3rd gen vs. 4th gen race... so sad...

[zerodevil]

i say go for it cald, post pics and keep us updated!!...and youtube your victory!!

 

[Xenowolf]

I have an 03 mounty 4.6 V8 and I took it to the 1/8 mile track back when I only had exhaust.. I pulled a 10.1..

Then I took a 06 mounty v8 to the track and pulled 10.35..

When I drive that 06 it feels like I'm going faster.. and it burned rubber easier.. yet my mounty pulls better times.


Now I've got CAI and Exhaust with E-fans... and I pulled 9.974 in the 1/8th with my headlight out haha..

Newer cars arent all they're cracked up to be.. best thing someone with an older mounty or explorer can do is get a programmer CAI and Exhaust.. Your car will love you for it.. and you'll love it in return lol.

 

[XLT]

Are you comparing apples to apples? the 4.0 OHV motor was 165ish hp (only motor available for the 1st gen x).. The 4.0 SOHC started at 210 hp and was 1st available in the 1995 X (I've also seen 205 hp listed). The current sohc that is in the mustangs (4.0 sohc) is listed at 210hp (depending on where you look)..

~Mark

Wait a second. I am pretty sure that 1997 was the first year the sohc was aviable. I have one in my 98 and i love it lot more then my 93 with the ohv if talking power wise.

 

[Limited02]

Getting this slow 6 stuff straight-
http://www.cars-directory.net/history/Ferd/explorer/

Link will notwork because it says ferd. You know wha' it is supposed to say and therefore it will work when you change it to F O R D. Yay, I beat the system!!!!

 

[CDW6212R]

The OHV 4.0 was always 165/170hp. The SOHC began as a 200(or pick your advertisement number)hp engine. It didn't change except for small intake(manifold, not damn air cleaner) improvements.

The biggest change will come from a tune. The SOHC headers are wonderful as stock parts. Don't waste $500 on headers that may add 5hp, get the flasher and a custom tune with it. That will gain the most. The UDP(balancer) is the 2nd best gain. The exhaust(cats and back), an electric fan, and a better air cleaner are minor upgrades. Do the PCM tune last to take advantage of the improvements.

Stop believing everything that you read in a book, a website, or a manual. This forum is full of much more accurate information, if you can get past the stuff posted from guys reading from erroneous books/websites/manuals. Books are not absolutes, they are made by humans, usually not caring how accurate they are. Take them and like any information, verify it before using it as facts in your own words. Regards,

 

[zerodevil]

headers gave me my biggest improvement(and minus an E-fan...ive done it all!!). i dont know wha' your saying about them not being worth it...Ferd exhaust manifolds are no where near as high flowing as a good set of headers...Headers would EASILY free up 10-16 horses...especialy if combined with a cat back exhaust system.

 

[CDW6212R]

I'm sorry that you do not know wha' a bad set of exhaust manifolds look like. The simple three pipes coming out of the V6 on each side are very smooth and well made. They undoubtedly are slightly small internally for maximum power. They don't have natural restrictions though like older manifolds used to have. Those on all SOHC 4.0's are the best cast iron headers Ferd has made. The tubed headers look better for sure, but the whole point is to have smooth unrestricted flow.

Others here have swapped to nicer headers and not gained 15hp. Do not believe the advertisements which come with all products. The hp numbers are not cumulative.

If you upgrade every single part mentioned in this ent.ire thread, you will not gain 35hp. I'd say you would be lucky to see 25hp, but that's wha' I would expect, about 25-30hp maximum. The flasher will make the biggest difference. Test it at the track, not how it feels, nor on a dyno. Times prove it out,

 

[zerodevil]

well we can sit here and but heads all day, but on my V8 4.6..Headers were My BIGGEST improvement(took my 0-60 from just under 8. to just over 7 seconds...video on you tube)...ive done underdrive pulleys, 60,000 volt coils, Cold air intake, Cat back Exhaust, a tune, intake manifold W/ plenum(75 mm), a BBK 75mm throttle body...here is how i would rate them.

