Mustangs, then and now

[low_delta]

2003 Mustangs
3.6L V6, 193 hp, 19/27 mpg
4.6L V8, 260 hp, 18/24 mpg
4.6L V8, 390 hp, 16/22 mpg

2011 Mustangs
3.7L V6, 305 hp, 19/30 mpg
5.0L V8, 412 hp, 18/25 mpg
5.4L supercharged V8, 550 hp, 15/23 mpg

First... 300 horsepower and 30 miles per gallon. That's pretty damn cool.

Second, I love the comparison of the 2003 GT model with the V8, and the 2011 V6. That's 20% less displacement, and 15% more horsepower. And better mileage.

What was that, the carmakers were telling us about not having the technology to make more efficient cars?

Comments

[ghostofzuul.livejournal.com]

here's a dashboard mounted one that come pre-loaded w/ 3 different tunings... but yeah... for $50 an old laptop and tracking down the settings on one of the mustang tuner websites would be way cheaper and more fun probably...

i don't know which v8 you have but if you had the 390 hp engine you could probably get it to around 430 440 with just bolt on stuff and exhaust and tuning... i'd probably want to put bigger brakes on and a biger rear sway bar and probably stiffer shocks front and back if i was going to do that too... costs add up fast...

[ghostofzuul.livejournal.com]

oops...

http://www.americanmuscle.com/trinity-0510-custom-tuner.html

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

Nice.

I've currently got the 2003 V6, and I'm trading it in on the '11 V6. I'm not all that knowledgeable about working on cars, but I'm generally handy. I'm sure I could handle the bolt-on stuff. The cold air intake sounds like a good idea. I think I could use a tuner that I could switch back and forth between economy and performance. I'd have to justify any major expense with some kind of fuel economy gains (even just a little bit). This car's costing me a lot of money, and I'll need snow tires too. But if I could do the tuning on my own...

You've got me thinkin.

[ghostofzuul.livejournal.com]

cold air intake is easy b/c on most modern cars you just unbolt the airbox and there's a hose clamp holding the airbox on the mass air flow sensor... the cold air intake just bolts right on to where you take the airbox off of... if you go that route i recommend you try to source one that comes with a built in heat shield... lots of them i've seen have the correct length extension and and said heat sheild one of those is actually a cold air intake b/c it's blocking out the engine heat... lots of the go-fast-kids/boy racers just slap them on there and while it does increase performance it's significant with a heat sheild...

for example... all the examples on this page have heat shield...

http://www.americanmuscle.com/2010-mustang-air-intakes.html?location=headerlinks

i think those prices are too high though you could put the parts together out of a catalog and probably save $50 or forget the hassle and get it one stop shopping...

i drove a 2010 v6 mustang and was shocked at how much power it had and what a nice car it was... i'm sure the 2011 is just as nice... sweet ride... you're lucky you can use snow tires.... out here in oregon we have to use chains or tires with spikes in them...

as far as the tuning etc. i would check some forums and see what people are saying and seeing how easy/hard they've found it....

not to be harsh... but the average dude who works on cars isn't a genius... it's experience... in the end it's lefty loosey... righty tighty... you know? that being said... there's lots of things i can't do b/c of lack of tools.... a garage... courage... but you know... a lot of stuff like changing brakes and spark plugs and oil etc. i would never pay someone to do unless i was in a hurry or just had that kind of extra cash... i shudder to think at how much i've spent in the past before i started fiddling around about 10 years ago.

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

I can't imagine driving with chains, except on snowy logging roads or something.

Yeah, that's the thing - I just haven't had that much experience. I wish I'd gotten more experience on my less expensive cars. Not sure what I want to risk on this new one. Courage is right. I changed my plugs once. I stopped changing my own oil when I got the '03. It was almost as expensive to do it myself, and that's not including my time. I really need to learn how to do brakes. Had the fronts done earlier this year - cost me a fortune.

Looking around that site, I see a couple of things I want to try, but I think I'll wait a while. I want to make sure there are no bugs in it before I void the warranty. And while I'm waiting, I'll have to do some research on tuning.