98 GT bolt ons

BurningRubber said:

Nothing against the 4.6's, but its alot easier to make that body style 5.0 fast (cheaper too) than the same body style 4.6.

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Not necessarily....you just need to know what you're doing with a 4.6L. I agree, that if big power is your goal, the 5.0L's ability to drastically increase it's displacement for very little money is where the OHV takes the lead, but as for nickel and dime stuff, the 4.6L is still every bit as competative if not further ahead of the curve.

Mod motors have always responded better to intake and exhaust mods in bone stock trim than the OHV has. It's true that the pre-PI intake/heads aren't the greatest performer on the market, but it's no worse than the stock Pick-up truck casting ET7E heads, or MN12 T-birds/Cougar intake manifold that the SN95 Mustangs have been saddled with. An induction and exhaust upgrade can yield as much as 20-30rwhp on a stock pre-PI engine. Without changing the heads and intake, on OHV often has trouble seeing half that much. Especially with the SN-95 versions.

Take into consideration heads.....the stock E7TE's can be ported, but even in the hands of the most experienced porters, their performance potential is limited at best. Not so for the 4.6L. Even the NPI heads can be upgraded and/or ported to flow as well as all but the best aftermarket OHV aluminum castings.....and for just over half the cost.

What about intakes....a PI swap for earlier 4.6L can run you as little as $140 and even less if you pick up a used intake. Tell me where on earth you're able to find a new high flow OHV intake for much less than 3-times that price. It's true that a throttle body and plenum upgrade can run you a few bucks on the 4.6L....but no more than a Throttle body and MAF upgrade on a 5.0L. In all the but the most extreme cases, the 4.6L's stock 80mm MAF flows more than enough air to suit the engines needs....the same can not be said for the 5.0L's measly 55mm unit. Upgrading it is a must to see the most from a head and intake swap.

Cam swaps aren't cheap for the 4.6L either and can run into the $600 range for an aftermarket set up but a set of PI cams will really wake-up an earlier NPI car...of which can be had for about 1/3 of the price. Even still, a cam swap does diddly for an OHV without changing the heads and intake along with them. Which brings up back to the need to swap out to a set of high dollar aluminum heads and intake....thus negateing the "cheap horsepower" arguement.

Different things work well for each car, but the mythe that the modular engine can't be made fast on a budget went out about 8-years-ago when the PI cars were introduced. New parts are becoming more plentiful as well as less expensive. Not only that, but the market is starting to saturate with nearly as many used parts for the modulars as there have been for the 5.0L's over the last 10-years.