1 JBA short headers
2 Tune
3 Intake combo (manifold, Plenum, 75mm throttle body)
4 Steeda underdrive pulleys
5 GMS 60,000 volt coils
6 Magnaflow cat-back W/ hi flowing cats all down the pipe
7 K&N CAI

 

[CDW6212R]

I never commented about any V8 header, nor was I speaking about the 4.6 V8 in any comparison. I know nothing about those, other than the two Crown Vics I have.
For V6 SOHC 4.0 vroom vrooms;
2
4
6
electric fan
headers
big TB(wha' manifold, plenum)
better air cleaner(K&N is an awful air filter, I will never use one again(sprayed gauze filters poorly(dirty air)))

Here is a poor Ferd header;

 

[zerodevil]

that is indeed a nasty set of headers...Im still willing to bet that a set of full lenght headers would do that motor wonders...although i admit my knowledge of the V6 is limited...but i figure the basics still apply...the less resistance a motor has(wether it be from intake/exhaust or mechanical rotation) the more power it will have available...

 

[Limited02]

Ford does have some better factory headers than the one pictured, but any aftermarket is almost always better.

 

[Xenowolf]

K&N cold air intake made an increase for me.. more so in top end but on the 1/8 mile i went from between 10.007 and 10.130 to 9.974 and 10.004 CONSISTENTLY.

it doesnt seem like a big increase because like i said thats low end acceleration.

When I take off on the highway I feel the difference.. and so do the ricers.. lol

one thing that I have tried and tested is removing the headlight in front of the intake..

I have a sniper programmer that can read just about everything on the car(via laptop).

The intake temp with the cold air intake was 110 with the intake in idling.. in motion it dropped down to 96* (it was 83* outside). When I removed the headlight the temp started at 98* and after i started driving around it dropped down until it got to 84*.

Testing that at the track yielded a difference of maybe 0.050 which is enough of a difference to make my car run under 10 seconds consistently.

I havent tried anything with headers yet but hearing someone say that their 4.6 v8 had a noticeable increase i think I'll try it.

 

[shadowless127]

this whole thread probably could've been solved in a few posts...

1) the newer the generation, the better the tune
2) the 4th gen most likely had O/D off if you were max'd out and he was walking away from you. O/D isn't technically a gear so you can't really expect much from it.
3) is the 4th gen 2wd or 4wd.. .yes it matters
4) Your intake and exhaust won't do what you think they will unless you get a tune to get rid of the ultra conservative program.
5) is your vehicle current on all maintainence?

also, as a side note

1995 - Ex redesign, only engine available is 4.0L OHV
1996 - Ford added the 302 as an engine option
1997 - Ford introduced the 4.0L SOHC as an engine option
2001 - Ford dropped the 4.0L OHV and made the SOHC the only v6 available.

Ford needs to do something about their engine choices though; the Trailblazer's I6 puts out the same HP as the 3v v8.... that's just embarassing.

 

[Limited02]

What's embarrassing is that you can get a 390HP engine in a Trailblazer!!! Ford finally gets some kind of sport look to the 08+ Ex but they don't give it any balls. The 3V 4.6 is a capable motor, but I shouldn't have to spend a couple grand to to run with a stock trailblazer.

To the OP- This is today's plan: Get out your credit/debit card, order a tuner, recieve next week, load tunes and tell your buddy you wanna run again. Record video so we can see the win and hear that sixer screaming cause she loves the new power you gave her You can do it, order it NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[zerodevil]

You should get the tune...but make sure you do it after any other bolt ons your planning to install...i think you will need more than a tune personaly. but im a V8 guy...and to be honest...id love to be proven wrong...again..post vids cald.(and for brownie points...dont tell him you did ANYTHING to your rig) ^.^...nothing beats reading his lips say "WTF" as you fly past.

