jjcuff1

I had an 01 3.8l manual premium stang. I bought it for a great price but traded it in four a god priced v6 lincoln ls sport auto. I love the lincoln for ride and cmofy, it has some power but not sporty per se. It does handle well and definetely feels just as fast as the 01 stand but with a much better sound and smoothness to the engine. I have 2 kids i get a few days a week (3 and 6). I am thinking of dumping the lincoln and getting a stang for fun.

Anyway the v6 loks just as good as the v8 but what about the quality of the engine? After a few months in the 3.8l here were my complaints:
big engine with supposed high torque (210/225) only made big noise.
Granted I think it was 7.2sec 0-60 car but it felt like the valves were coming through the hood when I pushed it and the rpm powerband was so high for a larger engine that I had to downsift to get above 3500rpm top really make power but with a big sloppy pushrod it hated that and I could feel it.
On top of that it was onlygetting 19-21mpg all day city or highway.
I was expecting 24+mpg if i babied the thing in traffic.
So for the crappy performance and the bad mileage it had no redemming values. loud, sluggish and bad mpg.
the new style blows the old one away but the 4.0l look like the same 4.0l they had in the ranger at the time. It had the same hp 210 but little btter aftermarket potential and hotter cam for better powerband and torque?

Well hows does it compare to the 3.8l

after i sold the 3.8l I got a 04 F150 4.6l v8 and although not as fast 0-60 it didi feel, sound and drive with so much more authority I am sure the f150 could easily catch a stock 3.8l sleeping from a rolling start and the torque of the truck would have pulled on it.


The lincoln is a mic of both. But I love the new style.

8cd03gro

well i have driven an 00... the 4.0 feels like it has a pretty large jump in power from that, and definately has quite a bit more pick up. If you get bored of the extra power that is already there, an intake and tune will set it another large amount ahead. Some people see a bit over 200rwhp and some see 230+ rwtq with simple bolt ons...thats about 240-hp at the crank and probably close to 260 ft lbs of torque. You should go test drive one for yourself, you will likely be impressed.

rygenstormlocke

The 4.0 with bolt ons will run stronger. For boosted engines, there is some debate that the Essex block is stronger than the 4.0. I'm still gathering information on that, but I definitely seen some impressive 3.8 boosted blocks running great ET's. Its actually a very strong motor, can take some abuse. Though the 3.8 guys I talk to bitch about the exhaust note of the 3.8/3.9. LOL.

What are you plans? Plus the 4.0s do look a lot better IMO.

mustangman02232

if you want bolt ons, get the 4.0, if your looking for a nice build up, 3.8 all the way, ford loosly modified the buick Grand national motor, put it in a stronger block and crank, and loosly based the heads off the cleavland 2V heads, in turn, the essexs head make the 5.0 E7TE heads look like boat anchors and are about equal if not better then the GT40 heads, also, build a 450 HP 3.8 and a 450 HP 5.0 for DD and see what will last longer, with out a mexican block, the 5.0 will have a core shift and crack in half, the 3.8 doesnt suffer and money wise is about equal to build up as a 5.0 for price

pretty much any 3.8 though with an MAC exhaust will sound like crap, bets setup i heard was long tubes, no cats an H pipe and 2 force pro series mufflers dumped out back

justin of vmptuning.com has 450 rwhp on a 100% stock block, cam, heads, crank 3.8 and is running 17 psi of boost

matt neuthart is running a stock f150 (4.2 just for stroke) crank and a stock essex block and is running 31 psi, 800 HP and in the 9s, currently THE fastest v6 mustang out there

weakest part of the motor are the pistons, of the car, the t5trans, the 4R70W is pretty good at holding powerand lasting but its slugish stock, a jmod or D2D shift will help alotand the 3.8 makes a lot more torque lower and you will have a 90% chance of busting 7.5tloks with its power band

jjcuff1

Thanks for the info. I am aware that ford fans can take any engine combo and pound out tons of power in many combos and in many $$$ ways. I was thinking of more of a stock for stock, maybe simple bolt ons and overall power band, driving performance, sound.

