| Owner: |
Seek |
| Thunderbird: |
1988 Ford Thunderbird |
| Displacement: |
5.02 L |
| Fuel type: |
gasoline |
| Transmission: |
automatic |
| Curb weight: |
3500 lbs |
| Coefficient of drag: |
0.35 |
| Frontal area: |
0 sq.ft. |
| Instrumentation: |
|
| Description: |
Gets 20/30 mpg as of 9/27/09.
Completely new motor and 13k transmission in Septemper 2008.
Engine: Stock block/crank, forged pistons/rods, gt40 tubular intake with ported lower, gt40p heads with trick flow springs, 1.7 Cobra RR's, 89 Mustang cam, SFI balancer, A9P ECU with minor changes to the tune, 195 degree tstat. No useless smog pump (before removal, lines were clogged with carbon anyways). mini/gear reduction starter for more torque/less electrical draw. Stock 10 BTDC - timing changed via EEC tuner. Synthetic 10w30 with Motorcraft oil filter.
Cooling: 3 core aluminum radiator for future use with electric fan - fan will run less with more surface area from the radiator.
Fuel delivery: 19lb fuel injectors, 255lph HP fuel pump.
Intake: 60mm throttle body, 55mm mass air sensor, Stock paper air filter.
Exhaust: FMS 1 5/8 in headers, full 2.5" exhaust with high flow cats and Borla XS mufflers.
Transmission: 4r70w out of a 2003 Mustang controlled by a Baumannator TCS/custom tune. More fluid pressure than stock - less parasitic losses through the transmission.
Rear axle: Stock iron driveshaft, 8.8" traction-loc rearend with 3.08 gears.
Wheels: 225/60r16 Toyo Proxes on stock '88 TC "snowflake" rims. 32psi tire pressure.
Brakes: 11" front disc brakes with 73mm front calipers, synthetic brake fluid. Rear 10" disc brakes with 43mm Yarga calipers. Adjustable proportioning valve.
Suspension: Moog replacement front springs with a 1/2" drop, Bilstein HD sn95 struts/shocks, polyurethane pushings around most suspension, new steering rack, pump, and tie rod ends.
Electrical: 3G 130A alternator, 1/0 gauge Hyperflex wiring at mine electrical lines/grounds. Optima yellow top battery. LED or CCFL lighting to replace certain incandescent bulbs - less power draw.
Body: 1988 Turbo Coupe front bumper cover/header panel. Custom HID headlights (Acura TL projectors) for lower current draw and more light output. Additional sound dampening/weight. Full power everything except passenger seat. A/C upgraded and still functional.
Tuning: Moates Quarterhorse ECU tuner/Binary Editor/EEC Analyzer for engine datalogs, Baumannator TCS ECU - no datalogging. Wide band o2 sensor wired to a DataQ datalogger. |
| Build Thread: |
|
| Current Mods: |
The front bumper cover and header panel divert more air around the car rather than into the engine bay/underneath the vehicle.
Efficiently built motor that builds 330hp at the crank with pegged 19lb injectors at 4500 rpm's, 0.70:1 OD ratio for highway economy. Wide ratio transmission for more torque multiplication in 1st and 2nd gear.
3.55 final drive ratio gears dropped me to 27mpg highway. Now using 3.08's but not enough mileage on them to get any economy numbers.
|
| Planned Mods: |
Install new Mark VIII electric fan. Did some testing and found up to 2mpg increase in downhill trips, 0mpg increase on uphill trips. Pulled until better fan mounts can be fabbed up. This was still on the stock 2.73 gears. Mechanical fan had a new clutch the same day when this testing occurred.
Tune open loop variables to move from the ecu's target 11:1 a/f ratio to 12.5:1.
Tire pressure increase once the above modifications are done, one at a time to test affects on economy. Tire pressure may not be possible to due traction problems as it is with the 400+ft lbs of torque. |
|
| Official Fuel Economy Ratings |
| EPA city |
16 mpg(US) |
| EPA highway |
24 mpg(US) |
| EPA combined |
19 mpg(US) |
| Actual Fuel Economy Performance
|
| Lifetime |
32.68 mpg(US) |
| Last 3 tanks |
32.68 mpg(US) |
| 90 days |
32.68 mpg(US) |
View Fuel Log
Last updated: May 17, 2009 |
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