Mustang 3.8 ? | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Mustang 3.8 ?

MDPuckett84

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Joined
May 9, 2004
Messages
122
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City, State
Suwanee GA
Year, Model & Trim Level
'01 XLS 4x4
Who's got experience owning a mustang 3.8 ? If gas prices dont go down much after labor day i'm going to have to find a new car. Figured out today that something around 20mpg would save about $1100 a year for me, which is alot being in college. Anyways wondering if there's any major issues to know about with the engine, the car, and its convertible version. Seems unlikely, but is there anything engine wise compatible with my sohc?
Thanks,
Matthew
 



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Ah, the 3.8 Essex V-6, or Essucks, IMO. From '94-'98 they were badly underpowered, but '99+ is OK. Expect to replace headgaskets after 75K.

If you want something with some power and good mileage, I'd suggest a 2.3L turbo Ford. You'll get about the same or better MPG and they're a ton more fun. Look for '83-'88 T-Bird TurboCoupes, '83-'86 Cougar XR-7 turbos, '83-'84 Mustang GT Turbos (also Mercury Capri RS turbos), '84-'86 Mustang SVO, and '84-'89 Merkur XR4Ti.

Check the sig-not that I'm biased or anything. :D

TurboFord
 






Forgot to mention i'm looking for something 2001-2002 :) thank though
 






Are you planning on keeping your X or selling it and getting another car instead? I kinda took your post to mean you were looking for a second car. For the amount of $$$ you'd pay for a '01+ used car, doing it just to save a few MPG compared to your X doesn't make sense. The newer '99+ heads on the 3.8 bumped it to about 190 HP and 220 TQ, which isn't bad. My GF's '99 3.8 Firebird (200/220) is pretty peppy, but it also has a 5-speed. The sweet thing about a $1000 turbo Ford is that you'd get to keep your X, too. :cool:

If all you want is awesome MPG, buy a VW diesel.
 






No i'd be trading the X in. I'd actually rather stay with a truck platform, but I want something alittle more fun to drive than a 4cyl Ranger. I'm thinking if not the mustang, perhaps a grand prix gt or gtp
 






My wife's car is a 2001 3.8 stang. Its a decent motor i guess, seems "peppy" with the 5 speed. Havent had any trouble out of it so far. Gets about 19-20mpg around town... i kinda thought it would do a little better than 20 in town but oh well. I have no idea what it gets on trips as we havent taken it out of town yet.
 






It takes pretty good trips. The 5 spds and the 3.8s are a good match. I would say around 23-25 on trips/highway. Good luck.

-Drew
 






Cool, may go test drive a white convertible on wednesday. Still havent made up my mind completely, i like the explorer and the mustang about equally as much but gas is killing me. Updates soon i guess
 






my boss had a vert 99 3.8 5 speed, just traded it back to his duaghter... pretty peppy and cush.... i liked riding in it.... its a bit low to the ground for my tastes, but it got better mileage than my bosses trans am ;)
 






you can do a LOT to a mustang too. Even the 3.8s - they have superchargers and all types of cool stuff. Even shaker hoods

-Drew
 






My friend has a '95. Its decent, and manages to get 22 mpg city. The older mustangs (mid ninties) had fairly chronic head gasket problems, and i think ford even ended up extending the head gasket waranty to 100k miles. The only thing i dont like about his is that the seat is too small for me (6'1" tall) and when ive driven it my legs rub on the underside of the dash, even with the seat all the way back.
 






Hey, I just did the Explorer to Mustang swap and I'm lovin it!! But why the 3.8?? I've been averaging 22 MPG in my '99 GT and since it's still new and fun for me, I've been driving the hell out of it! Although, you will save some bucks on the purchase price if you go for the V6. Good luck, have FUN! :)
 






I wouldnt go with a mustang that wasnt a V8... just a personal preference.... most seem to be extremely average performance wise.
 






I would usually agree with the 2 statements above however-

We decided to get my wife the V6'er so i would leave it alone. She and i both knew that if we got a GT it would get modded. It would start out small... an intake here, an exhaust there... but within a year i would be taking it over because i would have made it some kind of monster that she would hate as a daily driver. :D Everything i get seems to turn into a "project" and we both knew if she got a 3.8 that i wouldnt bother with it. Tis true, its still bone stock. ;)
 






MDPuckett84 said:
Who's got experience owning a mustang 3.8 ? If gas prices dont go down much after labor day i'm going to have to find a new car. Figured out today that something around 20mpg would save about $1100 a year for me, which is alot being in college. Anyways wondering if there's any major issues to know about with the engine, the car, and its convertible version. Seems unlikely, but is there anything engine wise compatible with my sohc?
Thanks,
Matthew

I'd love to see the math that figured you could save $1100 a year by going from a vehicle that gets 22/14 to one that gets 28/19. That's a nice gain, but you'd have to drive an incredible amount of miles to save that much money.
 






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