If it’s the exhaust sound that’s the issue, there’s a simple solution: glass pax.
I am reminded of Frank. He was a Cuban refugee in the late 60’s. His entire life he traded ‘up’ every 3 or 4 months. Always something he wanted better, and next month he’d be beating himself up for getting rid of a better car than what he had.
If indeed OP only does this once, just once, he can handle it. I don’t see that happening much. What I see for folks like that is what Frank did.
Not that it’s our business in the end, but OP needs to know what he is facing if he starts upgrading for minimal reason. The itch never stops.
Got a friend who kept wanting to make his Chevy pickup sound like a Mustang,kept buying Flowmasters and such (I dont think the sound will ever be quite the same ,for various reasons ) an acoustic engineer may be able to do it ,sound does matter ,ask any British sports car buff.
As an aside ,we got a new state trooper ,who will automatically write you a ticket ,if you have Flowmasters on your vehicle.I had a pretty expensive Super Turbo muffler installed on my Dodge,after it rusted and fell off( I suppose ,wasnt home when it happened ) put the stock stainless steel muffler back on and lived happily ever after ,noticed no degradation in performance either .So maybe racket isnt that important after all (now if we could something about those nerve jangling riding mowers )
If I were you I would keep that nice Mustang you have. I always had a soft spot for the original Mustang SVO…which incidentally was a Turbo 4. Its no coincidence that Ford used the same 2.3L engine size. This is a nod to those old enough to recall the SVO. Back then a lot of people couldn’t justify paying V8 money…or more…for a Turbo4 Mustang…but those who did actually enjoyed being different. Today its FAR more common to have a Turbo under your hood and this has been a long time coming…I remember as a kid wondering why they didn’t Turbo more often…I was fascinated with Turbos…Kinda still am.
I would have to agree with @jtsanders …He makes nothing but sense in his response. I agree you should keep it…drive it, enjoy it…and then a few years away make your switch. You will have saved up more money by then as well. If youre still single without children that is…haha.
But like I mentioned…you have a TON of “tuneability” to play with…it will not be difficult at all to get another 100Hp at the wheels…and brother let me tell you…a 100Hp injection of fun into any vehicle will transform it by anyones measure. Its hard to ignore an extra 100Hp shot of “kick you in the pants” whenever you drive it. That is honestly just the beginning as guys are wringing silly Hp numbers from that thing right NOW. I’d have gone with a manual trans, but thats just me…they can handle big Hp numbers much more easily…but the auto can hold its own and even be quicker than the manual if done right. Invest some of your new found “play money” into some ECU tuning…it will literally turn the vehicle into something totally different…all with a few lines of code and no major hardware…AND it can be returned to stock very easily as well… Sweet.
My vehicle has a TINY 1.8L Turbo4 with 5 valves per cylinder and a 6sp manual… Original Hp number was 180 stock… I am currently putting down 298Hp at the wheels and brother let me tell you…THAT is a difference no one can ignore…puts a smile on my face and confusion onto other faces every single day.
Blackbird
“See if you can honestly answer for yourself: how many times per week would you need that extra HP?”
“Disclosure: I’ve always bought the smallest (non-turbo) engine I could and still never felt I was missing something.”
It’s a Mustang! Sports cars or sporty cars are made for performance.
A four-banger in a Mustang is like a bear with no claws or a shark with no teeth! You expect something to be there that isn’t. I understand how that could eat on somebody.
A Mustang isn’t meant to be as practical as other cars costing the same or less. It’s only got 2 doors and a small back seat. Practicality is not why you buy one.
CSA
CSA: guess I can’t see that viewpoint. A car is for transportation. Not racing.
If you are into racing, which has to be on a track, that is different, but I don’t think that is what is being discussed here.
Street racing is illegal and silly (my opinion). A pedestrian got killed on Beacon St in Boston recently by cars racing. Beacon St is a narrow residential street. Barely wide enough for two cars together.
@BillRussell
"CSA: guess I can’t see that viewpoint. A car is for transportation. Not racing."
You’re right, it is a different viewpoint.
As for buying a car like that strictly for illegal and silly street racing, that’s not how I see it. To me it’s the thrill one gets every time they go out and get in a car of this sort, the most exciting one in the parking lot. One doesn’t have to race it to get appreciate what it can do. Also, nothing wrong with feeling a little acceleration (up to the posted speed) and a little exhilaration.
These cars turn my head when I see them drive by even if they’re going 25mph in a 25mph zone, just flat out cool cars.
I’m a pretty practical guy, but not everything in life has to be practical. People should afford themselves a couple of impractical things that gives them a thrill or at least pride of ownership.
CSA
OK…so bump that 4Pot Mustang up to 600Hp…can do that with the money we were discussing losing in the swap up to the V8. It will forever be lighter than any other Mustang Configuration and will run circles round many if not most…it has no choice at that point.
So…now that I have tuned this guy out of his 4cyl Turbo Mustang… What other fast things can we buy?
My CBR1100XX Blackbird now sports a Turbo…395Hp to the rear wheel…495lbs…6th gear ratio good for 250+mph…do the rest of the math.
Blackbird
There Is No Substitute For Cubic Inches! It’s As American As Apple Pie, Baseball, And Chevrolet! A Mustang Is No Rice Burner.
America, What A Country!
CSA
I don’t know if the human body can sustain 250 mph. At least not with a sudden stop.
