Fastest Factory 5.0?

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87'GTstang said:
And no it wasn't, it was the first year of SEFI and they had a "turbo swirl" head design that was good for torque but crapped out on the hp department.

I think you better check your facts too cause the 86 is not SEFI. You are right about the heads but 10hp less than 85 is not really crapping out.....but compared to 87's 225 I guess so.
 
66Camaro454 said:
man none of u kno ur 5oh's the SAAC mk 1 came with a N/A gt40 engine platform that had 295 hp in other words the fastest production 5oh

Do you not get the fact that Ford didn't produce those cars? They didn't roll out of the Ford factory that way -- so it's not a Ford production car. It's like comparing a Saleen to a GT and saying Ford made the Saleens faster.
 
89MustangGX said:
Do you not get the fact that Ford didn't produce those cars? They didn't roll out of the Ford factory that way -- so it's not a Ford production car. It's like comparing a Saleen to a GT and saying Ford made the Saleens faster.

well its a shelby car that ford asked to b made, ur guna tell me a 67 shelby gt350 isnt a production stang
 
87'GTstang said:
True, but it wasn't the fastest 5.0/302 produced from the factory. I still don't like throwing that into the comparison for one reason, from 87-93' sales of the 5.0-backed stangs was over 500,000 while the cobra and cobra R combined topped out at 5,100


Well thats b/c they were limited in production for one thing. Everyone wouldnet drool over a 93 Cobra and R if they were a dime a dozen
 
Sir Hacksalot said:
Don't forget, that Ford changed the method that they measured HP in 1993, and that the 5.0 was actually rated at 205 HP, not 225 HP, even though it was essentially the same engine.

Hax

Yeh, you are right , kind of funny that they underrate it when it is usually overrated, you figure they would just want to leave it higher, as to help sales cause more hp means more business in most cases but they sold over 8 million so I guess they don't care.

And come on people production cars are production cars not special limited ,non factory customs.....get it through your thick skulls.
 
66Camaro454 said:
well its a shelby car that ford asked to b made, ur guna tell me a 67 shelby gt350 isnt a production stang

1) I doubt Ford asked Shelby to build a car, however, SVO may have helped contribute to the cause in order to boost sales of the GT40 parts. Either way, it was not produced by Ford.

2) A 67 Shelby GT350 is not a Ford production car. Shelby bought the cars which already had Ford VINs on them and then modified or "built" them and put his own serial numbers on them (right on top of the Ford VINs as a matter of fact). They are a Ford car modified afterwards. If you wanted to, you could call it a Shelby production car I suppose.

A production car rolls out of the factory and onto a dealer lot and is sold the same way. Cars that are modified afterwards are not production cars. We are not talking about modified cars, only production cars.

66Camaro454 said:
if it wasnt for the saac there wouldnt b a cobra in 93 much less the R

I'm not so sure of that either. It would be very difficult to wait until a year or two of sales and then just "decide" to produce your own in house performance version of a car. It is much more likely that a Cobra was in the works for quite a while, probably at the same time these SAAC cars were being produced, maybe even before.
 
If you ask me, the '93 Cobra was no faster than a '93 notch... in fact, if you lined the two up on a fair day for racing and had at it, the notch would probably take the Cobra by a small margin due to its greater rigidity and lighter curb weight. 10 Crank horsepower more out of the '93 Cobra engine only equates to about 2 or 3 RWHP. Personally I'd have to say the '87-'88 notch would take 'em all.
 
OK, i've gotta chime in on this one, having owned each of the major variations of the 5.0, those being the big carb contender, the '85, and the best of the EFI cars, the '88.

First off, everyone remember we're talking about bone stock, and not what the motor "has the potential of making". Of course, if you put a bigger mass air on a stock mass air motor, it's going to kill an '85, but otherwise, there's no shot in hell, and here's why:

Weight savings. How many of you have ever picked up an EFI upper plenum? They weigh a ton. Much more than a carburater. Sure, you're going to say that it's only 10 pounds at the most or whatever and it doesnt make a difference, but when you factor in all the wiring harnesses for the EFI, all the extra throttle body parts and sensors, there's a solid weight difference. I'm sure someone's going to start throwing in weight numbers after this, but dont bother. You're never going to find an accurate weight unless you measure your car yourself.

Next up, either car, carbed or EFI, is going to be faster if it's a Coupe. It's lighter and flexes less, which makes it more efficient at getting the power to the ground. With a hatch, you actually lose a considerable amount of torque to the body flexing.

Finally, it's going to come down to the combination of parts all falling onto the right car. Here's your combo for the fastest 5.0:

An '85 LX Coupe
302ci 5.0L, 4 barrel carb
5 speed tranny
Factory optional A/C delete
Factory optional manual steering
manual windows/door locks

Yea, i know, you're thinking "hey, i've never seen a 5.0 that came factory with a manual rack and no A/C" Well, that's because nobody wanted one. The question of the thread was "what's the fastest production 5.0" So there's your answer.

And no, i'm not biased because i own an '85 either. I've had experience with well over 20 5.0 Mustangs, ranging from an '82 GT to a '93 Cobra and everything in between. I'm no mechanic, this is just the experience i've had and what i've collected as being the fastest. Most people assume the EFI cars are the fastest because they boast the highest HP ratings that Ford handed out, but nobody takes in consideration of what potentially could be purchased from Ford.

You never saw a magazine test something like this combo, because for one, they are rare, and two nobody wanted a 5.0 with no options. If you could have optioned the 3.55 gears on this combo car in '85, you'd be looking at mid to low 13s with good traction and air density.
 
If I had to pick One '5.0' Mustang that was PRODUCED by Ford, to drag race with as it rolled off the showroom floor (I mean factory tires, exhaust, etc.) it would be a completely stripped 1987 or 1988 5.0/5 speed coupe. These things were the FIVE POINT OH that 'created' the 5.0 legacy.

With nothing but 'free mods' and aggressive driving, they were running 13's. They were very lightweight, and were an awesome bang for the buck, even back in the day. Uncork the exhaust, and throw on some gears and slicks, and if the moon and planets were in alignment, you'd see a 12.99 or maybe a bit better. The MAF cars simply allowed more flexibility in mods, camming, heads, etc. The SD computers did NOT like it when this stuff was changed, and it created a lot of myths about the cars being 'untuneable' and how EFI was from the Devil, etc.

Hax