I want to add that first; modding your panther won't be cheap. I forgot to mention that, the first time. We don't have the vast amount of parts, say a Mustang, or Civic would have. Secondly; what we do have is in a way expensive... or cheap bastards such as myself and cheap Panther owners might say the parts are expensive. If you compare some of it to other cars, you'll see the prices are about the same, though. We should be thankful that anybody took the time to engineer parts for our cars, since it's not seen as a performance platform. I'm betting the Maurader had some play in that. You'll see.many people say "GeT a MuStAnG." I like them too, but I love sedans and these cars can be built to perform fine.
You'll also see things like it's too heavy. Yes and no. Average wieght of Panthers is between 3800 and 4200 lbs. Mine was wieghed on a junk scale at 3950 with me, another person, some carry junk in it. I was around 250lbs and the other person was a chick that was probably 160-180. The no part comes in with, there are other performance cars around the same wieght. A Challenger Hellcat is around 4100 lbs, Mustang and Camaro are about 3800, they both outwiegh the Corvette which is also 3XXX lbs. A Tesla sedan can wiegh around 5000 lbs. The difference between these cars and ours is they have more power. Where ours have 215-250(300 for MM), these cars have 300+.
One main hinderance, especially for making real power is the 4.6. It is expensive to mod. You'll hear that they like boost and that the 2v is worthless. You can make NA power with them all, either way is going to be pricey, where say an LSX swap will be easier and the hardest part is wiring and engine mounts. It's why I say that the engine should be the last thing to touch. The good thing about them is that they are modular, and all use the same block between the 2v, 3v, and 4v 4.6 and 5.4. If memory serves; the stock bottom end can handle around 600hp. There are also cars making about that much with the stock intake.
Some mods are... for forgetting the right term... accessory mods. They don't do anything, or much of, without an acompaning mod that makes it effective. Headers and exhaust aren't going to do much without a tune- which you might need so your car will run right afterwards. The aftermarket non ford intakes will be outperformed on the low or mid end by the PI and FRPP(same intake, just metal) because most of them are for top end power. Many say the FRPP heatsoaks because it's aluminum. I don't know how heat resistant the plastic intake is, esoecially compared to aluminum, but you don't really need it as it has no real gains compared to the plastic one, other than looking better and won't crack up. If you haven't seen the page on Doorman vs factory intakes, there's a pic of a FRPP one.
The other thing is the airbox. If you have a 05 1/2+ p71, you have the maurader style airbox. It is a cold air intake. It takes cold air from outside and to the engine. It is closed off from the engine bay. You don't need some aftermarket intake, cone filters do not flow more than panel filters. There are cars making 400+ hp with the stock airbox. What people think a CAI is, is a misnomer. It ain't magic, it's not dropping the air temp. Whatever ambient air is outside, as it goes through the ziptube, it'll be as cold as the engine allows it to be. Some Autozone special(which is more a hot air intake) that is exposed to the engine bay is not helping you. If it's 80° outside, your engine is around 200°, how cold do you think the incoming air will be? Not 50° I promise. What you can do is change the zip tube. Leave the damn airbox, or if you have a car without the MM style box, get it(and most likely a tune) and change the zip tube. How much that thing absorbs heat will determin most of your air intake temps. Too many turns slows and probably heats the air. I'm pretty sure those aftermarket aluminum zip tubes heatsoak like a bitch. More than they dissipate. Keep or get the 05+ p71 or MM airbox, and get a straighter zip tube, and/or use heatshielding on it. But remember there won't be too much gains with all that on a stock engine. At least you'll have bragging rights.
You'll also see things like it's too heavy. Yes and no. Average wieght of Panthers is between 3800 and 4200 lbs. Mine was wieghed on a junk scale at 3950 with me, another person, some carry junk in it. I was around 250lbs and the other person was a chick that was probably 160-180. The no part comes in with, there are other performance cars around the same wieght. A Challenger Hellcat is around 4100 lbs, Mustang and Camaro are about 3800, they both outwiegh the Corvette which is also 3XXX lbs. A Tesla sedan can wiegh around 5000 lbs. The difference between these cars and ours is they have more power. Where ours have 215-250(300 for MM), these cars have 300+.
One main hinderance, especially for making real power is the 4.6. It is expensive to mod. You'll hear that they like boost and that the 2v is worthless. You can make NA power with them all, either way is going to be pricey, where say an LSX swap will be easier and the hardest part is wiring and engine mounts. It's why I say that the engine should be the last thing to touch. The good thing about them is that they are modular, and all use the same block between the 2v, 3v, and 4v 4.6 and 5.4. If memory serves; the stock bottom end can handle around 600hp. There are also cars making about that much with the stock intake.
Some mods are... for forgetting the right term... accessory mods. They don't do anything, or much of, without an acompaning mod that makes it effective. Headers and exhaust aren't going to do much without a tune- which you might need so your car will run right afterwards. The aftermarket non ford intakes will be outperformed on the low or mid end by the PI and FRPP(same intake, just metal) because most of them are for top end power. Many say the FRPP heatsoaks because it's aluminum. I don't know how heat resistant the plastic intake is, esoecially compared to aluminum, but you don't really need it as it has no real gains compared to the plastic one, other than looking better and won't crack up. If you haven't seen the page on Doorman vs factory intakes, there's a pic of a FRPP one.
The other thing is the airbox. If you have a 05 1/2+ p71, you have the maurader style airbox. It is a cold air intake. It takes cold air from outside and to the engine. It is closed off from the engine bay. You don't need some aftermarket intake, cone filters do not flow more than panel filters. There are cars making 400+ hp with the stock airbox. What people think a CAI is, is a misnomer. It ain't magic, it's not dropping the air temp. Whatever ambient air is outside, as it goes through the ziptube, it'll be as cold as the engine allows it to be. Some Autozone special(which is more a hot air intake) that is exposed to the engine bay is not helping you. If it's 80° outside, your engine is around 200°, how cold do you think the incoming air will be? Not 50° I promise. What you can do is change the zip tube. Leave the damn airbox, or if you have a car without the MM style box, get it(and most likely a tune) and change the zip tube. How much that thing absorbs heat will determin most of your air intake temps. Too many turns slows and probably heats the air. I'm pretty sure those aftermarket aluminum zip tubes heatsoak like a bitch. More than they dissipate. Keep or get the 05+ p71 or MM airbox, and get a straighter zip tube, and/or use heatshielding on it. But remember there won't be too much gains with all that on a stock engine. At least you'll have bragging rights.
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