96 stang.

[COramprat]

I'va had mine since 2002 when it had 46K on it. I'm up to 150K now with about 50+ passes at the track. The problems with mine have been a bad carrier bearing at 60K (fixed when I swapped gears) the cracked intake at 125K (fairly easy swap if you are sort of handy under the hood.), and a bad throw-out bearing at 140K. Other than the IAC valve and an alternator here and there I haven't had any other problems.

Now for you monkeys that keep telling people to do a head swap...patooey. My car with cams and the PI intake dyno'd at or above the PI engines. How's that for my crappy heads?

 

[Steve777]

Now for you monkeys that keep telling people to do a head swap...patooey. My car with cams and the PI intake dyno'd at or above the PI engines. How's that for my crappy heads?

Agreed. In fact, doing the PI intake swap alone along with some steeper gears will put you right up there with stock PI stangs. Yes, npi heads ARE more restrictive than PI heads, but they aren't THE major set-back for the 96-98s; the intake and cams are.

 

[EPIK]

The 96-98 stangs are the best looking late models, other than the 03-04 Cobras in my opinion. Although the GT's aren't the fastest, they are reliable. Get it and make it the ultimate sleeper!! It costs alot of $$$ to make one fast though. I wish I still had mine for a daily driver because the gas mileage was much better than my 97 Cobra.

 

[itshowmuch]

after 140k+ miles, daily driving in st louis snow and heat, hwy driving to FFW/NMRA events across the country, 3 world ford challenges, in total just under 400 passes over 8 years, all on stock block, heads & tranny. i can truely say it was worth it. the 4.6 modular engine is a beautiful, work horse of a car.

and to chime in on the repair side: the only part i ever broke was a $3.27 little metal plate that goes in between the 2nd-3rd shift fork. and just recently after all this time the stock manifold now gave out. (PI intake & cams are on the way)

just change your fluids out regularly and take care of it. best mod for longevity was the shifter. just get any aftermarket shifter with stop blocks. the over shifting kills tranny's. good luck and be prepared to have a lot of fun.