I have a 95 stang 3.8L V6. I don't view it as a performance car at all, its more of my cruising car. What I want to know is why the 3.8L that are put in stangs are so WIMPY. I know it is due in part to pushrods are worse than SOHC and DOHC, but what else makes the engine so weak? (145 horsepower is the rating, little 2 liters can par up to this). I recently saw a commercial for the new mitsubishi eclipse, it has a 3.8L engine rated in the 200 range for horsepower.... And here I am stuck with 145 measly horses...

I am asking this because I am wondering if I should mod this engine, or just scrap the car and get a GT instead. Does the 3.8 have any promise as a performance oriented engine?

 

Well the pushrod isnt the big deal. You might be an automatic which makes them really doggy. There is a few things you can do to perk them up. Personally, id just go find a GT. They obviously have more power but also you get better suspension, nicer rims better seats, all the options and opened vents. But if you cant afford a gt or like most of us young people, cant insure one then you can do stuff like exhaust, rear end gears, basically every mod that you can do to a v8 exists for a v6.

And as for the mitsubishi thing. You have to rmember that technology advances, i mean look what ford did to there 3.8L v6 in the 05 ive heard it pushes over 200 now. There is stuff out there that they just didnt do 10 years ago.

 

the 3.8 block? not at all weak. the stock parts such as cam, intake manifold, heads... on a 95 3.8L? very weak indeed. with the split port intake manifold and bigger cam, the 99+ v6s have about 55 or so more hp at the flywheel than your yr. if you have the money, buy a gt. modding a v6 is what i chose to do b/c of my limited budget and the fact that i am 16.

 

ummm...the 3.8 engine is not weak at all....a guy is running twin turbos with stock internals and runnin 10s....so....you say the 3.8 engine is weak....ur wrong....its prolly cuz you're single port induction...switch that sucka to split and youll see a difference in power....tyybo is right about GTs having better rims, seats, etc....but still...if ya want to be a non conformist....go with the v6.....plus less insurance, better gas mileage. Plus, the 3.8 responds twice as much as the 4.6 if you would do mods...its up to you about moddin tho....ur choice....

 

the other way around. a higher hp car will respond with more power gain from mods than a lower hp car. for example- intake/exhaust upgrades give a % of total hp gain and if you get the same % gain (which if it is the same design product you will) the higher hp car will make more power from that mod

 

94-98 v6's aren;t that bad. soon enough people will say they are turds or slow(i beat you v8 guys too it) i had a 96 v6 stock that never lost a race just know how to pick your battles. just do some gears, heads, intake, exhaust etc and only race cars you know are slow and youll love having your car.

 

acually just race everyone it dont matter if u win its just fun racing haha

 

50 hp? i really fine that hard to believe, a buddy of mine has a 99 vert v6 and my mom has a 96 v6 and the 96 actually seems a little faster.

 

the 99-04 have 193 hp, 94?-97 have 145, and 98's have 150. the 05's have 210, but 4.0L engine.

 

As already stated, the 3.8 block is stout and capable of producing a lot of horsepower. There are several reasons that Ford had to choke the 3.8 down and it is mainly for financial reasons. One of the stories I've heard is that they had to choke the V6 up to 98 because they could barely get over 200 HP's out of their new V8 addition to the family, the 4.6.
We all know the Grand National was a turbo 3.8 and at the time was the fastest American production car made.....or most hp's, I can't remember.
My buddy has a Stealth with a 3.0 V6 putting out almost 500 hp's.
For our V6's it's all in the top end. We can get around 80 hp's just from rebuilding our top end, then add forced air and our V6's are insane. Ford wants you to buy a V6, then want more power, then get a GT and then sell you a Cobra when the GT doesn't cut it anymore. Ford can't have a light weight V6 putting out the same or more HP's as their 4.6 V8, but we can. [sm=smiley20.gif]
If your not mechanically inclined and have to pay someone to do the work, then you might be better off moving to a GT, but if your up to the challenge and want something different, then build your V6. GT's are a dime a dozen, but fast bad *** V6's are unique and admired.