93 LX

Dude, the thing about the 2.3 turbos is the turbo part of it. That means that you're jamming more air into the engine that would usually fit.

A bit of math and physics to think about.

Normal atmosphere is at about 14 psi at sea level. We don't feel it because it's all around us. Just a fact.

So, running no boost, your 5.0 is jamming 5 liters of air into the engine per cycle. Our 2.3 is jamming 2.3 liters. That's obvious.

The SVO and TC came with a stock turbo that ran at about 14 or 15 psi. That's an <i>additional</i> 14 psi over normal atmosphere, or twice atmospheric pressure. So essentially, stock 2.3 turbo motors equaled a stock 4.6 v8 motor in displacement.

You do the math and you can figure that it takes about 16psi boost to jam as much air into our 2.3 as you can into your 5.0.

But the thing is, the 2.3T motors could handle a hell of a lot more. Often you see 2.3T's boosted to 25psi. That ends up equaling 6.4 liters of effective displacement. I've even heard of these motors being boosted as high as 30psi (effective displacement of 7.2 liters) with stock long blocks!

And anyone can tell you that SVO's and TurboCoupes didn't come from the factory at 10 seconds. Stock motor means just that. Stock <i>motor</i>. The long block is exactly as ford made it. The intake, exhaust and turbo have been modified to handle the high boost, but not the engine itself.

So stop knocking the 2.3 turbos, because we basically have the ability to jam a 427 under our hood, but get the mpg and weight of a four banger. (Oh, and my 2.3 gets 33mpg, 25 city, the only mod being a K&N filter)
 
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My question for you is: How fast can you run with a 100% untouched 5.0 and nitrous? How much will it handle?

Why the hell would you even consider comparing the performance aspect of a highly boosted 2.3 to a stock 5.0 that came out of a truck? That's lame, pull your head out of your ass. If gas mileage weren't a factor, there would be no comparision between a boosted 5.0 with forged internals and a boosted 2.3. The only winning component to your arguement is the cost factor, that's all.

You guys argue all the typical 4 cylinder arguements. You're talking as if a 5.0 can't be modified and can't run boost. In your ideal perfect world, maybe. However, welcome to reality.
 
The only winning component to your arguement is the cost factor, that's all.

Bingo. That is the question here. That is the most important statement of this entire thread. In your own words.


If you'll remember the point of this thread:

I would like to ask your oppinions on whether I should swap out the old engine for a lower mileage 4 cyl with a turbo or go with the 5.0 conversion. What is more cost effective

That is the question that we are all answering right now.

<i><b>What is more cost effective.</b></i>

Dollar for dollar, you can pull more power out of the 2.3T than the 5.0.

But here's the part that will make even you happy.

<i>To a point.</i>

You have a budget of say, $2500 dollars, you can get more power out of a 2.3T swap than you can out of a 5.0 swap. (if you have to buy all the parts, junkyards included.)

As 351wcoupe said, he's running in the 10's on about $1500.

On a budget, you can get more out of the 2.3T than the 5.0. Plus it's easier to swap into a stock LX 2.3.

If you have, say, $10,000+ to work with, and the time and skill to do it, then you can do a lot with a 5.0.
But forged internals are expensive, as are the heavy mods that you'll need to do. I have no starry eyed thoughts that a four banger is on average better than an eight. And even if you start spending $20,000 to utterly soupe up a 2.3, if you put that same money into a 5.0 or an even bigger block, and you'll get a hell of a lot more power. I know that, I have lived in reality.



But on a low budget, in an already 2.3 car?

For the best combination of ease of swap and great power.
You can't beat a 2.3T.
 
I raced all over the country this year. Let me know where you're from and I'll take a detour If I come that way. I would love to line up whatever it is you could bring out.

