Like I said Noel, the market will be small. If you had to have a car that outrun a WS6, then you probably wouldn't consider spending extra $$ to have a bad-boy motor put in such a large car. To me, that is a waste. Put it in a smaller car and it would go _that_ much faster.

There's always a way to argue both sides.

However, if you think the 4v 4.6 has no potential, then you haven't been doing a lot of research on the subject. I'm not sure if its the _right_ motor in a heavy, luxo-boat, but its a quality engine.

Yeah, my '96 Cobra is slow, I guess. It's a dog. Whatever. A '01 GT will run right with a stock Lightning (in the 1/4, not the 1/8) and that's a wimpy 2v 4.6.

If you haven't driven a 4v motor hard, then you can't appreciate it. I know I didn't before I drove one.

I'm not letting Ford off the hook regarding the '99-00 Cobra...don't get me wrong. They tried to mess with an engine that really was performing pretty darn well and didn't have any problems. I'm not an engineer, so I can't say exactly where they went wrong to make it run poorly...or why they actually had to stop production (egg on Ford's face).

As far as getting a 5.4 in there...I'm SURE it can be done. Ford said forever that they couldn't put the 5.4 in a Mustang. Well, there are plenty of guys who have done this on their own...not counting the Cobra R.

I'm not trying to nitpick with you. Obviously, its not a car for you if you need to have something that outruns every stock Mustang or LS1 F-body out there. Like I said before, I seriously doubt that is FLM's intended purpose for it.

Have a good one,

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Wes Tarbox
90 LX 5.0 (10.69 @ 134.7)--597rwhp/590rwtq
96 Cobra (12.34 @ 115.8)--392rwhp/433rwtq
99 Lightning (13.20 @ 103.8)--364rwhp/447rwtq
00 Expedition XLT 5.4
http://members.aol.com/Wa2fst/index.html

 

You are kidding I hope? You expect a crown vic/grand Marq to outrun an all out sports car???

Cmon now...its a cool car...but if you want a vic to start pounding on Ws6's u'd better expect to spend a hell of a lot more money than this is going to cost. Remember that Ford is a company...and they still need to make a profit and study the market. The market for this is slim enough. How many people do you think would be willing to spend 45k or 50k on a crown vic?




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2000 Red Lightning
95 Saleen S-351 Convertible/Triple Black
97 Kawasaki Vulcan 800 Classic

 

it was the fact that this car weighs 3800-4000lbs, and they were trying to wedge the lightning blown engine in it, that sparked my interest in the first place, now, no blower and a 4.6 has blown my spark out. with the heavy duty components required for the lightning engine, modifications would probably be fairly safe and most of us would have some experience.

 

sorry Wes and guys. I guess I'm just expressing my disappointment. With the early hipe I was expecting a P-51 and instead we get a P-39. I guess it was too much to expect Ford to build another Lightning. After all it was a miricle that the Lightning got built at all. Expecting another one was evidently too much to ask.
Noel

 

First of all guys, it's not a cobra motor thats in it. It is the 4 valve motor that is used in the continental. They just turned it the right way and freed up the power that the fwd car could'nt handle. from what I understand, the engine should make roughly 340 horsepower. c'mon now, give ford a break, at least they are trying to satisfy people like me with one of the slickest mercurys since my very first car, a 1964 maurader. If they don't shoot themselves in the foot on price, I will no doubt buy one. Like the old saying goes, don't knock it till you've tried it.

 

Big? I don't think anything today is BIG except for the towncar. I doubt this thing is as big as my 63 SS Impala Convertable and that had a 409 with 400 HP and hauled a$$. It doesn't take anothr 20K to put 400 HP in this car, just another engine.

Everybody taday thinks 300 HP is a big deal. Whoopie. The last vehicle I had besides the Lightning that had less than 400 HP was my 58 impala with a 348 and 250 HP. I had a 327 that made 400 hp. 300 ain't squat.
noelvm

 

So Noel,

I take it you're not a big fan of the '02 SVT Focus? Me neither.

