Thunderbird V8's

Multar2003z

Registered User
Whats up guys,
I've been dreamin of buying a SC since I got my license a few years ago. But living in southeast alabama proves to be a difficult location to find good cars, especailly thunderbirds.. Anyway I found a nice looking 95 V8 for $2,600 at a used car lot, what are your opinions on the V-8 model compared to the SC's. I know their not as nice lookin or as fast as the super coupes, but this the only t-bird I can find. Right now i'm driving a 89 Nissan Sentra with fried pistons, and i'm tired of being mocked at.

THanks,
Chris ErthaL
 
Hey, the 95 V-8 is pretty nice

Well, the 95 V-8 cars are very nice. Not as fast as 96-97's due to smaller heads. The cars overall are great riding, as pretty fast. I do believe they were around 205 hp and 285 torque. Not bad. The ride is great and you can always add a hood or ground effects (SC ground effects do fix LX's).

Also, the price if low miles is awesome. What color is it??? I have a 95 SC Pearl White and love the color. Hey, in time you can find an SC and for now, get the LX and enjoy the car.

Feel free to drop by and post here. We like hearing about all nice Thunderbirds.

Try the TCCOA.COM for other V-8 info.



Good luck and happy driving,


Don

:D
 
Thanks for the info Don,

This T-bird is dark green (not my fav color) nontheless it still looks good, plus the paint is not faded or cracked. I wasn't able to see the odometer so i'm not sure how many miles are on it. Just a thought, if I were to race a 2001 Honda Civic (non-vtec) in that v8 tbird who would win? I'm sure a SC would wax it, but i'm not sure about the LX model.

Thanks again,
Chris ErthaL
 
the 94-95s are slower because of intake manifold design, and head runner design. also, most 94-95s came with an open diff, and most 96-7s came with trac-lok.

that LX would run high 15s or low 16s. It is rated at 205hp and 265tq. the 96-97s are 205hp and 280tq.

The 94 and 95 auto tranny isn't so great, so if you do buy it, head on over to www.tccoa.com and check out the first few transmission tech articles.

some 94 and 95s also get leaking valve seals. symptoms are oil comsumption and oil smoke on start up and after idling.
 
As far as the cars go....

The trannys in the 94-95 Thunderbirds 4r70W's are the BEST tranny Ford ever made!!!!! This is right from Friends who are Ford techs.....And the car in general sounds good. The open diff will hurt you in some cases (snow and sand), and in Arizona, it can't be that much snow!!!!!!


So, as far as the Civic, I would have to say that I don't know, light car heavy car, could be tight, the torque of the T-Bird should wax his butt.


Good luck on a decision....

Don
 
94-95 the best? LOL! They are the first years of a new design, bound to have more problems. I have seen some last 150K+, so I'm not saying they are a time bomb. Just that they need abit more attention than 96-98 or 98+ 4r70ws. They can be upgraded to 98+ specs or swap in a 98+ trans easily.
 
Patience

Be patient if you really want an SC. Good deals pop up all the time. Bought my 90 this year for $2100.00 with 74,000 orig. miles. You just have to be patient if a SC is what you really want.
 
I've read on the net that the V-8's are limited to 105 mph. Surely for a car with a 4.6L engine this isn't true right? My 1989 Sentra can do 110mph (thats how I messed up my pistons.) I glanced around tccoa.com but there's so much info on that site I don't know where to start lookin. Anyway Don, that T-bird has 129k miles on it, so if the engine runs good this should be a good deal right?

DarkSide, hopefully i'll find a good SC soon, i've been waiting 2 years to find a good deal, so i'm sure there's a beauty just waiting for me somewhere. But for now,.. I need a newer car because my sentra is about dead. So this V-8 LX should hold me off till I find my SuperCoupe.
 
Last edited:
Multar2003z said:
I've read on the net that the V-8's are limited to 105 mph.

Not impossible. It's the tires and suspension, not the engine, that causes the manufacturers to put speed limiting software in the computer. Mainly the tires as most base suspensions come with "H" or "S" speed rated tires. IIRC the H's are speed rated for sustained use up to 111mph. Anyway that info is easily available.

Except for the color that you don't care for, there's no reason the 'Bird can't be a killer in it's own right.

I happen to think the Cobra R rims look good on a Bird, but any rim you like will absolutely change the looks far more than you'd ever believe. Firmer springs and shocks. Get some of the PI (99-up Power Improved) heads for the 4.6 Heck, that's like a 60hp increase right there. A higher stall converter. Better exhaust. And if you're really bucks-up a supercharger. Do all that and you'll never miss having an SC. The nice thing is that for the most part you'd end up doing all of it to an SC so it's not like you're losing out.
 
Back
Top