5.0 haters.. 5.0 reputation

[ill advised]

When I was 15 I got my first Mustang, an 85 GT. That car was a MAJOR hit amongst all my friends, even though it was a big POS. By 2000/2001 the 5.0/Fox Mustang was THE car to have in my area, everybody and their brother was trying to get their hands on them, and they all did...weird part was that only a few of us really "stuck together" It is clear now that some were just doing it to be cool...I am one of a few who is still into them

Yeah, this definitely sounds familiar. I got my first Mustang, which was an 85GT BTW(!), when I was 19. This was back in late '88 though. Keep in mind my previous car, the one I drove throughout my teens, was an '82 Corolla. lol I still remember my friend's reactions the first time they saw me get sideways. Within the next year or so, two of them bought 5.0s. At that time the Fox bods were really beginning to take off in my city. A couple of guys I went to high school with ended up getting Irocs so needless to say we were racing constantly. lol Our cars were basically stock, only later did I add gear and mufflers, but damn was it fun.


One thing I find funny now is how I initially completely wrote off the coupes. When I was shopping for my 85GT I went to a Ford dealer and saw a white coupe on the showroom floor. It looked so plain and unassuming I didn't pay it any attention. Common sense didn't tell me "helloooo, do you see that badge?". About 2 years passed before I raced and got smacked the hell down by one. lol A black coupe with black 10-holes. "All" it had was gear, exhaust, crank pulley and bumped timing but that race was ugly. We ran a couple time but I never bothered getting out of 2nd gear. :laugh: I'm pretty sure a stock one would've beaten me too though. Luckily the guy was cool though because he pretty much introduced me modding. That was also the first time I heard a 5.0 with Flowmasters and no cats. That really set me off. I held on to the 85 for a few more years before being won over by the LX (although I still have yet to own a coupe).

 

[Notchbck93]

People magazine race all of the time:

Fact:

A Honda Accord 6cyl stick will run a 14.20 along with a Alti 3.5 and now the dam Camry v6 bangs low 14's.

What was relatively quick when the 5.L's roamed ( 20 years ago ) is considered family sedan times today.

Guys are putting Altima v6's in 2800lb Sentras and banging mid 12's at 107mph and still getting 25+ on the highway. Cost to complete project is 5G installed for you.

Granted my Notch will always hold a special place in my heart with the cackle of a 534 lift cam, the vortech whistle and the classic reef paint --- it's a trip back in time.

Who could ever forget the classic click click sound when checking for neutral before starting the ride?

 

[Aliate X]

Who could ever forget the classic click click sound when checking for neutral before starting the ride?

lol that stops once you get something other than a T-5, TKO's dont do that. I dont miss that sound either.


Anyways theres only 2 other foxbodies around here that I hang around with and are good friends, but its funny because all 3 of our cars happen to be black fox bodies on pony wheels that everyone is afraid of around here, mines the slowest of the 3 though /cry. One is a 351 with a 76mm and the other is a 2.3 turbo that is in the 11's now and on its way to the 10's.

 

[Superhereaux]

Who could ever forget the classic click click sound when checking for neutral before starting the ride?

ahh this brought back some memories

 

[QUICK91LX]

One thing I find funny now is how I initially completely wrote off the coupes. When I was shopping for my 85GT I went to a Ford dealer and saw a white coupe on the showroom floor. It looked so plain and unassuming I didn't pay it any attention. Common sense didn't tell me "helloooo, do you see that badge?". About 2 years passed before I raced and got smacked the hell down by one. lol A black coupe with black 10-holes. "All" it had was gear, exhaust, crank pulley and bumped timing but that race was ugly. We ran a couple time but I never bothered getting out of 2nd gear. :laugh: I'm pretty sure a stock one would've beaten me too though. Luckily the guy was cool though because he pretty much introduced me modding. That was also the first time I heard a 5.0 with Flowmasters and no cats. That really set me off. I held on to the 85 for a few more years before being won over by the LX (although I still have yet to own a coupe).

thats funny, the little place where i got my 85 also had a sold 82 GT (this was the car i actually went to get, it had sold the very night before) and 2 LX's, one notch one hatch. I never even looked at the notch, I just didnt care for them. Come to find out later on working at a toyota dealer that the kid I was working next to ended up buying that very notch. They have grown big on me now, I'd love to get my hands on one...but my GT will have to do for now.

