Anyone know much about these mustangs?

[LeeThePeople]

A local car dealer has had this shape Mustang up at £4k for over a year now, probably going on 18 months. He cant seem to shift it, its a Y plate and a red cabrio, not the prettiest car but he's dropped it from around £8k in that time and everytime i drive past i seem to like it a little bit more.



Are they any good to drive? My wife has a 2008 Bullit Mustang so know what to expect from an American car but how do they compare? What do you look for when buying one? Does anyone have any experience owning one?

[Roo.]

I've got a facelift SN95 as well as an S197. They drive very differently. The later model is much better.

All in all they are what they are. Cheap and cheerful. If it's a V6 though it will be woeful to drive and not a lot cheaper to run and insure than the V8.

[AndyBe]

Have you had a close look at it ? Know how many miles it's done ? Has it got history ? On the surface of things it sounds like a reasonable buy - certainly if it's a V8.
Put some 1" spacers on the back if you get it. I bought some to improve the 'pushed in' look that the standards wheels have, but it also really improved the wallowy feel from the back end.

[Twin Turbo]

A private sale for a pre-facelift (ie '99) model, could be as low as £2k for a v6.

[LeeThePeople]

Ive had a good look and its a tidy V8 with plenty of history and it does look well after but the paint has started to fade. I know nothing about them, just feel sorry for it really and thought it might be nice as a drag racing project.

[2winscrew]

what year is it?

there were lots of differences from 1994-98 with the V8 motors

not sure what "y plate" means

If it's a Cobra, 94,95 had the 5.0 push rod (240 hp) and the T-5.......the 4V OHC mod motor (305hp) wasn't in them until 96-98...mated to a T45

If it's a GT, similar deal 94-95 had the 5.0 (225 hp iirc)...these GTs are apparently a real PITA to tune for gains based on the factory set up, and while the 96 got the 2V mod motor, it was a real dog (215hp at the crank)....they got it up to 225hp by 1998

the early 2V mod motors react well to a head swap with the 99-04 lumps fwiw...gets them into the 260-270hp range like the 99-04 from the factory

Edited by 2winscrew on Wednesday 25th February 18:03

[AndyBe]

2winscrew said:

and while the 96 got the 2V mod motor, it was a real dog (215hp at the crank)....they got it up to 225hp by 1998

the early 2V mod motors react well to a head swap with the 99-04 lumps fwiw...gets them into the 260-270hp range like the 99-04 from the factory

Edited by 2winscrew on Wednesday 25th February 18:03

A dog ? that's a bit harsh ! I think they're a sweet running reliable motor. OK not a lot of hp for the size of motor, but everybody knows that. It's all about the torques and the longevity.

[2winscrew]

AndyBe said:

A dog ? that's a bit harsh ! I think they're a sweet running reliable motor. OK not a lot of hp for the size of motor, but everybody knows that. It's all about the torques and the longevity.

I don't disagree, but on this side of the pond the inaugural replacement of the mighty pushrod 5.0l was not a big hit producing less hp and "what felt" like a tremendous loss of tq

keep in mind that the old 5.0l pushrod motors' torque peaked way lower in the RPM range that the new modular OHC motors

the result was that the 5.0l felt like it wanted to kill you and the 4.6 was so tame that it was harmless.....not a great feature for a production hot rod

I forget what gear they ran in the early 4.6 GTs but I think it was something like a 2:73.......and the 4.6 love to rev with tq peaking so high....I put 4:10s in the ass of my 2000 4.6...and IMO it should be a factory option....it came from the factory with 3:27s

the 4.6 is a great lump....won't argue that.....but the 96-98 GTs needed some help