My wife and I are looking for a convertible Mustang. She wants the 94-98 body style, and I want a stick shift V8 convertible. Half those years were the 5.0, but it was still MAF, correct? THe other half were the 4.6. This means it has OBDII.

We are looking for a car to drive on weekends and times when the kids are with grandparents. I may do some mods, but nothing radical. Which engine/drivetrain would be better for me? I'm leaning to the old one just because it's cheaper. Feel free to PM me if you have somethig I may be interested in.

 

My wife and I have a 95 GT convertible with the 5.0 engine and an AODE transmission. This car is our evening/weekend crusier and we love it. The car is pretty good on gas and easily gets 20 mpg. In the year and a half that we have had the car we've done a few upgrades to it and it is a nice strong running car that turns heads.

 

96-98 4.6

 

Well, you do make a very convincing argument.....


Seriously, please give me a reason why. Money isn't enough of a reason for me to get soemthign I'll regret later. So far, the only thing I can think of is that my wife has a 96 town car with the 4.6 and I can stock less oil filters and such.

 

5.0s were MAFfrom '89 on I believe.

Imay be a tad biased towards the 5.0s seeing as I have one . Seriously though, if all you are looking for is a weekend cruiser then to be honest the biggest factor I would look at is cost and miles. The 4.6 and 5.0 for the years you listed have almost identical performance (the 4.6 got a nice power boost from '99 on though) with the 5.0 maybe having slightly more low-end grunt. I'm not sure why OBD I or II matters to you unless you plan on tuning it or troubleshooting it yourself or plan on doing some pretty decent mods. The '96 and on also have the PATS systems (anti-theft) standard from the factory. Both engines respond well to bolt-ons, which is what I assume you mean by no radical mods. If you did go the modding route though 5.0s are cheaper to make power out of N/A while 4.6s get the most bang for their buck through super/turbo-charging. The above pretty much applies to GTs, as the Cobras are a whole 'nother animal. The 4.6's Cobras have quite a bit more power over the 5.0 ones using a different version of the 4.6 (DOHC rather than SOHC).

I personally like the 5.0's because I'm a bit old-fashioned and like the 'olpushrod powerplant and prefer the exhaust tone of the 5.0s over the 4.6 and there is slightly more room under the hood if you like turning the wrench yourself.

 

if you are gonna do any mods to it then the 5.0 is the way to go. it will be much cheaper to mod and responds so well to them. they are about the same on the speed aspect with the 4.6 having a very slight advantage over it. i have a 94 gt and i love it. there is no way id trade it for a 96-98.

 

It's hard to find a good 5.0 with low miles in good condition, i would jump on the first one you find,

 

whatever you find in nice shape without a **** ton of miles and at a good price get it. its gonna be hard to find a 94-95 (those are 12+ years old now) in good shape cosmetically and mechanically. you thought about a cobra either?

 

There's no need for that kind of attitude and if you are going to be obnoxious, try doing a SEARCH. Parts for a 5.0 are cheaper, 4.6 is more reliable in my opinion and it's a newer car. IF money is an issue...which it seems it is for you, don't buy a mustang. Go buy a car you can "afford" to spend money on.

 

94-95 all the way. a lot of 5.0 or 4.6 cars have been beat the crap out of but i think 5.0's last longer even through the abuse. there is several 5.0's in my area with over 200k on it and still smoking ricers.

If your going to mod the car definitely go with the 5.0 there is a real aftermarket behind and you will actually see a gain from it n/a compared to the 4.6. Why do you think so many people with a 4.6 put a supercharger on it? there just isnt enough parts to make a real performer in a n/a form with the 4.6 motor