 

[curtisboyte]

Mustang is the best car on planet for the dollar, go and try to make a rice burner make the horse power and torque a mustang does put the same money in both cars and see how fast a rice burner gets left behind. Also my fox body is 24 years old. When a civic or that other rice crap is 15 years old, you have a piece of crap for the car crusher and when a stang gets old you have a classic. That is the difference you have.

 

[ryan218]

ive personally seen a 93 5.0 coupe...5 speed factory no option car with the only mod's being a set of 4.10's and a pro 5.0 shifter get a 13.8x at the track..nonthing to sniff at for a 93 huh...

foxes rule...the end.

 

[25thmustang]

I have personally seen a 91 LX with a prochamber, catback, 3.55s and DOT tires go 13.3 @ 101. Not only that but it was my fathers car and probably had more in it (crappy track but decent weather).

 

[Aliate X]

wtf this is so old

 

[ryan218]

I have personally seen a 91 LX with a prochamber, catback, 3.55s and DOT tires go 13.3 @ 101. Not only that but it was my fathers car and probably had more in it (crappy track but decent weather).

your crazy with what times you pull for what mods you guys have...when you taking the lx to the track? i want to see what it will pull on 18's

 

[DmnStr8]

I bought my car as a toy to wrench on and a never ending project that fits into my budget. Its also hella easy to work on, which is great since I'm not the most mechanically abled.

I really don't care if its the coolest or fastest. Thats a battle I will always lose anyway.

 

[Mustang5L5]

I'll toss a negative spin on this thread.

Those who know me know i love 5.0's and know them like the back of my hand. I REFUSE to sell my '88 5.0 even though it hasn't been started up in 3 years due to me finishing college and concentrating on starting a career and all that stuff.

With that said.

Fox Mustangs just aren't all that great. Spare me the cheap to modify, tons of parts and all that as you know that I for one realize this.

The youngest Fox is 15 years old. There are Toyota Avalons with 268HP, Nissan is cranking 298HP from a 3.5L V6. There are plenty of 14 second family sedans out there these days. A stock Fox mustang can easily be beaten by one of these.

They handle poorly, weight distribution is terrible. The brakes are from an antique 1970's design.

Despite all that I love them. But by today's standards they are not all that great without some mods thrown at them.

 

[ryan218]

I'll toss a negative spin on this thread.

Those who know me know i love 5.0's and know them like the back of my hand. I REFUSE to sell my '88 5.0 even though it hasn't been started up in 3 years due to me finishing college and concentrating on starting a career and all that stuff.

With that said.

Fox Mustangs just aren't all that great. Spare me the cheap to modify, tons of parts and all that as you know that I for one realize this.

The youngest Fox is 15 years old. There are Toyota Avalons with 268HP, Nissan is cranking 298HP from a 3.5L V6. There are plenty of 14 second family sedans out there these days. A stock Fox mustang can easily be beaten by one of these.

They handle poorly, weight distribution is terrible. The brakes are from an antique 1970's design.

Despite all that I love them. But by today's standards they are not all that great without some mods thrown at them.[/QUOTE]

still the best bang for the buck stock car out there imo...even if i had enough money to of bought a LS1 camaro or something like that...i wouldn't..becasue i dont like stock...ls1 cost alot more to mod then a 5.0.....and before you start comparing the 5.0 to the ls1 dont...the 5.0 should be compared to the 305 chevy and the 351 is what should be compared to the ls1's.....

what would you rather be driving? a 4 door toyota(i think there fugly) or a fox?

this has been beaten to death and back a million time for the 5.0's vs the newer cars....if think your fox sucks and is slow then sell it...you must not understand that there 15+ years old and are comparing them to the new engine...that's 15 years that a hell of alot of development has come along...if you look at it...a lot of cars are starting to come factory turbocharged now a days...why?...becasue HP numbers sell car's..they make decent power with the lil 4 and still get 20+ int he city with some power if they want it...me im looking at the big picture...stock fox in good condition wise lets say 200/300 are the number..add a decent H/C/I with an S-trim and go beat up on all the cars that you think are so much better...do it this way and save yourself $15k++

 

[Mustang5L5]

[Qstill the best bang for the buck stock car out there imo...even if i had enough money to of bought a LS1 camaro or something like that...i wouldn't..becasue i dont like stock...ls1 cost alot more to mod then a 5.0.....and before you start comparing the 5.0 to the ls1 dont...the 5.0 should be compared to the 305 chevy and the 351 is what should be compared to the ls1's.....

what would you rather be driving? a 4 door toyota(i think there fugly) or a fox?