Carp you are in the big bucks now, 2 to 4k probably means nothing to you, old biker phrase, live hard die young and make a good looking corpse, you have money, it is only money, use it or loose it.
sure would like to get 100 hp more out of the power tech v6,but apparently it was designed to be forever a dog,with little performance and fuel economy,the pentastar v6 on the other hand has a lot of potential,like to be able to put one of those in the ol Dakota(its almost a hundred # lighter then the powertech V6 believe it or not) the big problem with engine swaps now is the peripheral electronics .etc.Dodge even saddled the Powertech with a crummy transmission ,
I think the best thing for me to do is just get another pickup when this one croaks .
(I like sleepers,a 4cyl mustang is a "sleeper " HBB is on to something,the lesser weight on the front end sure is going to improve handling .
The pentastar V6 has apparently been PLAGUED with mechanical cylinder head problems ever since its introduction
If you keep your foot in that turbo it isn’t going to get you much better gas mileage than the 5.0
The thing about a turbo is ,it gives you the equivalent of more displacement and can increase the efficiency of of ICEs a bit and it seems to sweeten the powerband on modern engines( 1 Bar will only put so much air into a cylinder ,a turbo can really help with that ,but the tradeoff is a highly stressed smaller engine
.http://www.allpar.com/ will give you the lowdown on the newer Pentastar engines ,cylinder head issues apparently fixed. @Db
Of Course I hear you @“common sense answer” …I’m a Gearhead of the highest order…no need to try and explain cubic inches, why every guy thinks he needs more of them or the V8. I’ve had PLENTY…trust me. I can appreciate massive cubes, no question. My last experiment with this was a Boat with Triple Blown 502’s. In High School I was convinced that I NEEDED the Mad Max Interceptor…the Black one with the clutch on the blower? That clutch scene had my mind spinning for YEARS…I still think about it actually. Ive had more high cube iron than most and enjoyed it thoroughly…in a primitive Tim Allen sorta way. Instant torque is addictive and V8’s deliver the twist…no doubt.
I can go either way…but there is something to be said for doing more with less…its a challenge. Today that challenge has been made much easier with computer controls, fuel injection, direct injection and forced induction.
If this OP has never owned a V8…I really shouldn’t be the guy who tries to tell him he doesn’t need one…if he hasn’t had one…ever. Who am I to persuade him? It would be hypocrisy in a big way, since Ive bathed in V8’s and big cubes for a long long time.
Knowing what I know now and having had all those engines it is only now that I try to do more with less…but Ive spent plenty o time in the cathedral of the V8… I would understand either decision he made at this point in my life.
Blackbird
@Honda Blackbird
I hear you, too. I am impressed with small displacement engines that have extremely high performance, no doubt!
Probably my first awakening was during the Big Engine era and my buddies and I drove my 71 VW Super Beetle 1600cc (now called 1.6L) to Watkins Glen NY for a week-end of camping out at the race track and watching The United States Grand Prix.
I don’t remember the year, but it must have been in the 70s, eh? The famous racer Jackie Stewart won, but what I was also impressed with was the screaming RPM and speed of those Formula One (very small displacement) cars!
They’ve probably changed things now, but I was literally standing against the guardrail at that track when these cars screamed by. YOW!
Also, since I’ve owned seven or eight motorcycle I appreciate small performance engines.
However, like me, you picked up on the cubic inch thing and if somebody wants that and the special thrill that comes with it, well…
…A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do!
Edit: Looks like the U.S. Grand Prix referred to at Watkins Glen was in 1972.
CSA
I am probably the last person on the planet to be giving automotive advice, but my all time favorite cars to drive were the Ausin Healy Sprite and MG Midget. I thought it was fun to use the gears for maximum efficiency to get the best performance from the 48 HP engines. For me, the Mustang you have would be more fun than the 5.0 Mustang. My brother had (and still has) a 1969 Buick Grand Sport and a1959 Corvette. Both cars were powerful for their time period and I have driven both cars. However strange it may seem to some, I still preferred the Sprite/Midget. If I could go buy my dream car today, it would ba Mazda Miata. It would be worth taking a couple of aspirin and a swig of Geritol® so my joints would move before getting behind the wheel.
Thats funny @Triedaq my brother has a 69’ Buick GS400 Convertible…Bannana Cream Yellow w white interior…1700 made I think? It is definitely the “Buisnessmans Express” for sure. Its all restored…
In 72’ I was still a Bun in the Oven until late June…lol
What is parked next to it in his garage? My 66’ MGB…also all fully redone… I gave the project to him with my new Car Dolly and 3K worth of new restoration parts in the car… Some assembly required was the Mantra…and he took it up…and did an amazing job. I have pics of them round here somewhere. Funny you mentioned both makes in one post…
The other mention was the Miata… The last one I had we shoehorned a Ford 5.0 in there…THAT was a fun thing to drive. I wanted to install a Turbo Rotary but the 5.0 fell into my lap and I couldn’t resist. Haha
Blackbird
@“Honda Blackbird” Back in the late 1950s and early 1960s, I even thought the Morris Minors and Morris 850 (fore runner of the Mini Cooper) were more fun to drive than the much more powerful American cars of that period. In one of these cars, you knew you were in control. Driving the softly sprung American cars of that period with power steering that didn’t much feel of the road and power drum brakes that were extremely touchy didn’t inspire driver confidence.