I just test drove a V6 manual Last week. It does quite well, I think.

V6 manual Test Drive

I have a 4.0 V6 in my Mazda B4000 Truck, and I've never lacked for power in it.

I think the V6 is going to be a good deal since it seems like most people are going for a GT. At the Dealership that I test drove at, they had 10 V6's and only one GT. It might be that Ford will start giving rebates on V6's in the next couple of months....

As you can see by my pic, the V6 engine is very close to the firewall. I've driven the V6 and the GT, and I think the V6 does handle a little better. For more details see my V6 review......

Long live the V6! :worship:

 

I would guess the 4.0 is compact for its displacement, since it's derived from the same block as the 2.6 V6 in the 1974 Mercury Capri. (It goes back even further into the 60s when it was a 2.3 V6, but that's before my time. It might have even been a V4 at some point in time before Star Trek...) Boring and stroking it out to 4 liters has just about maxed out the block.

I've heard the 4.0 uses an intermediate shaft between the crank and the camshafts, but I've never been able to find any details on the Internet. This might add some weight. A picture of this would be nice.

An interesting aside, the 3.8 pushrod was designed in a hurry, and appears to have been modeled after the GM 3800. IIRC the bore spacing and rod length are the same on both engines. The bore is just slightly larger (3.81" vs. 3.80"), and the stroke slightly shorter (3.39" vs. 3.40"), so it has a wee bit more displacement than the GM engine (3800cc vs. 3791cc).

 

This is true.

The reason why is that the original 2800cc V6 that the 4.0 is based on was a pushrod engine. The intermediate shaft is simply a short shaft that is in place where the cam used to go in the pushrod versions.

C&D pulled a rather pathethic .79g on the skidpad for an 05 Mustang V6 compared to the .89g they got with an '05 GT. But they did blame the tires.

 

I would not look for rebates on the V-6 until they are ready to clear out the 05's unless there is a particular package within the V-6 they are having a hard time moving. (very basic Cloth cars, what have you) And even when they are ready to clear out 05's, I would only expect a small, token rebate to make them more appealing than an 06.

The reason I say this is that I do not think the V-6 is selling less volume-wise than expected, I think the GT is just selling so much more than expected and that creates an illusion. I could be wrong. I also think V-6 sales will increase too now that 5-speeds are becoming more common on lots.

 

This is true.

The reason why is that the original 2800cc V6 that the 4.0 is based on was a pushrod engine. The intermediate shaft is simply a short shaft that is in place where the cam used to go in the pushrod versions.

C&D pulled a rather pathethic .79g on the skidpad for an 05 Mustang V6 compared to the .89g they got with an '05 GT. But they did blame the tires.[/b][/quote]
Thanks for the info on the intermediate shaft. It makes sense. It probably adds a little parasitic power loss to the engine, but... oh well. At least it's better than hacking two cylinders off a V8 and adding a balance shaft.

RE skidpad numbers: You think those are bad, take a look at the numbers for a Chrysler 300 V6 as it squeals its 3800 lb carcass around a skidpad on cheap 215/65-SR17 Goodyears. IIRC it pulls less than .7 g. That's minivan territory.

The Mustang is better than that, but it should be better. They probably selected the skinny tires for their better traction in snow. It would have been nice if they had spec'd 215/60-R17s as they did on the Five Hundred - that would help the skidpad numbers some without adversely affecting the snow traction.

I have the feeling that they went with 16s to keep the performance gap between the V6 and GT "wide enough." Those GT owners can be an insecure bunch.

 

I would not look for rebates on the V-6 until they are ready to clear out the 05's unless there is a particular package within the V-6 they are having a hard time moving. (very basic Cloth cars, what have you) And even when they are ready to clear out 05's, I would only expect a small, token rebate to make them more appealing than an 06.

The reason I say this is that I do not think the V-6 is selling less volume-wise than expected, I think the GT is just selling so much more than expected and that creates an illusion. I could be wrong. I also think V-6 sales will increase too now that 5-speeds are becoming more common on lots. [/b][/quote]
Oh, I don't think so. I read on another post that a Dealer in San Antino has already started offering rebates of $2500 off MSRP on V6 Mustangs!

So I think you're going to see Dealers, maybe even Ford offering incentives to get V6 off their lots.

More good for us V6ers!

 

I saw a tv ad the other day for 4,000 off new mustangs, they had an 05 in the ad but it said on new 2004's in stock, so watch out for the BAIT and SWITCH on those NEW mustangs

 

The only problem with the 05 v6 is that there is a governor in place. I just bought a 05 coupe (v6) and boy she hauls. I found a nice back road and put it to the floor. I got it to fourth gear and about 2500 rpm @111mph and she started to shut down on me , boy to my surprise that Ford would give a horse a motor like that and then choke it down to not out do the big brother. There is only a 90hp difference between the GT and the coupe. This little girl will get up and spank some of those rice burners out there.
I guess this is a proud owner speaking, but as for weight she is about 2000lb less than a 94 stang. She has great handling her rear does get a little squarely when you get on her and push her like she was made to go.

 

The tires are either S or T speed rated (can't remember which) which is 112 or 118 MPH !! That is the main reason why the limiter is where it is.

A 2005 Coupe is not 2000 lbs lighter than a 1994 ... from everything I'e read, the 2005 is slightly HEAVIER than a comparable 1994-2004 !!

 

so the 4.0 is based on the Mustang II's engine!!

 

Yes it does seem that Ford has purposely "derated" shall we say, everything about the V6 Coupe. I have driven a lot of V6's in my day and I can tell you that the "official" horsepower rating of this engine is off the mark. This thing has a group of power, and I'm not just dreaming, I also have that 454 bigblock in the garage so I do know a little about how horsepower feels. Ford has placed the V6 in the shadow on purpose, I wouldn't be surprised if the actual rating wasn't on the order of 250/260. Of course we won't know ,officially that is, for a long while to come. But numbers aside the V6 kicks when asked.

 

An engineer from Ford said in an interview that the HP on the V6 was underated, he wouldn't say how much but he did say that it would be a "surprise" car...his exact word. As for the 111 mph limiter, is there a way to remove this? Chip mod???

 

Yeah, I guess it probably is. That's a sobering thought.

 

hate to rain on your parade, but that "Big Powerful 4.0" is not gonna do much for a stang. How about a 5.4, it pulls that big heavy Cobra R! The stang weighs nearly as much as a explorer.

 

wow, I find the V6 handling better than the GT a lil hard to believe as the V6 has a worse suspension. Man, you love that V-6 so much, they are gonna be all over the place in a few years and will not hold value, so long live the V6, cuz everyones gonna want the GT and they will be all snatched up.

 

yeah i wanna know that too.....

does anyone have a dyno of a STOCK 05 V6? im curios
05V6 sed it might be more, i just would like to know. i might be getting one soon :w00t:

wish me luck

 

Explorer 6 owner here, too
except ours has a V8 emblem on the back
how weird