I saw the car on Craigslist since I live in NJ, but I liked what I saw. It doesn't surprise me at all that the v6 Mustangs are selling like crazy. With gas prices going up, I figured that people would prefer the v6's due to their potential for big power and stingy fuel mileage . But even the 5.0's should be able to get in the mid 20's to low 30's on the highway if you take it easy. But yeah, I'm seeing these v6 Mustangs everywhere.
Finally got to drive one.
I wasn't overly impressed tho,I actually drove a 2012,middle of march seems a bit early for the next yrs model,but at least now they are becoming available ,because the 2011's are scarce in the v6.
First the car i drove was dull, it had dark blue outside + black interior (+ was the base interior),the red one on craigs list with the tan interior is much sharper.
It was an auto with the 273's ,so it was the least performance oriented version.
The power is good,but not great in that configuration,I have never been in an automatic,that is somewhat of a performance setup that has so much Yaw between shifts,A good shift kit will probably take 3 tenths off an e.t. it is crazy slow shifting,+ almost like a power loss for a split second as it finally did shift,I may have been hitting rev limiter tho,or i think i read somewhere that it has some kind of torque sensing thing when they shift, I think when they do a tune they eliminate it,so i could have been feeling that too,ill have to read more on it.
Also this car only had 4 miles on it + so the motor was very tight,+ i'm sure that it still had the cheap gas they put in at the factory,87 or lower,+ these cars automatically retard or advance timing to accomodate up or down on the octane rating,+ this being a 10.5 to 1 motor ,it was probably pulling the timing way back.
Having said all that,I can see where they have great potential, they do want to rev,+ make good power. I think even without upping the power,+ just putting
a converter,gears, shift kit,good gas,+ a tune,is going to make it a quick little car. I would bet very low 13's before adding power with,all the usual bolt ons.
Even with these gears,i held the brake for a second + it was very easy to start the tires spinning,but once it started to spin i just let off,I didnt want to bring it back smelling like burnt rubber,i'll bet with those 273's + a 7000 rpm redline it'll put down a pretty long first gear smokeshow. Just the perf axle option with the 331's will make a huge diff i'm sure,but a shift kit will be manditory in these cars.
Also found out as well built as everything is in these,bottom end etc.they also have the extremely strong 8.8 rear with limited slip as standard equipment which since 2005 have the 31 spline axles, (So i'm assuming these have the good axles too)thats insane in a 6 cyl,(my ls1 camaro ss has a wimpy little 7.5 inch grenade for a rear)which means if you do supercharge one, the rear is't going to be a problem, you've already got a big strong posi rear to back it up.
I would imagine these new trans are pretty beafy too.
I feel strange talking about a v6 car,like this,but for the price it's pretty incredible what they are building into these things.
about 2 +1/2 Decades ago i payed over 18 k for my gn,now roughly 25 yrs later you can get a 6 spd 305 hp 2011 stang,(manual trans are 1000 less)with
dealer discount + $1500 rebate from ford ,for $21500 or less,I'm not sure how they are doing it but there is a couple with auto trans on the internet,(one in texas with 45 miles for $21000 even with the 1000 auto trans option.)This is in 2011 dollars,which are worth way less then a dollar was worth in 1987,It's probably the equivelent of paying about $10000 for a gn 25 yrs ag
f course this is for a base model ,but now the base stang is actually very loaded if you compare it to back then,these base stangs have 4 wheel anti lock brakes power everything,posi rear,keyless entry,160 speedo,guages, etc. etc. some 4 valve heads + high rpm capabilities, that should make awesome power with forced induction + overbuilt drivetrains to handle the extra power.
Don't get me wrong i'd much rather a gt without question but the price is alot higher,I just think the price is phenominal on these for what they are giving you.
Look what it costs to build a T/A motor,with an aluminum block,forged crank + rods,free flowing aluminum heads,+ all the labor, (cost more then the whole v6 stang costs)I think the t/a setup is most likely alot beafier, bigger rods ,beafier block etc, but the mustang blocks are pretty beafy 6 bolt main,With forged crank + rods too with heads that i would think must flow close to the 2 valve t/a heads, possibly more.
I would love to see how the 2 stack up against each other.with tests to see how much boost the ford motors are going to be able to handle.
The ford motor is a production block + rods,crank etc. so its prob not fair to compare the 2 but it would be interesting to see just how far off the stang 6 would be.
That 5.0 is extremely impressive too + looks like its going to be able to handle big power,one of the magazines is testing it + it is making big hp under boost,+ they found that the weak spot so far is at 700 rwhp,so probably 800 crank hp, some part of the oil pump is letting go it happened twice i think at 15 lbs,but the rest of the motor is holding up fine so far. They are working on a better pump + are going to keep pushing it,they are comparing it with a gt 500 + it is making more power then the gt 500 with the same amount of boost,its making all this power with the smallest kennebell super charger.These new motors are monsters.
There is a bone stock 5.0 on youtube with just the 2.8 kenne bell (Smallest)blower,+ drag radials, running 10.6 @ 133.6 mph with stock automatic.
at 11 lbs of boost. That mph says its a low 10 car as is,Imagine with slicks,converter,gears,long tubes,x-pipe,cat backs,etc.check it out ,it's the red one on you tube. You can tell by the lauch compared to the car next to it,that a converter + slicks will cut alot of time off the e.t.
Let us know if you end up buying it.
