which engine turbo 2.3 or 5.0

[Unit 5302]

Originally posted by myred86gt:
I owned an 88 t'bird t-coupe. It pulled har-
der than a stock 5.0. Everything was stock
except the exaust and a minor modification
to Fords terrible boost management:
take a trip to the hardware store and buy a
t-valve with pressure fittings and some hose.
Bypass the boost control solenoid with the
valve and voila, 18 pounds of boost from
2600rpm on up until fuel starvation from the
stock pump and injectors. This will yield up
to 265 hp, to go crazier, buy the motorsport
rollercam setup, 3.5 inch turbo exhaust out-
let and downpipe, oilcooler, bigger injectors, get rid of the stock airbox and
install k+n cone filter at maf-box. last but
not least a reprogrammed ECU, superchips is
very good with Bosch based engine management
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I also had a Thunderbird Turbo Coupe with a 5spd. It was quick for what it was, but it's limiting quickly surfaced around 80mph. The gearing no longer was able to cover up from a lack of hp vs my 87 and 88GT. The T-Bird TC made 175hp stock with a 3600-3700lb curb weight. That's 50hp short, and 500lbs heavy. The TC was not a match for the Fox 5.0HO's. Not even close. Even with 250hp they would be outclassed by a good driver in a 5.0.