Woah there, did i say i hated my fox?? I stated twice in my post that i love them to death. I love wrenching on them and making them faster. On a nice sunny sunday afternoon, i wish i could be out there driving my Fox.


Best bang for the bust cars these days are the forced induction cars. 03/04 Cobras, lightnings, WRX's, S60R's, SRT-4's, Cobalt SS's, etc. A smaller pulley tune and other supporting mods can get some crazy numbers from these cars with very minimal sacrifice in drivability. I've had the chance to drive a 540 rwHP '04 Cobra and have it feel as docile as my stock GT with ice cold A/C and nice cozy seats and still pull mid-20MPG's on the highway. A 300-400HP fox just doesn't have the same smooth stock feel to it.

Sure these cars cost more, but there really is nothing like a brand new car to daily drive.

If you think i hate foxes think again. This is coming from someone who loves them to death. Read any of my posts and question my passion for these cars.

Maybe my mindset has changed since i've gotten older. I'm actually planning on trading my GT in on one of these 300HP 4-door sedans.

 

[93tealstang]

Fox mustangs are what they are, a 15+ year old car. Technology and engineering has come along way. With that said, I really don't care how much hp todays V6 motors put out. They still all look like chit. Throw mods at a fox, make it faster, handle better, and you have a car that competes with new cars at a fraction of the price.

 

[25thmustang]

A fox Mustang makes a great toy or second car, not so much a great DD... TRUST me I daily drove both a 4 cyl and a 5.0 Mustang and now have a 4 door Audi A4... You cannot compare as far as comfort, convinience and feel of the newer car!

 

[ryan218]

Woah there, did i say i hated my fox?? I stated twice in my post that i love them to death. I love wrenching on them and making them faster. On a nice sunny sunday afternoon, i wish i could be out there driving my Fox.


Best bang for the bust cars these days are the forced induction cars. 03/04 Cobras, lightnings, WRX's, S60R's, SRT-4's, Cobalt SS's, etc. A smaller pulley tune and other supporting mods can get some crazy numbers from these cars with very minimal sacrifice in drivability. I've had the chance to drive a 540 rwHP '04 Cobra and have it feel as docile as my stock GT with ice cold A/C and nice cozy seats and still pull mid-20MPG's on the highway. A 300-400HP fox just doesn't have the same smooth stock feel to it.

Sure these cars cost more, but there really is nothing like a brand new car to daily drive.

If you think i hate foxes think again. This is coming from someone who loves them to death. Read any of my posts and question my passion for these cars.

Maybe my mindset has changed since i've gotten older. I'm actually planning on trading my GT in on one of these 300HP 4-door sedans.

maybe if you have 20k+ laying around...if you do feel free to pass me some of it...

i saw what you said about them..i was relating to the people above who said they not up to today's standers...

maybes it becase im young but i could care less how cold my a/c blows...i got a vert for that...all i care about is to have heat in the winter..(which works) and for my car to be decently quick...my goal was a 12 sec vert by my senior years..i got 3 years..it'll happen...maybe its me...yeah id love to have a 03/04 cobra..what mustang fan wouldent? but for someone in my age group in high school a fox is perfect for me..what ive always wanted will get decent mpg for a v8 of its time...AND will have the fun factor when the top is down and i step on it..try that with a new 4 banger...no fun...i wanted a all around fun car that if it breaks..it will be cheap to fix..a fox fits this fine....all and all the FOX is the best bang for the buck if you not looking to spend any more then what i want to..to get started.

i love the way you LX looks black on black with 5 lug cobra wheels...ya a new and nice DD is nice...but when your young i think the last thing your worries about is "will these seats fo my back good for long trips" type of thing?

 

[QUICK91LX]

More like 230-245. Stock for stock an iroc was was faster and handled better than a fox.

Granted, this is magazine racing, and real world cars might perform a little differently, but the facts are the facts...