I knew you couldn't answer my question you just danced around it instead.
I'll leave you with this before I close this thread. Take a stock 5.0 and supercharge it and get as wild as you would like but retain everything 100% stock oil pan to intakes. How fast can "you" run? Check out the other thread where I posted 2 timeslips from MIR this weekend. 11.59 with issues. stock powertrain and everything turned down. With less than a 100shot I'll be in the 10's easy.
The difference between stinger and I versus the poeple out there like you is that we are ACTUALLY racing. I've made over 400 passes in the last 3 years. I hide nothing I get 5-8 emails a day from people who want to know where the secret lies. Its all out there for anybody to duplicate, install a driver and it will run the same times.

My car in its entirety can be repeated for less than $5000, I have way less in it due to ebay, junkyards etc. So the actual cost to beat is right at $3k for everything. There are several 331 cars with Afr and a tremendous shot of nitrous that run exactly the same time as me or slower. There are few faster and my area is nothing but mustangs/camaros. I have less in my car and the brand new 30ft enclosed trailer than it takes to safely build an 11 sec single power adder small block car.
 
You're talking as if a 5.0 can't be modified and can't run boost. In your ideal perfect world, maybe. However, welcome to reality.

We aren't arguing this and I don't know where the hell you got that idea. When there are thousands of 5.0's running around modified and boosted, it's not something that can even be argued.

You asked to see a 2.3 that could do what the 5.0 could do for 2500, we showed you one (of many).

You then claim it's not a fair arguement...OK, you're the one that originally proposed it????

Then you say the only thing we have going is it's cheaper which was THE POINT OF THE THREAD...so now what?

BTW, if you didn't notice his screen name (351wcoupe), he used to be a V8 guy until he realized that his first stock engine 2.3 car on the spray was as fast as his 351 powered "race car" on the spray...

Now the 2.3 is in the "race car" and it's more than a second faster than the Windsor running the same shot of nitrous...
 
The windsor in question wasn't stock either. It had forged pistons, stock truck rods and everything blueprinted. Stock hand ported heads(junk), .509/.512 lift cam, roller rockers, intake, and carb and a 125 shot. The car was deadly consistant but sucked as far as the times it would run.
 
For anybody still reading this here's a link to someone in the 5.0 forum posting about running a 10.9 for the first time. Judging by the sig it says 331 w/ Trick flow heads, cam, intake and a vortech s-trim, plus who knows what else.

http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=512315

Ok I change my mind, you could probably do all of that cheaper than my car. :rlaugh:


While you're at it look at his profile. It shows the timeslip info and we had an almost identical 1/8 mile and I had 1 more mph on him and mine pulls way harder now.
 
5.0 is cheap

i bought a 93 lx 4 cyl, for 800 bux, i bought a 5.0 t5, 8.8 rear, and 5 lug convert, for 700 bux, then a set of long tube bbk ceramic coated and off road x pipe and bullets for 700, and a set of 17" black cobra wheels for 300, that was a budget build for me untill i sold my other toy now this is no longer my daily, so i can put some more money into it, but for the most part i spent 2500 bux, and it is a very reliable daily driver that gets about 20 hwy, and 17 city, so if you want to do what you want to do either the 2.3t or the 5.0 they are both about the same price to build it just takes a little while to find the right price on parts, it took me a year and 6 months to get mine together just for the simple fact that i had to drive all over to find the parts and i am in a car club so we had junk yard days where i wouldnt find anything but someone else would before i did or i over looked it, and it helps to have more than one person there helping look for what ever you need because i almost lost hope but its finally together and it runs and drives no problem, i have a t56 swap that i am going to do and i might just throw an ls2 in there and call it a day, lol, i have no idea what i want to do with mine but the more you read and the more you research the more you will understand which way you want to go if you havent done it by now:Track:
 
1990 lx convertable no rust exc shape

hellp i have a 1990 4cyl mustang thats in great shape...newer top new top motor..interior could use some tlc....the front right fender has a minor dent other than that no rust and would b a perfect car for a 5.0.im asking 1400 im pretty firm but cash talks.u can email me or reach me at 727 831 [email protected] name is adam.