- #1996 FORD MUSTANG BODY KIT MOD#
- #1996 FORD MUSTANG BODY KIT DRIVER#
- #1996 FORD MUSTANG BODY KIT MANUAL#
The new GT feels well balanced on hard sweepers at combat speed. Compared with the OHV GT, this brings improved steering precision and dry-surface handling but only marginal improvement in wet-surface control. A cross-car brace under the hood triangulates the strut towers and the firewall, abetting an already rigid structure, and a bigger rear anti-roll bar adds balance. While they were at it, the suspension engineers jiggered the geometry for better caster and camber. Ford needed a new front crossmember to adapt the OHC eight to the Mustang. Ford still offers the bigger tires as an option on the car in '96. The previous GT test car rode on the optional larger 245/45ZR-17 Goodyear Eagle ZR45s. This part was easy to diagnose-our '96 tester was shod with standard-equipment 225/55ZR-16 Firestone Firehawk SVX rubber. The new GT notched only 0.81 g on the skidpad, against the old car's 0.85 g. The previous-model GT ran 6.1 seconds to 60 and 14.9 seconds at 93 mph in the quarter. Our 0-to-60 runs in the '96 GT maxed out at 6.6 seconds, and the quarter-mile lasted 15.1 seconds at 92 mph. Our '96 prototype test car was a virtually negligible 48 pounds lighter than the last 4.9-liter GT we tested, so we were surprised to find the new car slower-and less grippy as well. Though it was entertaining enough in street driving, the new GT failed to impress in testing. Shifting there is what the car seems to like for best times, but "best times" is a relative term. The new eight will soldier on through 5500 to 5700 rpm before the sustained revving starts to sound and feel like a bad idea. Both tend to breathlessness at about 5000 rpm the 4.9-liter is breathless there, but the 4.6-liter is just beginning to reach for the Primatene.
#1996 FORD MUSTANG BODY KIT MANUAL#
While hauling through the manual at wide-open throttle, though, we found the OHC engine breathes only a little bit better than the OHV motor.
#1996 FORD MUSTANG BODY KIT MOD#
Its torque converter was downsized from 12 inches to 11.25 inches, Ford said, in an effort to match the mod V-8's torque characteristics. The clutch action is light without being weenie-grade, and the shifts are more precise although not quite perfect, because there's still more length in the throw than we like.įor those who prefer the shiftless route, the car will be offered with a new wide-ratio electronically controlled four-speed automatic transmission. Rowing through the Borg-Warner T-45 five-speed manual (same as found in the Cobra companion model) is an easier task than with the T-5 it replaces. Impressively, 250 pound-feet of torque is already online by 1500 rpm.
The 4.6-liter produces 215 horsepower at 4400 rpm and 285 pound-feet of grunt at 3500 against the 4.9-liter's 215 hp at 4200 and 285 pound-feet at 3400.
Rather remarkably, the output derived from the engine is spot-on that of the GT's old motor. Ford's EEC-V electronic engine-management system controls the delivery of unleaded regular fuel through sequential multiport fuel injectors. The new engine has a single overhead cam atop each cylinder bank to oversee the operation of two valves per cylinder. The air-conditioning compressor, power-steering pump, and alternator are mounted directly to the engine to reduce their vibrations. Noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) characteristics are first addressed in the engine structure itself, with lightweight pistons and connecting rods, a deep-skirt block, deep head bolts, and five cross-bolted main bearings. Most of the real improvements brought about by the mod V-8 powerplant are aimed not at performance, but rather at refinement. Ford knew the aged 4.9-liter was not going to make the cut anymore. The main reasons for changing the engines were the tougher federal fuel-economy standards and onboard diagnostic system (OBD-II) requirements that both kick in for 1996. The new engine for the GT, an SOHC 4.6-liter V-8, invokes technology that the obsolete 4.9er didn't have, yet it arrives at almost identical output.
Certain purists may wail and gnash their teeth over this one, but it's a transition we like. And finally banished from the '96 Mustang GT is the ancient overhead-valve 4.9-liter V-8, which-in various guises-has powered Mustangs since their inception. A Mustang Cobra making more than 300 hp is certainly welcome (see sidebar). Now that the year-old redesign of the Ford Mustang has some miles on it, both Ford and the Mustang's obsessed clientele are ready for a few important changes.
#1996 FORD MUSTANG BODY KIT DRIVER#
From the September 1995 Issue of Car and Driver
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