Ford Tbird, supercharged v6 3.8 vs v8 HP 5.0

Hello, I know the basics but I'm not what you would call the most informative person when it comes to cars. I'm really curious though what the deal is between the v6 3.8 supercharged and the v8 5.0 HP for the Thunderbirds. I wanna know which is better when it comes to top end speed, take off, and hp difference, cause everywhere I look on cardomain.com most people have the v6 and I notice how they brag them up. Why is that? I always thought a V8 was more of race motor than the v6, does the supercharger make that much of a difference that it is actually faster than the V8 High output? I Just bought a 91 Ford Tbird High output V8 and its really badass... but is the V6 superior? Any input would be appreciated. Thanks alot.. oh and besides the motors.. is there really anything different about the two? I mean like is the rear end the same with the posi-traction? or how about the suspension? Okay well thanks again for any input you might have.

The S/C has the 3.8L V6 with the Eaton M90 Blower. Yes, it is that much better. The 5.0L HO made about 200HP and 205 LB FT 0F TQ. The 3.8L SC made about 210 HP and 315 LB FT OF TQ. The only thing the 5.0 has over the 3.8 SC is that the 5.0 is more reliable. Actually some cars never came with the posi AKA TracLok. It was standard on the SC's. Suspension wise, the springs were stronger and the sway bars were larger. The tires and wheels are also better, compared to the LX/Based P21570R15's. Also, the S/C came with an optional manual, not offered on any other Thunderbird, along with the SC GFX.

Well, the 5.0 HO in the 91 is actually stock 270ft lbs torque @3000 rpms, not 205. I have a 95 4.6 V8 that is 205hp and 265 lbs@3200rpm's. First off, just to let you know, fords 3.8's are crap "unless" you have a supercharger on it..period.. If you where to put, or have stock a supercharger on the 5.0 you'd EASILY walk all over-and squash that pussy 3.8, you would make around 250-300 hp, and way over 300ft lbs', maybe around 380-410 @ a low rpm. The V8's are more reliable like ss said, the 3.8 engines blow headgaskets like mad.

The 3.8's are NOT a bad engine. Very reliable and are capable of massive amounts of power without an SC. The headgaskets blowing was a manufacturer issue, not a problem inherent to the 3.8. Replace the old gasket with a newer style and you will not have any problems. There is definately more potential with a V8 for making mad power but there are also people with 3.8 birds that are running 1/4 mile times without an SC that will make you drool and will kick the crap out of a modified 5.0 or a 4.6.

Hmm.... Well thanks alot guys for the information. Greatly appreciated.

apparently nobody here has a 93 davey allison 5.0 T-Bird
290 stock Hp (cobra heads, cam, computer, etc)
i got mine about 4 months ago and i get well over 300 with just a MAF and cold air
my friend has an 89 supercoupe (210 stock hp) and a few more with a 5% boost pulley

You do the math

SVTBird..that sound awesome, only thing is, even if you had 400hp, tbirds will always be slow as dog shit. I got a 95 4.6, and they are powerfull, but not fast.

They're what my cop buds used to call Crown Vic Coupe's.

PS.. I love my tbird, love it..just want a faster car. I just drove my friends manual 04 srt neon, from dodge.. That bitch can slay most V8 Stang GT's, with some mods here and there, it's up to 300 hp, oh did i mention the car weighs around 2600lbs soak and wet.

yea, Tbirds are about 1000 pounds chunkier, but i'm kinda partial, everthing i've owned has been a ford/mercury V8. i've never had anything smaller than the 4.6 in my grand marquis. i've made a couple runs radar'd over 130 mph with it (i'm sure you know that's about their limit stock), smooth as silk. i'm on the FormulaSAE team here, so i have occasional access to a 1.5 mile runway, but once you've hit a rabbit at over 100, you blood pressure will never recover...

I have yet to wind out the T-Bird, but let's just say i'm about due for some tires
if my Tbird wasn't 1/2500, i would be finding some money and swapping to manual for starters, more later...
anyway, that was a quick reply!

