Fox physique Ford Mustangs. Many individuals love them, some hate them, however wherever you stand, there isn’t any denying it grew to become a definitive Eighties automotive icon. Forty years in the past, for those who drove a 5.0 Mustang you had been a straight-up badass. That is fairly daring, contemplating a 1985 Mustang GT had simply 210 horsepower from the manufacturing unit. Return just a few extra years, although, and it will get worse. It will get so a lot worse.
The Earliest Days Of The Fox Physique Mustang
A brand new video from Late Mannequin Restoration (LMR) reveals us simply how dangerous it will get, courtesy of a dyno pull that includes the primary yr of the Fox physique – 1979. Sure, for the informal gearheads on the market, the automobile synonymous with the Eighties really hit the highway in 1979. In these earliest of days it had 4 sq. headlights, a chunky eggcrate grille, and on Cobra fashions, a giant snake decal on the hood to imitate the large firebird design Pontiac used on the Trans Am. Such was life within the Seventies.
Again then, Cobra (not GT) was the flagship efficiency Mustang, however let’s not get too enthusiastic about that. Its 5.0-liter V8 engine was rated at simply 140 horsepower from the manufacturing unit. This was an period when automakers had been struggling to fulfill increasing emissions rules, and properly, they hadn’t cracked the horsepower code simply but. The primary Fox physique mainly had a carryover 5.0-liter V8 from the much-hated 1974-1978 Mustang II. However the story nonetheless will get worse from there.
Making horsepower is one factor, however getting it to the bottom is one other. The 1979 Mustang had handbook or computerized transmissions obtainable, and there have been varied choices for the rear-end gearset. Relying on the choices, you can lose a good chunk of energy within the course of. And since emission rules had been a factor, tall gears for low-rpm freeway cruising had been frequent. That is nice for gas financial system, however horrible for getting in control.
This 1979 Ford Mustang Is Practically All Authentic.
That brings us to the crux of this publish: the dyno pull. This explicit Mustang Cobra really appears to be like actually good; LMR did a minor beauty dress-up on the outside however left the powertrain basically inventory. Within the video, they point out a brand new water pump, new gas pump, and a muffler being put in. So far as they know, the engine is totally inventory proper all the way down to the unique ignition timing. It has a C4 three-speed computerized transmission and a 7.5 rear finish turning 2.47 gears. If you do not know what meaning, simply know this – it is just about the worst mixture you may get for acceleration.
Nevertheless, none of that stops this previous 5.0 from singing on the dyno. Below full throttle it seems like a correct muscle automobile, even squatting down because it runs by way of the gear. We’re even handled to some flames spitting from the brand new muffler. Perhaps Ford underrated these automobiles from the manufacturing unit?
In a phrase, nope.
Fashionable Naturally Aspirated 4-Cylinder Engines Have Extra Energy
The outcomes from the primary pull present a most output of – anticipate it – 123.4 hp at 3,600 rpm. Torque peaked at 210 pound-feet at 2,500 rpm. And a second dyno run was practically similar with hp and torque up simply a few digits. Consider, that is energy on the rear wheels. In case you consider a 20% driveline loss, energy on the crankshaft comes out to round 150 hp. Hey, possibly Ford did under-rate these cars!
It was actually a really uninspiring begin to the Fox physique period. However 14 years later, this similar primary engine would make 235 hp within the 1993 Mustang SVT Cobra. And whereas Ford by no means confirmed something concerning that automobile’s output, the SVT Cobra’s venerable 5.0-liter was considered underrated by about 50 hp. Two years after that, the previous 5.0-liter pushrod V8 was retired from Mustang service, peaking at 240 horsepower for the 1995 SVT Cobra.