I did in this order ,,eibach prokit , catback , shifter , midpipe , sold that midpipe , full lengths , midpipe to match , VORTECH , bigger tires in back
In the early seventies, a popular Ford engine was the 351 and a popular Chevy engine was the 350. Both of these motors came stock with about 250 bhp. When my friends and I modded these motors, we would try to match the horsepower with the cubic inches using basic bolt-ons. In other words, our goal was 350 bhp. Our 4.6 liter Mustangs have 281 cubic inches, and they come stock with 260 bhp. This does not leave much room for improvement with basic bolt-ons. Having said that, I've added nearly 50 bhp with basic bolt-ons bringing my bhp to 310 bhp. That's not bad for 281 cubic inches. Unfortunately, bolts for the 4.6 are expensive, about $40 @ horse if you do the work yourself or $60 @ horse if you have to pay for labor.
the reason the 4.6 doesnt have double the power the 2.2 does is because it also generates twice the heat and friction! Its the law of diminishing returns!
"There seems to be a never-ending supply of every "bolt-on" you can imagine for these cars. They all seem to give you 5-10 rwhp or maybe a little more or less. They cost so damn much money that I started adding it up. It worked out to be an insane amount of money for little horsepower. Why do we do it, and why does the 4.6 not respond to mods very well?"
Well there's the old adage that there's no replacement for displacement...tho forced induction comes close. The problem is not just the displacement but the entire architecture of the engine. These little engines only have 3.5 inch bores, with lousy bore spacing. So boring them out to 4" (like they should have been from the beginning) is impossible. Scrawny little bores shroud the valves and decrease flow. Four valves help, but are costly. Same goes for blowers.
I happen to believe that if GM had have had the stones to back the F bodies and actually build 'em so they didn't nickel and dime you to death, Ford would have had to respond by ditching the modular engine and redesigning the old 302 and/or maybe adding a 351. OHV V8s with 2.02 inch intake valves are just so much easier and cheaper to build than these mod engines.
As it was the stangs were just build so much better than the firebird/camaro. Plus you gotta remember the nineties to present is a retro era. Probably because of the mellinium change. Vulcan/Road Star/Shadow = Harley, Miata = MG, Viper = 427 cobra, and Mustang = well, Mustang! Ford was smart enough to start making the SN 95s resemble the first gen mustangs. Bye bye competition, and bye bye tweakable muscle cars for the common man.
The fact is FoMoCo has done a bangup job of wringing out a great deal of hp out of these little engines. The ford engineers have left very little to the imagination. They have already covered almost all the bases. It's just a shame the guts aren't forged.
Yes, with just 281 cubic inches , these cars can run the 1/4 in 14 seconds flat. That's a bit faster than MOST of the old school musclecars. Plus , the cars are of better quality and handle great for the price. We've got better tires, too ! And I've built up a 302, and it was pretty pricey, too, especially whne I added in the professional machine work and professionally tuned carb. I guess if I get the urge to go faster, I would think about going with a turbo. Sheesh the aftermarket is just starting to ramp up.