Mustang-4.6

Hi guys, I have a question that hopefully somebody out there in mustang world can answer. I spent a couple of hours last night checking out youtube videos of people running dyno's on stock 10 GT's and on a few videos the computer was showing the hp #'s at 330 to331, torque 335 to 336. I was just wondering if maybe Ford might have undreated the horsepower for this model year. Your thoughts?

Mustang-4.6

Sorry I forgot to mention they were running their cars on premium fuel.

SpectreH

That would mean Ford seriously underated them if those are truly stock numbers. I think the 2010 4.6 was rated at 315 HP at the crank.

Mustang-4.6

It would not be the first time a car company has done that. They would rather have lower numbers then to have higher numbers that are inaccurate. Example of that would be in 2002 I bought a new Tiburon GT. (Brand new model with the first V6 ever to be put in that car for 2003.) The sticker on that car rated the v6 at 180 hp, however Hyundai got those numbers wrong and wound up sending me a letter apologizing for the misinformation. It turned out the car was actually rated at 170 hp. I got an extra year of warranty coverage for that one.

TripleBlack14

Yeah, manufacturers have been under rating HP for years, initially to fool the insurance companies and competition. The horsepower wars back in the 60's sure was fun.

A prime example was the 65 427 Cobra. It was rated @ 425hp, but it actually was 500hp+....all in a 2315lb car....about one horsepower per 4.6 lbs.

MRGTX

While the 4.6L motors are known to be "safe" with mods pushing them beyond 400hp to the wheels, a stock 4.6L 3v will dyno right around 290hp to the wheels.

Mustang-4.6

Thanks Mike, I am looking to get a little more power from my car and was hoping that Ford might have fooled us with those numbers. I have a question though, what would be some good cheap mods for some more power? I am happy with the stock exhaust on my car. I read that exhausts are more for sound anyway. Would upgrading the CAI help? Also, noticed last weekend when hitting the gas with traction control on there seems to be a hesitation with the car taking off. If I shut down the traction control that seems to fix that but I also get a little bit of wheel hop on the back end. Sport mode is ok, but still a little sluggish. I am just trying to get a little more oomph from my car. Thanks again as always for the great responses!

Mustang-4.6

Hi Tom, did not know that about the 65 Cobra. That thing had some serious power!

WhitePonyGT/CS

The 10 GT is not making the crank numbers at the wheels. 280/300 would be about right.

laserred38

Sorry Andrew, the 2010s were not making that much power to the wheels. The computer was most likely showing the "adjusted" hp rating, which is just an estimation. This varies greatly by dyno and conditions. It's very likely that an "adjusted" dyno run was estimating the engine to be making 330hp at the crank, but not at the wheels. The crank hp rating is usually what is spit out of the computer with the "adjusted" value. What you really want to know is the whp value, which should be around 260-270, as stated above.

These 3v engines can make decent power either N/A or with a blower. It's kinda up to you. Personally, I would do the FRPP Cobra Jet intake and Hot Rod cams, and keep it N/A. Cars with that combo have been into the high 11s with DRs and some minor suspension mods. That would have you hanging with bolt-on 5.0s at the strip. Of course, if the Coyote has the same mods, it'll easily be in low 11s depending on transmission of course.

Hope this helps, don't trust everything you hear. I can guarantee you no 4.6 3v was making 330whp stock. They were quoting their adjusted crank hp rating.

Bert

I don't know about stock. For sure those numbers seem a bit high. Probably doing some funny math with drivetrain loss to boost up the number to the crank.

My 2010 GT with some minor mods made 290 HP and 295 TQ on a Dynojet dyno, SAE Corrected. My mods at that time were:
- Roush CAI (not a big deal, same MAF diameter as stock)
- Steeda UDP's
- Shaftmasters aluminum driveshaft
- Bama 93 Race tune
- 93 octane gas of course
- 3.73 rear gears (should not affect the HP and TQ but just mentioning it for comparison because sometimes it does affect the result on a dyno)

We also ran the factory tune, numbers came out about 5 HP and 5 TQ lower.

If you assume 15% drivetrain loss, my 290 at the wheels comes out to 340 at the crankshaft.

kylerohde

While it was underrated, remember that horsepower wasn't calculated the same way back then either. http://ateupwithmotor.com/terms-tech...et-horsepower/

laserred38

This sounds about right. It's amazing that my 5.0 is making 110hp more to the wheels with just exhaust and AED dyno tune. I can only imagine what those guys with supercharged cars feel when they hit the GO pedal! I never though the 4.6 was slow either so...lol!

WhitePonyGT/CS

Yeah, I remember when I thought my 190 whp 91 notch 5.0 was the fastest thing on earth. Lol. This coyote now with CJ setup and Lund 100 octane tuning is pretty strong for only 302 ci. We live in good times.

Mustang-4.6

Hi John, I like your mod list. I might see about doing the bama 93 tune and seeing about swapping out my 3.31's for 3.73's. That should help a little with acceleration.

Mustang-4.6

Hi Patrick, thanks man for the info. I will check those out.

Andrew