difference between 96-98 and 99 up 4.6 gt motor

[ban-one]

what is the difference between the 96-98 4.6 gt motor and the 99 up 4.6 one? i hear the term pi what does that mean? what year car would be better to buy the 96-98 gt or the 99-01 gt?

 

[Stang|ess]

PI is power improved. It includes a new intake, cams, and heads. If body style doesnt matter much to you, buy the 96-98, and do a PI swap. Or if you can, buy a Cobra. 4v is the bestest thing since sliced bread!

 

[stangGT97]

96-98 4.6s had a fairly restrictive intake manifold, heads and cams, which were updated in 1999 to up the hp output from 225 (1998) to 260 (1999). The easiest way to wake up a 96-98 GT is a PI manifold/cam swap, or if you are ambitious, do a full PI head/cams/intake swap. The full headswap should net ~10rwhp more than the intake/cam swap due to a bump in compression (99+ 4.6 pistons have a larger dish than 96-98). I bought a '97 because I love the body style, even though it isn't that fast. It is, however, faster than almost all of my friends' cars, and it turns heads so thats enough to make me happy

 

[Dope 97GT]

I wish i woulda got the 99-04 GT instead of mine. I think the body style on the newer years is like 10 times better and with the PI heads they are noticably faster. Hey but thats me...I mean i still love my car that why i bought the supercharger.

 

[Dorsai]

+1 for the 99 and up. I love my 04, I find the round look of the pre 99's to, well....round.

 

[stangGT97]

+1 for the 99 and up. I love my 04, I find the round look of the pre 99's to, well....round.

everyone has their own taste. any car can be made fast if you have the $$ and can drive well

 

[ban-one]

how much hp gain do u get from the pi cam and intake swap? it it worth enough hp to get the 96-98 for cheaper and save the money for mods or just go 99+ route, and cant find a cobra there super expensive in upstate ny and hard to find. or id get the svt 4.6

 

[Mustang5L5]

I wish i woulda got the 99-04 GT instead of mine. I think the body style on the newer years is like 10 times better and with the PI heads they are noticably faster. Hey but thats me...I mean i still love my car that why i bought the supercharger.

I prefer the lines of the 96-98 a little more better than the chiseled 99+ body. I fully intended on buying a '98 GT and doing the PI swap to it.

However, i chose my 03 simply because it had the better looking redesigned center console with the 6-disk radio

 

[Skidzz]

I went with the 96-98 body style because I like the looks better....unless ofcourse it's an 03-04 cobra. 03-04 cobra > all. As for the PI swap, buy the intake manifold, then used pi heads w/o cams if you can, because you can get them cheap. Then, instead of PI cams, same for some comps or vt's. You'll be looking at about 270 rwhp. Hell, if you can, p&p the heads too. I have yet to see any proof (dyno sheets) that a npi with only the pi cams and intake will put down close to as much hp as a npi engine with the full pi swap. I think it's best to get the heads too, especially if youre going to open it up to put cams in anyway.