I am buying my first Mustang. I have about 5k to spend and I have a question. I am looking for something with a manual trans from 87 to as new as I can get. I have been looking and I am running across more V6's than GTs, LXs and Cobras. The V6s seem to not have been beat all to hell. The newest GT I can find is a 98 while I have found quite a few 99-04 V6s. So the question is should I buy the newer 6s instead of the older GTs and Cobras.

Just so you have all the facts. This will be my daily and I already have a list of things that I want to change, like suspension and brakes that doesn't matter which engine I will have.

 

Just so you know, the '99-'04 3.8L V6 is more or less on par with the horse power in the fox body 5.0L V8. Dollar for dollar, adding more is going to be about the same.

If you are talking suspension and brakes, I'd go with the 99+ V6. You'll have a better starting platform than the fox bodies. My 2000 V6 gets 25-26 mpg around town and over 30 mpg highway. (Maxed 34 mpg last time I drove it across the county.)

 

v8 all day every day. My mint 90gt got 30 mpg on the highway and I babied it just like the next 3 Ponies I have owned.