The Ford Cyclone V6 is a punchy little thing that doesn’t get as much credit as it should. Then again, look at where it sits in most of the linup: the big cars and as the base engine for the F-150. It’s also been used in the Mazda CX-9 sport utility, the Lincoln MKX, and the Ford Transit van. It’s got punch, being good for up to 305 horsepower dead-nuts stock in it’s upper-end applications and sporty installments, and it’s smooth, as we learned when we test-drove the Fusion Sport last year. But it’s still a V6. In a car like the Taurus, Fusion or Flex, it’s a nice surprise. In the Ford Mustang, however, it’s milquetoast.
Before the S550 and the EcoBoost four-banger came out, the story with Mustang was that you either bought the V8 or you just bought a two-door car. It wasn’t that the 3.7 wasn’t a good option for the original pony car…305 horsepower out of the six matched the 1997 Cobra’s output…but you still get into the usual issues people have with the V6 that can be summed up in one sentence: “It’s not the V8.”
No, it’s not the V8 and no, the V6 doesn’t sound good. The only V6 that ever sounded good was built in Italy. But a single-digit pass out of one is respectable no matter what.
Just the motor in its stock form for slotting into a resto modded Ford Capri!
I always thought that if I bot a late model ‘Stang it would be fitted with the 3.7. In my world that’s an “E” motor which opens up lots of possibilities in PROduction classes. Plenty of room to build these into nasty little engines.
LOL, “it did everything it was supposed to do.” I presume that includes blowing up the engine and oiling down the track for everyone else?
I’m sure he said it was naturally aspirated. What a dick.
The car broke the natrally aspirated record before going turbo.