I love the Mustang as much as anyone. I cannot buy a V8 unless it is a centered plug 4-valve DOHC.
I was considering the GT500. When I heard they are going for 20k over MSRP that cured my itch.
As long as Ford's flagship sports car wont offer the 32 valve DOHC to the customer, they will prove themselves allergic to my money.
No one should pay the price of the v6 model over the 41k MSRP car just to get the correct engine.
4-valve must be for lottery winners.
You're weird! But if that's what you want, go buy a used '96-'02 Mustang Cobra. They all came with 32-valve V8s.
Patrick
Or you can get the mach1. Better flowing heads than the '96-98's, maybe better than the '99-01 cars. '03-04 Cobras also come with 32v, just with the added bonus of forced induction. The '04's were had at nearly invoice near the end of their run as they couldn't move them... I had dealers asking me to trade in my '97 Cobra for one.
Just out of curiosity to the OP though... why can you "not" buy a V8 unless it is a centered plug 4-valve DOHC? What requirements make it so that you cannot get the 3v 4.6?
JS
snipped-for-privacy@aol.com wrote:
So they used to offer the Mustang to consumers with the 32 valve until.....
It's a shame they went backwards.
I require a sports car have DOHC and 4-valves in the head. I don't need a reason. It's the only solution worth my money.
And it doesn't matter if a two valve/cylinder engine beats it on the track or at red lights? :)
Jan
owl wrote:
At what displacement ?
An additional Liter ?
There's always a bigger fish.
While 4 valve technology is nice and allows lighter valvetrain reciprocating masses, it is not a magic door to more horsepower.
2 valve design is not a horsepower limiting factor either.The 4 valve setup is most beneficial in high rpm applications due to the light weight of the moving parts. But when you have a factory made, street driven V8, you really don't need high rpms to make power. 2 V is simpler and cheaper to build and maintain, and the parts are more robust. The head casting is stronger (less holes).
So, what can be achieved with 4, that cannot be achieved with 2, in a V8?
Jan
owl wrote:
On a per displacement basis larger valve count almost always translates to greater torque and horsepower.
High RPM is an added benefit. If it weren't no one would go through the expense of balancing an engine.
An entire industry compensated transitioning form 2 cycle to 4 cycle in the motorcross industry. Now they are up to 5-valve and I don't anticipate they will ever go back.
The two greatest things you can do for an engine at a fixed displacement. Design for higher RPM range, and improve the induction. This is of course after step one is achieved, ample ignition capacity, and fuel delivery.
It would be difficult to convince me globally regressing to 2-valve is beneficial.
While I think I can agree from a racing perspective that it's possible to get more from an engine with 4v instead of 2v or 3v, don't forget that the current '05-07 GT, with the 3v head, actually produces better numbers than my '97 Cobra 4v DOHC. Head design is the main reason, though there are other contributing factors. The 3v won't pull as hard in the high RPM range though... I've hit the rev limiter of mine at 7k+ and it was still pulling hard. I was used to my 5.0 that would tell me when to shift when power died... I was waiting for that feeling and watching the fender of the car next to me when I ran straight into the rev limiter. Embarrassing, but good to know it pulls to redline and then some.
Even the 2001-2004 GTs with the PI heads (2v SOHC) ran, on paper, neck and neck with my '97 4v DOHC. The factory specs put the '01-04 GT a tenth faster 0-60 and my car a tenth faster in the 1/4 (a testament to the mundane bottom-end performance coupled with the high revs of my 4v).
If you're looking stock-to-stock comparisons, the new GT is as much car as my Cobra, if not more... the extra valve won't save me at the tree.
JS
owl wrote:
Could this be due to fuel delivery improvements in the injection system ?
displacement.
From my understanding, it was based largely on head design. The PI heads, introduced mid-'01 for the 2v GTs, were stellar performers right out of the box. They got better bottom end torque than the stock 4v heads and somehow made the top end better than previous 2v head designs as well.
JS
owl wrote:
On Tue, 17 Apr 2007 19:28:54 -0600, "owl" spewed forth:
The Mustang has too many seats to be a sportscar, it's a "pony car".
Really, Do you have a mandatory minimum insurance premium required to call a car a "sports car".
Do you get a kickback from auto insurance companies ?
:>
:>> >I require a sports car have DOHC and 4-valves in the head. I don't need :>a :>> >reason. It's the only solution worth my money. :>> >
:>>
:>> The Mustang has too many seats to be a sportscar, it's a "pony car". :>
:>Really, Do you have a mandatory minimum insurance premium required to call :>a car a "sports car".
Well in a way, yes. P&C insurance, especially the comprehensive and collision charges are computed based on an industry-wide "symbol" assigned by VIN to each vehicle insured. And believe it or not I pay almost twice the amount to insure my 04 Mach 1 as I do for my C6.
:>Do you get a kickback from auto insurance companies ?
Nope, just used to work for one. :)
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