure. The exhaust goes on in one, well-practiced swing. The rear suspension is six bolts."

And it took the Ford dealership seven days to order parts and change out my clutch...?

Originally posted by ilcowil
And it took the Ford dealership seven days to order parts and change out my clutch...?

yeah, took them 5 to GET a cabin air filter for me, cause auto zone and advance didnt have one

[QUOTE]Originally posted by LastRites
[B]Piranha's are fast & crazy. Try sticking your hand in a tank full of hungry ones [;)]

An individual Piranha is just a pain in the ass. It takes a hundreds to be dangerous. Can you imagine hundreds of SVTF's cruising in a pack? It sounds like a feeding frenzy to me!

I don't know too much about them. I was helping this girl clean out the tank that had 2 Piranha in it one time and one of them jumped out and scared the shit out of me.

The stance of the SVTF is low, aggressive, menacing. Kind of how these insane little fish look and I like it.

Btw I ordered an emblem fom DavLafont in Infra Red and it is hot! Can't wait to slap it on the ass of my car!

i had a piranha the size of my head in a 45 gallon tank. it was a red bellied pacus. my silver zx5 looked just like it. kinda snubby nose, tall midsection, crap i coulda painted the bottom of my car red, and rode around with him in a 5 gallon bucket in the car! they do look like those hyperactive tropical fish though. i think it would've been a fine name.

Yeah, if you look at a picture of the car lte's say offset from the front passenger fender then a picture of an actual Piranha you can start to see the lines. At least I did [dunno]

^^^ i agree i thinks its a fine name

I never knew about this story. This is very intriguing. I'm on the pirahna bandwagon! I'm getting one of those badges and will from this day forward tell everyone I own an svt pirahna.

I NEVER tell people I drive a Piranha. I barely bother to mention SVT; only if I think they'll know what SVT means. But I've answered those who've seen my badge and asked. Most recently it was at an autoX when a ZX3 driver asked about it. I told him the deal. He smoked the shit outta me on the course (my first time, his umpteenth). It was a cool conversation starter, but didn't lower my times any... [?|]

Originally posted by ilcowil
"Perhaps the most surprising thing about the final assembly process is how staggeringly boring it is. The process takes only five hours... Hey, did you get this from "The Machine that Changed the World" or "The Second Century"? Just curious...

Originally posted by davlafont
I NEVER tell people I drive a Piranha. I barely bother to mention SVT; only if I think they'll know what SVT means. But I've answered those who've seen my badge and asked. Most recently it was at an autoX when a ZX3 driver asked about it. I told him the deal. He smoked the shit outta me on the course (my first time, his umpteenth). It was a cool conversation starter, but didn't lower my times any... [?|]

Hey, did you get this from "The Machine that Changed the World" or "The Second Century"? Just curious...


You have an order.

When people ask what I drive, I tell them I drive a Focus. I don't bother mentioning SVT, because the only people that give a shit about "SVT" are the people that own them.

Hey Dave,

In developing the PIRANHA emblem, I imagine that you generated some type of digital file of what it looks like to give to the vendors you had make the part. Is there any way that I could get a copy of that (in .jpg, .gif, .ai, .cdr, .png which are what the speed hut takes).

I'm going to get that emblem put on my oil gauges from speed hut.

The quick answer:

http://homepage.mac.com/davlafont/piranha/ad-design.html

and copy the fifth .jpg down. It has a gradient fill, but you should be able work with it.

Here are some PIRANHA emblems if anyone wants to use them for their gauges, etc.


.png
http://www.kungfu-grip.com/PIRANHA.png

.jpg
http://www.kungfu-grip.com/PIRANHA.jpg

If you want a different color / file format. Let me know. I can email them to you. Or if you want any other words / images done. I'm alright with Photoshop (well actually I use the GIMP (http://www.gimp.org/) now).

Originally posted by blacknfastsvt
How come the svt mustang is called Cobra...the svt f150 is called lightning...and the svt focus is well just the svt focus????? it sucks to still have to say that ur driving a focus instead of a cool soundin name like a cobra or lightning....