Yeah there are many problems with the MN12 t-birds. First of all at 3800+ pounds they are a little heavy. With only 205 HP, they are a little under powered for a V8. Most are geared so low, you can't even make good with the power we do have. And the torque converter in the car plain sucks. It destorys any power under 3000 in 1st. I've heard the only things you need to do a t-bird to make it run 15's is gears and torque converter. Then you'll be running with stock SC's, and may catch a stock stang GT off guard.

yea, but '93 5.0 Davey Allison T-Birds put out 290 stock hp and gobs more torque than the 4.6, not to mention the few i gained from a maf/cold air. the transmission is retuned from the factory too for much harder shifts on hard acceleration (basically like a shift kit).

stock SC's you say, with 210-230hp? from a dead stop, i can pull away from one with a 5% blower pulley every time (and i've only got 3.23 gears) while i think his SC came with 3.55 or 3.73(?)

at WOT, shifts to second at 45, third at 78, and fourth at ~115
my T-bird has a really tall OD that i think is different from others(?) i run 75 at 2,000rpm with 3.23 gears and peg the speedo (120) at ~3300
i know the tach is right(sitting still at least) at all rpm's +/- 100 because i've tested with a meter that will read rpm's directly from the ECU

i do need some stickier tires. if i went to a higher gearset, i couldn't keep rubber on it. the Winston's on it now scream like a banshee
(BTW, power braking is fun :iceslolan )

One thing i have to say though.. Anything less than any V8, bogs down way to much with a full load. Just last week i had 4 people in my tbird, me (250lbs) brother (230lbs) friend #1(aprox 300lbs) friend #2 (aprox 150/160) and my bird still retained it's power-even though it's a complete stock 4.6-thats good. Even if you got a really fast 4 cycl, or even some 6's, they really lag when fully packed.

This is the same with even a 4.3 L caprice (smaller "baby" cruiser engine)-not that much bog down, you still FEEL the push. Get in a 95 LT1 caprice and you REALLY feel the push.

in hindsight this was probably stupid, but one of those 130 mph runs i made in the grand marquis was on interstate 75 with 5 people (~900 lbs) in the car after midnight (that's when i hit the aformentioned rabbit)

Yeah i had a '97 Grand Marquis with the touring package, so it had the nice true dual exhaust. I took it up to around 95 once or twice, and it was kinda scary. It could be because the steering was all messed up and the tires were always out of balance. Anything bast 90 shook the car violently.

yea i had recently gotten new tires and had an alignment
MN121995bird....
if your grand marquis shook that much, you might need to find a new tire shop 'cause it sounds like they did a terrible job balancing

OR, i read something about some late 90's crown vics/grand marquis'... i believe there is a tick mark/line on the face of each spindle/rotor pointing toward one lug bolt and i think the valve stem is either supposed to go in line with that mark or directly opposite (not sure, whichever lines up) with the factory wheels. if the wheel is bolted on differently it can shimmy like crazy at high speeds

Could have even been your driveshaft

ps. did you find a Mk VIII aluminum driveshaft? there aren't many wrecked ones in upstate SC that are still straight. if you did, how much did you have to fork out?...

Well i live in chicagoland area, there are many Mark VIII's and some wrecked ones i've seen from time to time. I just haven't had the time or the money to look at them.
As for my Grand Marquis, I balanced them myself on a new Snap-On machine. They were fine for a few months, but then they would progressivly get much worse. THey had pretty shaddy tires on them. And i think that the wheel bearings were going.

o yea, cheap tires.... hehe. they don't hold up too well. was the tread wearing in patches? once they get a little out, they just goes downhill. maybe the constant shuttering did wear on the wheel bearings, but that's pretty rare. my g.marquis had 130,000 on all original bearings (it was a 92) and was still smooth
and if the front's out of alignment, the constant torque on the front spindles could wear the front wheel bearings, but usually the tires go bald from bad alignment before that happens