Aight lads, i have an 03 mustang with the 3.8 liter Essex, bone stock...

Aight lads, i have an 03 mustang with the 3.8 liter Essex, bone stock. I was wondering if it has any bullshity hp limits like the 5.0 and what are some good ways to boost power

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pull the motor out of the car and push. you'd be faster

>bullshitty hp limits like the 5.0
that's just you crying sour grapes.

you can put an eBay turbo on it or engine swap it. better yet, sell it and buy a mustang gt. the v6 has smaller brakes, weaker suspension, and a weaker gearbox. you'll never make it perform at the same level.

If you took the difference in price between an 03 V6 and 03 GT and put that money into the 3.8, you would still be slower than a GT.

buying a different car would be a great start, op.

piece of shit. junk it

These engines are shit

Its shit, OP. Just swap a 351 in if you are mechanically inclined, it will slip right on. If not save up 2000 dollars, sell yours for at least 1500, and buy a 94-98 GT or save even MORE and get a 96-98 cobra.

T. 97 mustang GT owner

Not OP but would it bolt up to the transmission and the original K-member?

Don't listen to anyone telling you to v8 swap. If you wanna sell your car and buy a v8 so be it. But if you're dead set on making power on a 3.8 you can run an m112 supercharger from a gt500 on it. Just like the 2v 4.6 it can make about 400whp on the stock internals before you need to get in there and build it. Also superchargers from the 90s T birds work as well. You'll spend way less putting a used blower on your 3.8 and a tune than swapping a v8.

Yes and Yes. To my current knowledge, the K-members were "left overs" from the 302's until 05 when they redid everything. Gotta remember SN95s and New Edges are just evolved foxbodys.
The 3.8l V6 uses the EXACT same tranny bolt pattern as a 302 as well, though I recommend axing the Tranny if it was an auto, or going ahead and switching to a TKO 600 if you want any power above 365rwhp.

T. My dad has a 331 stroker in his 97 v6 with original K-member.

Bullshit. The 3.8l V6's are complete shit. You want this guy to spend well into 2-3k when alls said and done for a toquelet that sounds terrible, has NO resale value, and makes OP look like a bitch.

It doesn't matter if he is running 7.50 on the 1/4 mile the fact its a v6 means it aint worth more than 2k ever.

If you want to supercharge a v6 and make power, get an Infiniti.

Do all superchargers have that annoying whine or is it something car bros do to it to make it do that, like turbo flutter?

The 3.8L is fucking awful in this car

Slower than a 1.8L Civic and actually seems to make less power at 4500-5500rpm than it does at 3500rpm.

Does he daily it?
Did it bolt to the original engine mounts?

You could daily it, but he's getting it towards a weekend grocery getter/casual drag days. I'm not sure about the engine mounts from the v6, but yuou should be upgrading those anyway bud.

Thus swap is literally just a carbeurated 94-95 car. It is incredibly easy, now if you wanted fuel injection you're in for a bit of a ride as far as wiring goes

And if you took all that money and bought a GT, you would still be slower than a Z28 that's 10 years older.

More like 1500. He would spend way more swapping a v8. It's an objective fact that it's cheapest and most efficient to build what you have. I garuntee if he puts a blower on that 3.8 he will put busses on stock GTs

I’ve driven 3.8l both Auto and manual, even the New Edges seem gutless, (but are fun to drive if you know how to work with a live axle)

You are an absolute retard, user... jesus christ. He could buy a frikin’ Cobra for the price of building that Essex POS.

What is "cobra" for 4,000, alex

Bonus round: Reliability, Desirability, looks, and Value retention are all things z28's don't have.

You miss my point. His car wouldn't be worth anymore money. It would be cash he will never ever get back. On most vehicles with sane owners, you invest in mods because 1. It adds power, looks etc and 2. It adds to resale value if it's already achieved max depreciation.

The 03 v6 mustang in perfect condition with only 75k miles is no more than a 3500k car. Not to mention if you were to spend half the money he would kidding his v6, so let's say $800 modding a GT he would be beat soundly.


Again, I'm not hating on v6's, I'm hating on THIS v6 because it has REGULARLY been PROVEN to be shit. There's a reason no one has nodded them substantially or built an aftermarket after 23 years when they debuted. They just aren't worth it, don't make OP waste his money user.

In the interest if going fast it's not logical whatsoever to factor in resale value. It's fucking expensive yeah but if he likes his car and wants to upgrade it you can't put a price on that.

You know absolutely nothing. The price of an 03-04 cobra is 20 plus grand. It doesnt cost that much to piece together a god damn supercharger kit with an m112. The blower alone can be had for 100 bucks.