*Cough* SVT Contour *Cough* Man, this friggin' cold is kickin' my butt!

Too bad the SVT Lightning started out N/A... I'd have said because it lacks a supercharger, but that isn't the case.

I have pics of the Pontiac Piranha (thought it was cool looking) from a few years ago. Don't know where they are, but I know there are pics on the net of the Piranha. I like the SVT Focus name.

i just say its a SVT. not S-V-T, like three seperate letters. I run then all together, into one word .
See wut kind of reactions you get when you tell people you drive a SVT

I'd call it Mamba but Dodge Viper has that, but why not Mako, faster and meaner than a pirahna

I think it looks like a june bug.

How about not calling it animal names and giving it something like the ST170 in Europe???

piranaha? gimme a break...im sorry, but thats sorta lame IMHO. I must of missed the boat on where that came from..but if ford never put a name on it other than focus, whats the point now? Its not REALLY called Piranha

flame away if necessary...lol, i just dont get it. I like just SVT on the back of mine[:D]

I think it's the perfect name...tight, quick, razor sharp, a little on-edge, and deadly in packs...[:D]

http://www.trollart.com/slides/amazonslides/images/piranha.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/johnrend/OrangeGone.jpg

Piranha is cool with me. I'll order the badge soon.

[:(] Thats a sexy svt in that picture. I'm gonna my svt. I think I'm trading in the piranha... can't afford all the problems.

Originally posted by popecruz
[:(] Thats a sexy svt in that picture.

Why...thank you! [:D] What sort of problems you running into?

wow, ther is a striking resemblance in those two pictures......youre car looks great BTW!

i have to say, the badges look pretty nice. whoever's making them is doing a great job

Ford UK used to have a Capri Perena (From Piranha), that they raced. It had the Ford 302 motor instead of the 3.0L Essex V6. I think that is where the thinking came from for the Piranha name. It was quit good for its day (1971). Here is its stats:
The Perena Capri 1970-1973 Engine 8-Cyl. vee formation at 60 degrees
Crankshaft Five main bearings
Bore x Stroke 101.6mm x 76.2 (4.00in x 3.00in)
Capacity 4949cc (302 cu in)
Valves Overhead
Compression ratio 9.3 : 1
Fuel system Single four-barrel Holley 460 CFM carburettor
Maximum power 281bhp at 58000rpm (SAE)
Maximum torque 300 lb ft (43.1kgm) at 3500rpm (SAE)
Transmission Four speed manual gearbox. Borg Warner limited slip differential
Gear Ratios 4th 1.00, 3rd 1.29, 2nd 1.69, 1st 2.32, rev 3.35
Final drive 3.080
Top gear speed 33.0mph (35.4kmh) per 1000rpm
Brakes Standard servo, front disc / rear drum
Wheels / Tyres 5x13 Rostyle wheels and 185/70 13 radial-ply tyres
Length 167.8in (4262mm)
Wheelbase 100.8in (2559mm)
Width 64.8in (1646mm)
Height 50.2in (1275mm)
Front Track 53in (1346mm)
Rear Track 52in (1321mm)
Unladen weight 2352lb (1067kg)
Top speed 143 mph (231kmh)
0-60mph 6.6 secs

See link: http://www.fordcapri.co.uk/mk1/specials/perena.htm

Originally posted by Spec3VR6
i have to say, the badges look pretty nice. whoever's making them is doing a great job
senk u veddy mush ;)
[takes bow]
I couldn't have done it without the online Focus community.

For the record, my wife thinks it's gay as can be and my step-mother (age: 66) thinks the whole idea of an internet community that debates a car's name is too strange for words.

FWIW, I'd rather have a real badge that is related to the car's unique heritage than a bunch of decals advertising perfromance parts companies (for free).

Originally posted by popecruz
I'm gonna my svt. Um... good luck with that? [???:)]


*Edit: OK, based on popecruz's other thread, he meant "I'm gonna sell my SVT."

hahahaha