Maybe Ford/SVT will actually get the Cobra right, and in '03 it will be a 3400lb car with a 6-speed, and 350+hp (315-320rwhp) bone stock.

And hopefully, the demand for these Lightnings will continue to be high enough that sales are brisk for longer than the Gen 1 unit. That way, Ford will have a reason to keep making it better and badder.

As far as 300hp being nothing (to you and I it isn't)...remember that the market today is probably geared more towards those of us who grew up in the late 70s, early 80s where you had a 5.0 v8 in a Mustang putting out 175hp...probably 130rwhp.

It's not so much that 300hp is a big deal, but it is in a larger car. Seems the trend over the last 15+ years has been to put more economical engines in the larger cars...which makes them slow, slow, slow due to being underpowered.

The more powerful engines end up in smaller, sportier cars b/c with 5/6-spds with overdrives, you can still knock down some very impressive gas mileage (CAFE rears its head again). Can't do that with a boat of a car, mated to an auto trans.

Also, 95% of the people who buy a Crown Vic or Grand Marquis are happy with a 210-225hp v8 that has good low-end TQ.

IOW, a "hot-rodder" typically is not in the market for one of these cars.

I'll be interested to see how they sell. I liked the old Impala SS and it would be nothing compared to the 300hp Marauder.

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Wes Tarbox
90 LX 5.0 (10.69 @ 134.7)--597rwhp/590rwtq
96 Cobra (12.34 @ 115.8)--392rwhp/433rwtq
99 Lightning (13.20 @ 103.8)--364rwhp/447rwtq
00 Expedition XLT 5.4
http://members.aol.com/Wa2fst/index.html

[This message has been edited by WA 2 FST (edited 02-14-2001).]

 

Hey Wes.
In heaven they have 427 engines and 104 octane gas.
noelvm

 

The town car and Vic are built on the same platform and are basically the same size. As far as power...things have changed a lot since the 60's. For one, reported horsepower stats are measured differently then they were back then.

more importantly, there are little things like government regulations that have to be met. we dont necessarily have to abide by them as consumers, but big automakers do.


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2000 Red Lightning
95 Saleen S-351 Convertible/Triple Black
97 Kawasaki Vulcan 800 Classic

 

A 427 side-oiler and 104+ octane...and guess what, I bet it won't pollute, either.

I'm with ya!!

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Wes Tarbox
90 LX 5.0 (10.69 @ 134.7)--597rwhp/590rwtq
96 Cobra (12.34 @ 115.8)--392rwhp/433rwtq
99 Lightning (13.20 @ 103.8)--364rwhp/447rwtq
00 Expedition XLT 5.4
http://members.aol.com/Wa2fst/index.html

 

I suspect you could take any engine from the 60s and with the additon of fuel injection, cats, and a computer, create a system that would pass current emission requirements. What it would not pass is CAFE or the insurance companies and the BEAN COUNTERS.
noelvm

 

I think some of us need to remember that this is a large, 4-door sedan.

Do you see any other manufacturer putting out something like this with 300hp/300tq for under $50k? No.

I seriously doubt its supposed to be comparable to a Lightning or even a stock Mustang GT (the '01s run 13.7s bone stock, btw). A high-14 second 5000lb, _large_ 4-door car is pretty cool.

If indeed it runs 14s, it would run circles around a stock '93-96 Impala SS.

Let's give FLM some credit for just putting this out there. The market will be small...smaller than the Lightning market, so I believe they're taking a pretty big chance with this one.

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Wes Tarbox
90 LX 5.0 (10.69 @ 134.7)--597rwhp/590rwtq
96 Cobra (12.34 @ 115.8)--392rwhp/433rwtq
99 Lightning (13.20 @ 103.8)--364rwhp/447rwtq
00 Expedition XLT 5.4
http://members.aol.com/Wa2fst/index.html