CHECK THIS OUT
As printed in the Sept issue by Rob Reaser:
There's no denying that six-cylinder Mustangs have been the uncelebrated members of the ponycar herd from the beginning. It is the V-8 cars for whom fame, glory and enthusiast praise has always been heaped in abundance, and historically speaking thats as it should be. Considering the added cost of purchase, fuel economy, and insurance penalties inherent to an eight-cylinder sportscar, V-8 Mustangs have traditionally been the choice of the performance enthusiast set while the six-cylinder cars served to keep the Mustang a viable mainstream product. For that alone, we owe a massive debt to the v-6 ponies, as well as their four-cylinder brethren. Without them, the Mustang would never have sustained the sales volume needed to keep the car alive throught the 1980's.
Unfortunatly, too many enthusiasts have looked upon the six-cylinder Mustangs as "useful idiots"- a car that was necessary to keep the nameplate going, "but please, don't hang around us or pretend to be an equal."
Snobbery at its finest.
Now lets cinsider something. In 1985 the 5.0 GT was rated at 210 horsepower (a significant jump upwards from the 165 hp 5.0 of 1984(. The following year horsepower increased to 225 hp, and this represented the highmark for the entire Fox era.
As we all know, the 5.0 is the most celebrated and thoroughly explored powermill in Ford history. It helped the Mustang win the Ford vs GM ponycar wars, and launched an aftermarket segment the likes of which we've never seen before. With choice bolton components and intelligent tuning strateges, that 225 hp V-8 served as the foundation for some of the fastest gasoline-powered cars in history.
With that in mind, consider also the current V-6 Mustang. Displacement is a scant 0.6 liters less than its V-8 counterpart, and the current base Mustang is rated at 210 horsepower. Folks, thats right on par with the most famed Mustang GT engine of all time. Knock the 2005 V-6 for its power output and your're simultaneously slamming the lauded 5.0L.
Herein lies hypocrisy.
I say all of this as a preface to a prediction: The dawn of the V-6 performance Mustang is nigh. Today this engine stands on a platform high enough that it can jump into the WOW! realm rather quickly. Already I've talked to a few aftermarket manufacturers who are eyeballing the V-6 pony for development of not only choice speed parts, but also comprehensive performance packages. And the whispered word amongst these forward thinkers is "turbocharger."
Why not? In fact, how could the aftermarket afford not to look in this direction? Mustangs are flying off of dealer lots. New enthusiasts are being made daily with the flourish of pen on payment contract, and it's not only GTs which are selling. As of this writing the V-6 couple is $5,925 under the cost of a base GT coupe. then there is the massive insurance differential between the two cars, which is of significant importance for younger buyers.
In two or three years there will be scads of pre-owned fifth-gen V-6 ponies for sale, and all with strong engines primed for a few performance mods. the companies who develop high-performance parts for these cars today will soon reap the rewards, and V-6 owners will also win-particularly those of the younger generation who may otherwise be attacted to the price and performance packages found in many of today's import models.
The V-8 will always be king of the horsepower realm, but the new prince of performance is about to have its day.
Remember, you heard it here first.
