Gen III good and bad years

[NASSTY]

Originally Posted by Aussie Mike

Better check your maths there Al, it's 185KG versus 230KG. Even if changing to alloy heads will probably saves you 15 or 20KG you're still carrying 30KG extra.

Yep the 347 does give the LS1 a run for it's money. I should know I've got the Tickford 347 equipped Pursuit 250. However that motor as it sits in the ute is at the limits of it's tuning without major mechanical changes. After talking to a few tuners they reckon you cant get much more out of them by changing the factory tune. It's idles rough and only runs on premium as it is (economy is a bit ordinary too).

With a reflash of the ecu on a stock LS1 you can make 300KW at the crank no trouble. Guys are getting 250KW at the rear wheels without turning a spanner on the engine. Spend the same money you would have to on the 347 to get to that level and your LS1 would be reliably making over 300 at the rear wheels.

As far as resale, that's yet to be seen. I don't think there has been an LS1 equipped Cobra on the used car market yet in Australia to see what will happen. I believe the engines performance will make a lot more people overlook that it doesn't have a blue oval badge on it. When comparing an Iron Chev motor to an Iron Ford motor there wasn't much differential in performance so you'd go for the Ford to be traditional.

Cheers

G'day Mike

DOUGH! Must remember pounds doesn't = kilos! Bugga!

I've been doing research into AU Edit for the T3's. Some people had a tune from the factory that was pretty good to begin with, others have had good gains with some bolt-ons such as CAI hand exhaust - up too 225rwkw. A mate of mine, Tommy Easton, knows one of the blokes at Tickford who developed the T3 5.6ltr (btw it's a 342 ci as Ford didn't spend the $$ and oversize the bores by 30 thou). Apparently in early R&D the problem was they were getting too much power from the 5.6, around 300kw. But with the arrival of the Boss around the corner they were asked to tone it down to 250kws. Also the transmissions at the time were only rated to 500nm so there was a warranty issue as well. Tickford wanted to use alloy heads but Ford didn't want to spend the $$ so the GT40P heads had some minor work done to them by Yella Terra. Ford also changed the specs of the motor half way through it's production as well. It originally had a small cam with 1.7 rockers and then switched to a larger cam with 1.6 rockers. The cam also had shorter duration on the exhaust instead of the usual larger split duration to help reduce power and emmissions. The cam was also set at 2 degrees retarded and had 116 deg lobe separation. There is apparently plenty to be gained with the correct cam selection. But the best bit was the intake manifold. It's a gem and will flow some big numbers.

I have no idea why Ford bits are more expensive than Chev. For some that's reason enough to use a LS1 because it's all there from the factory. Frankly it doesn't matter what you use. I grew up on a diet of both Ford and Holden. I too seriously considered a LS1 because I knew I would have to spend $$ on a 302 to get it to perform. But luckily the T3 came along and that was that. I've been in a 347 Cobra that makes 450hp and frankly that was fast enough for me!