I already dropped $8,000 into a 1992 RS 5.0L TBI 5spd manual camaro back in 1995 for all sorts of custom tunes, unlike today, It was sleeper back then and turned 13.3 NA and 12.8 on NOS with street tires. Slicks it saw 12.2s. 1/8mile was 9.2sec NA and 8.8NOS

Fun and a v8. if i had to do it again though, once O got the speed bug I realized how much I spend on that car I could have done for a fraction on an lt1. Lt1-chip, cam,head, exhaust combo like $2500 installed and you had a 340hp and 12.7sec NA car. And that to me was more of a car, driveable, failry stock, fast as hell.

What i like is have in the looks (and the v6 can lok just like a v8 or better) I love the shelby gt look. And the althoug the 4.0l is not a v8 if : (my questions)
1: is the gas mileage that much better over the v8? unlike my 3.8 stock got only 17-20
2: sound over the 3.8 and potential sound with modded exhaust
3: chip,cai? what does it sound like? noticable gains over a 3.8setup?


I have tried the above or have seen and heard the above on a3.8l setup and for a daily driver it was disappointing for the extent of mods I did on the 3.8l compared to the minimal cost of just getting a stock v8 and keeping it the stock for mpg, sound, power the 3.8l was so far off that the mustang was not fun and too small. Now if the 4.0l is that much better then the 3.8l and makes the stang acutally sound and feel sporty and you can get a used for cheap then it is a better v6 stang.

Otherwise the 4grand differance in teh v6 to v8 is worth the $4k because just $600 more in a speed pack you can have a failry compent street killer and great looks that you can mod as you wish

jerseystang07

I say if your are going to buy a brand new S197, wait for a 2008 model. From what I understand, Ford will be replacing the 210 HP 4.0L block with the 265 HP 3.5L block that is currently in the Ford Fusion.

cookiemonster

I'm getting 33 mpg on my '07 V6 on the expressway ... only drivetrain mod I have is a Magnaflow axle-back muffler.

Stolen 98

What's to say that 3.5L won't be able to be swapped over into the '05's? Based on past model Mustangs I honestly do not believe the '08/'09 will be a HUGE change. For example '94-95 had the same engine as '87-93, '96-98 had same body as '94-95, '99-04 had basically the same engine as '96-98 all PI stuff swaps over. I honestly can't see Ford changing the body style/drivetrain completely over again after only 3 model years.

fallfast90

Them switching over is nothing but rumors, mainly because the current 3.5 is FWD, they are going to have to modify it for RWD. As for the original post, the 4.0 responds a lot better to bolt-ons then the previous gen 6's. As i am sure you have seen, there are a few bolt-on 05's that are running pretty close to 14flat. Just keep reading and i am sure you will find what you like. Happy Hunting

wolfey2k

Yes, I agree that it's just rumor.
The Mustang 3.5 is a rumor at this point just like the emissions legal BOSS 302 is a rumor at this point. They are both potentials for later stangs but nothing at all is set yet on if/when. Just a BIG maybe. Ford isn't going to do anything to shoot themselves in the foot, that's for sure. But they won't hesitate to produce limited edition Mustangs at any time. That's for sure ;-).
There is a RUMOR that the body style will be changed once again around 2010 to 2012....
See the pic below. I want one ;-). Well, except for the all glass top. I'd rather not have that sitting over me. A hard metal top is just fine for me.
But it's not anywhere near time to release the official info on the '08 stangs yet.
As for saying that a mod to the 3.5 engine will be required for adaptation to a RWD car, it will only take things as simple as a different (RWD) tranny and motor mounts to adapt. The engine itself 'as is' will work just fine in a RWD vehicle.
Here, check out this article on the alleged upcoming 3.5 liter engine swap...
http://www.<a href="http://www.modde...6-mustang.html
You can also read up on the latest skuttlebutt on the BOSS 302.
God I can hardly wait to get a BOSS 302 'Stang man! OLD SCHOOL!
Yeah baby!...........Yeeeeaaaahhhhh!
P.S. for some silly reason the url got**** out....so I added a space between modded and mustang.
remove the space betweend and m to make the link work..

P.P.S....here's a quote from the above linked article,,,,,,
"Who knowsa 300hp+ Duratec 35could one day power Ford’s V6 Mustang line, but for the time being willreside in theupcoming Lincoln MKZ sedan, Lincoln MKX, Ford Edge, and Mazda CX-9 crossover vehicles as a trial run."

Nuff said............