2003 Super Charged Concept Car

[5bird7]

Re: 2003 Super Charged Concept Car

Broken link?

Bob

I think the attached photo on Lindy's message is the photo he was trying to post.

[MerlotBlue]

Re: 2003 Super Charged Concept Car

lol, at least the car fits the modern "green" theme in that respect but I can make our 02 sink you into the seat some. It obeys me when I train it right. Just ask George.

Gee, I dunno.........I think your idea of "sink you in the seat" and mine might be more that just a bit different.

The car is what it is for me. It's a cruiser.

In this car we get plenty of bragging rights........More tricks than we could have imagined 20 years ago. High Compression, 32 valves, fuel injection and even a 5 speed automatic transmission would have seem pretty wild..........but.......

It's the size of the normally aspirated engine that disappoints on performance.

Despite the primitive nature of it.........in the absence of either super-charging or turbo charging.........there still is "No Replacement for Displacement".....and wow is that ever obvious here.

This little V8 has the peaky torque that waits too long to make power in the upper reaches of its rpm profile......and just doesn't have enough "Grunt" for a surprisingly heavy little car to get going with real authority from a standing start..

Just to make a comparison that's easier to wrap your head around?

A 95 Camaro or Firebird with a 275HP LT1 engine with 350 cubic inches will hustle to 60 in 5.0-5.5 seconds depending on who's driving, this despite massive wheel spin.

An '03-05 Thunderbird with 280HP will cover the same 0-60 in 6.5-7.0 seconds, again depending on who's test results you look at.

The answer to how an engine with 5 less horsepower leaves the Thunderbird many car lengths behind is simple.

It's not horse power that "sinks you in your seat".........it's torque.......more specifically? It's torque down low in the RPM range. The LT1 motor has it.....we don't.





"sink you in the seat" is a result of a broad, flat, torque across the RPM range that starts to "pull hard" very quickly, low in the RPM range, without letting go 'till the shift at higher RPMs.

The T-bird has the peakiest torque profile of any late model car I've owned or driven.......very reminiscent of the high lift/long duration cam engines of the 60s and 70s. Hustles respectably above 3500 rpm but really comes on above 4,000 rpm...........trouble is it has NOTHING bellow 3,000.


I expect it would have been easiest for Ford to have just used an engine from their line up with more cubic inches but super-charging would have gotten the job done as well........and it would have added to the "retro" image quite nicely too!

[Lindy]

Re: 2003 Super Charged Concept Car

Some trivia about the concept Thunderbird "SC" interior, while I'd opine that it hurts the eyes a bit to look at it; I nonetheless wanted to know what "chamois" is. Here is the definition that was listed on Etymology Online:
CHAMOIS "soft leather," originally "skin of the chamois," from M.Fr. chamois "Alpine antelope," from L.L. camox (gen. camocis), probably from a pre-L. Alpine language.

So perhaps the designers were a bit more after a "natural" color tone, or maybe it's my flatpanel display, but in some pictures it almost looks yellow (ouch). It seems to me that the "Sand package" that some of you T-birders have is already somewhat of a natural "buckskin" like look. The picture posted below, however, looks a bit more natural then some others which were posted to the internet.

[tomgaz]

Re: 2003 Super Charged Concept Car

Their must be a way to slam a 4.6 into these cars. I am sure someone has done it. As for the torque you are correct without torque horsepower means nothing. Before this I owned a dodge ram srt 10 know that was power. That monster had 505 hp and 500fpt. Will the SCT tuner make that much of a difference on these engines. I was wondering if roush racing makes performance parts for these engines.

[Lindy]

Re: 2003 Super Charged Concept Car

You know, Tom, IMO it wouldn't be a good idea to slam something like that in these cars, because the motor that's in there is pretty damn good! I wonder if by 1957 standards, that the '03-'05 motors wouldn't be considered super-charged, as there is a certain poundage of boost in our instake systems from what I have read. Maybe one of you motor-heads out there knows the precise pounds? 280HP packed into a petite 238 cubic inch aluminum block motor, flash the PCM add Borlas and K&N filter and now your talking about 320HP...Wow! This is the Thunderbird!

[tomgaz]

Re: 2003 Super Charged Concept Car

where can I go to flash the pcm?

[darkpyro6]

Re: 2003 Super Charged Concept Car

Hey guys, just out of curiosity have any of you checked out the ls forums over on lincoln vs cadillac i know theres a lot pf performance mods over there as well as a company that did a 4.6 cobra engine swap in one. i know its not exactly the T-Bird but its the only other car that shares this specific engine and drive train. I personally own an 02 lincoln ls and i like the design of the latest birds but i love my ls. We've got a guy in austin with a supercharger and at least one turbo somewhere.