Road and Track Magazine, October 1986:

1987 Ford Mustang GT vs 1987 Chevrolet Camaro IROC-Z "
"The perennial Ford-Chevy battle continues with a 225-bhp GT and a 220-bhp IROC-Z"

Camaro IROC-Z L98 5.7 TPI 4-sp Auto
220hp, 320tq
[email protected] 1/4
149mph max speed
0.85g lateral
63.3 slalom
159ft 60-0

Mustang GT 5.0 5-speed Manual
225hp, 300tq
[email protected] 1.4
148mph max speed
0.80g lateral
63.6 slalom
168ft 60-0

According to these numbers, the Camaro was a marginally better handler and really no faster than the Mustang...it did get more power, up to 240 by 1989, but was still only marginally faster than a mustang as we all know. the 5.0 owned the 80's

 

[beans72]

Whats with the people bashing 16 year olds that drive fox bodies with 200,000+???[/[/B][/B][/B][/B]U][/B] i drive one and i out run my buddies 99 gt and another buddies 02 gt on a regular basis..For the most part its stock (air intake, underdrive pulleys, H-pipe with flowmasters, gears) But in the next month or two ill be done rebuilding my new 5.0

 

[Boss 351]

Alot of my friends love the 5.0 (myself included) but I know a growing amount of people who are constantly knocking them (and suprisingly.. its not out of jealousy) Then I got to thinking.. our cars dont handle the greatest, they are pretty outdated and get low mpg, they come from the factory underpowered, they are heavy (in relation to imports), similar era gm v8s make more power, and everyone in their family sedans think they can beat them .. I guess their comments are just getting to me, but why does our beloved 5.0 have such a great reputation? I need to be sure of myself so i can defend

Handling: On a non 4 banger V8 swap, the handling isn't too bad from factory. Add some 17" wheels, Eibach springs and new bushings, the car will handle pretty good. You can go all balls out in the handling, you can make it out-handle a Corvette but for less cash make it keep up with new cheaper sports cars.

Outdated: Well that's obvious, if you choose to drive an old car, it will be outdated. Some people like that aspect. If not the New Edge Mustangs are coming down in price and you can get good deals on 2005's now.

MPG: I don't agree MPG is that bad, my old coupe took the same amount of gas as a Honda Civic Si on its 6 hour trip to its new home. In town is a different story but you can always put in a 4.6L V8 mod motor for better MPG

Factory underpowered: I don't think so, back in 89 with the NEW MAF, the 5.0L was pretty much in the high end of the power band with the 225 factory HP.

Heavy: Compared to cheap FWD economy boxes, yeah it is heavier. Compare it to other RWD V8 powered cars of the era though. Plus it doesn't cost much to bring the weight down. My coupe weighed less than 2800lbs and I could still add aluminum heads, k-member, and fibgerglass hood.

GM V8s more power: I don't have any proof off-hand but I find that hard to believe. The stock 305's had enough trouble keeping up with the 4 banger Mustangs. I also always heard people comparing the 350 f-bodies to the 302 fox platform so I doubt GM had the leap back then. Not until the last models (by then the fox was out of production).

Sedans think they can beat them: They can think all they want, it won't happen unless the Mustang in question is a stock AOD with 2:73 gearing and burning oil. I don't see many NEW econo cars run in the mid 14's in STOCK form. I certainly do NOT see many ricers (who would want to street race) run better than what a stock convertible AOD runs. With the age of the "newest" fox Mustangs and the quantity of them, people are bound to run into some pretty slow and beat up 5.0Ls so they immediatly think that they ALL run in the 15 or 16's.

The 5.0L Mustang has always been "the car to beat" it has been such a performance goal that even today, 14 years later, people are still wanting to put the 5.0L Mustang in their "book of kills". What a lot of these people don't know is that it doesn't take a rocket scientist or Bill Gates' bank account to get a fox into the 12 second range.

I just think it's a great Mustang to own. It may not have cool color changing dash lights, it may not be a factory 13 second beast (but back in the day a mid 14 second car was God). It may have that stupid bull**** 4 lug crap and small brakes (which isn't super hard to upgrade). It's an old car, the fox bodies from 79 to 82 are already considered classics (25 years or older). The 93 isn't much of an improvement from the 79 except for larger brakes, EFI and interior refinements.