I was totaly about to buy one of the new adrenalines...but i couldnt stand driving somthing that looked so mean...but didnt have the muscle to back it up...its embarasing that ford calls that an adrenaline...and doesnt offer even the slightest power package for it...lame.

thats no joke man!...i have a buddy with a trailblaser SS...another with an SRT-8 Cherokee(corsa exhaust W/ headers + K&N + 7.0L short block)..he kills new mustangs)...and to top it all off my girl friends dad has both an 8.1L chevy 2500(he literaly dragged me around a parking lot for 5 minutes..i fought the 1st 10 feet then just popped it into N..) and an SSR with the 6.0L. i feel so under powered lol...ford hasnt put balls in a vehicle since 2004 with the lightnings & cobras...its like they went sissy on us man...their only real performance vehicle costs 58 grand(and is not even close to being on level with even a basic corvette...and the new SVT raptor is like 60ish...

 

[Xenowolf]

Chevy has more stock HP because of its higher compression ratio.

...which is bad if you ever plan on boosting your engine...

Ford has lower compression ratio which is better if you plan on supercharging/turbocharging.. less likely to blow er up

If I took a ford 4.6 V8 and stroked it I'd destroy any of the competition.

 

[Limited02]

If I took a ford 4.6 V8 and stroked it I'd destroy any of the competition.

That's my point. Stock for stock Ford loses, mod for mod Ford loses. Unless you go nuts and build a 5.4 all aluminum DOHC stroker with a compound boost set up and some nitrous for kicks(WOW 3 power adders on one motor!!) Then you are not being very practicle. But that would be a fun motor don't you think? To give myself a chance against an SS or SRT8, I am going to do the 3-2-1 go! countdown and leave on 3

 

[Xenowolf]

yeah mod for mod it doesnt match up, but it will hold up to boost better than chevy... which is technically better mod for mod =P


and yeah, I raced my friends honda prelude and I let him go on the first honk while I went on the third honk... i still caught him by the time I got him by second gear.


Whats great is... while ford might not be the quickest it seems to be much more reliable than chevy/dodge.. My friend had an f250 lifted 12 inches with semi tires.. it was diesel so he just changed the blades in the turbo and put a chip in, followed by rear gears and he was taking -everything- off the line and up until about 70mph.. but he never broke anything except the tranny after years of abuse..

from what I've heard/witnessed... Chevy blows engines, Dodge blows tranny, and Ford blows away the competition, haha.

 

[Xenowolf]

Oh yeah, something I forgot to mention was the fact that while fords standard run around cars are slower.. The SVT performance cars are faster than the performance vehicles of the competition.

03 Cobra SVT > Camaro SS
00 Lightning SVT > Dodge SRT-10

 

[shadowless127]

That's my point. Stock for stock Ford loses, mod for mod Ford loses. Unless you go nuts and build a 5.4 all aluminum DOHC stroker with a compound boost set up and some nitrous for kicks(WOW 3 power adders on one motor!!) Then you are not being very practicle. But that would be a fun motor don't you think? To give myself a chance against an SS or SRT8, I am going to do the 3-2-1 go! countdown and leave on 3

you can beat a TB SS if you get a Big Bore stroker kit from Modular Perfomance, and a nasty cam setup. Add a supercharger and you've got an SS destroyed. AWDRocks has a built 4.6 stroked/bored to a 305 w/ a beefy Allen Supercharger and he destroyed an audi S4.

Oh yeah, something I forgot to mention was the fact that while fords standard run around cars are slower.. The SVT performance cars are faster than the performance vehicles of the competition.

03 Cobra SVT > Camaro SS
00 Lightning SVT > Dodge SRT-10

98-02 camaros/birds were underrated from the factory so they'd sell more vette's. From the factory people are dynoing at 345whp. Toss a crappy centri blower on it and you're over 400hp to the wheel.

This is why ford needs to drop the 4.0L V6, move the 3v 4.6L to the base model, and toss in a 3v 5.4L into the GT. But like idiots, they didn't...