I can honestly say I don't have an opinion. Strictly a GM guy and I have never even rode in a 3.8 ford powered car. My dad is a Ford man and he had the old ranger and taurus with the 3.0.

Ford pretty much hamstrung themselves by only using the SC3.8 in the Thunderbird. If it had been available in the Cougar it would have increased sales a bunch. Obviously, there was no chance of using it in the Mustang, but maybe a performance version of the Ranger or Explorer would have been a good idea, although again the V8 is a better choice. Really, the 3.8 never had a chance as a performance platform, anything it could have been used in already had a better motor available.
Hmm, I wonder if the SC3.8 would even fit under the hood of a Taurus? Or better yet, a Tempo?

my opinion of ford in general is they havent built ANYTHING worthwhile since '68

a guy at work had the taurus and the engine sounded like a can of marbles....he had nothing but trouble with it.

most ppl i have talked to with them say they are a grenade with the pin pulled.

id have to disagree, there are many reliable ford vehicles and engines since 68, too many to try to name. but thats just my opinion, and urs is urs.

and i had a taurus for a year or so. it ran great. never had any problems with it. the 3.0 vulcan is actually a very reliable engine that made decent power. but maybe i got a factory freak with that one, idk.

A buddy of mind had a '98 Mustang with the 3.8. It was awful. NO power, head gaskets were toast, and there'* really no aftermarket for it. Which is why we quickly ripped it out and dropped a V8 in there.

Just my $0.02

How about a SHO? Anybody?? No?? Oh that'* right, I think they're all finally dead....

Alright, we have all of the GM opinions, now for the Ford opinion. Head gasket eating machine. Carry a spare pair with headbolts when driving. Gas mileage in a 3800lb car, I seem to remember being somewhere in the mid 20'* highway(no better than my 4.6, which is far more than a "wothwhile" development, especially when coupled with the 4R70W ).

3800 is far superior in terms of reliability, but not flawless with the LIM gasket failures on all versions, and the UIM failures on the L36'*. Vast amounts more power, when compared year to year with a Ford 3.8L in the mid-late 90'*.

Ford DID use the 3.8L SC in the Cougar, but it didn't sell so they pulled it. That was in 1989 and 1990.

Also, a Ford 3.8L aftermarket exists. Otherwise, the SC guys would have a helluva time getting their Ford 3.8L powered Thunderbirds into the 10'*.

http://www.krestsig.com/products.html is just one of the few places I know of that actually caters to the 3.8L crowd. Another website I can't locate was a very popular one a while back.

However, SCCOA.com and 3.8mustang.com are forums regarding the Ford 3.8L and performance applications. Yes, they do exist.

http://www.3.8mustang.com/performance/ is another place to buy parts, though poorly laid out...

I guess, in the end, the 3800 is a far better engine, but the 3.8 from Ford can be made to go just as fast, even though it'* far less powerful and reliable out of the box.

Additionally, the mid 90'* engines did NOT have knock sensors. If you ran lean, you pinged. The SC guys strongly recommend an oversized exhaust system and headers before you consider dropping pulley sizes. However, they claim that doing these things also gains you a considerable amount of power(I can not verify this claim). Something to the tune of 50hp from headers and exhaust(replacing the resonator with a high flow one that is).


supercoupeperformance.com carries a small supply of N/A 3.8 upgrades and a plethora of upgrades for the */ced 3.8'*.

I came across an SC TB a few years ago right after I bought the Zilla. the car was totally stock other than a drop-in K&N. That SC TB couldn't get enough oomph (in spite of the intercooled M90) to pass me in the Coast Range. Several tries, including making some 'runs' at me. It was quite funny actually.

And I haven't run across any that could take either of my cars since. The are not stronger than the S1 L67.

A guy at the local oil change place has seen both of my cars a couple times. He has a Ford 3.8SC in his Tbird. He told me one day "We have the same engine". I laughed and told him not quite. He was appalled that the Buick motors don't have any major problems whatsoever and handle the power very well when upgraded.

He understood more when I told him the history of the engine. FTR, I think he stated he gets about 12mpg around town and about 10 more on the freeway.

To the statement about it having no aftermarket, not true even in the slightest. The Ford 3.8 may have a bigger aftermarket than we do. I'm sure we've all heard of supersixmotorsports. If not, here is the link:
http://www.supersixmotorsports.com/
They carry a TON of high performance Ford 3.8 parts as well as parts for our cars. These engines can and do go fast! Stock for stock though I think we would walk on them(I think). I have always wanted to race a V6 Mustang but never had the chance. The 4.0 on the other hand i would walk away from.
Grant

Those V6 Mustang'*, at least the early ones, are slow as all get out. I beat one with my 93 Buick LeSabre when I had it...'nuff said.

Now a good question. To the max, which will handle more...3800 Series or a Ford 3.8. Somehow I'm thinking 3800 because Intense has already gotten one up to near 800hp as per their site, and that'* a damn lot.