In general, the most cost efficient and reasonable (I do not say "easy" because putting on headers for many engines turns out to be a royal pita with lots of little tweaks and adjustments that were not anticipated) mods for modest horsepower and torque gains are associated with "breathing". If you diddle with the "inhale", you often will do still better with balancing some improvement to the "exhale".
And, to the extent you can, refine the programming to your chip to deliver a more efficient burn. You get a few ponies and lbs/ft. But only a few. There is some auditory satisfaction with the low down growl of a set of headers, and there is no denying that the rumble is most satisfying. It grabs a gentleman's attention the way a new pair of shoes in the window arrests the walk of most ladies. Fast, loud and shiny is just pre-programmed into the genes it seems. So, a nice high flow intake and filter, headers and cat back will usually do a good job....but unless you are prepared to go FI and/or build the motor, the driving experience is not really a huge change.
The key is always what really is it that YOU want out of your car, and why, and what does it do to the driving experience. Will it be a cost effective and reasonable thing for you to embark upon? You can take a Yugo and make it a rocket ship.........but why would you? (Not unlike Mark Twain remarking that the remarkable thing about a dog walking on its hind legs was not that it was done badly...but that it was attempted at all!)
The Mark VIII is a rather unusual bit of work for Detroit, a car that averaged about 20,000 units a year for six years...but in fact after a rather robust debut kind of trailed off, rallied briefly with Gen 2, then faded fast. It probably did not deserve to disappear so quickly given the quality of the car and its innovations, but for whatever reasons, and there are many, Ford did not stick with it.
You might be amused/bemused at the fact that the Mark VIII is almost the same wheelbase and curb weight as a............Infiniti G35 coupe!!!! (But about two feet shorter overall...the Mark has a heck of an "overhang" at both ends.) A very popular seller these days, but much less luxurious and still priced about ten grand below the debut price of the Mark VIII in '93.
What is remarkable about both cars is the powerplants. The aluminum block Tedsik cast 4.6L DOHC V-8 is really something, as is the Nissan 3.5L VQ35DE V-6. Both deliver very adequate power, and driven with discretion, decent gas mileage. You can bump the grunt by up to 40hp/tq with breathing mods and tweaks...and then you are about done. The Lincoln benefits from many of the innovations developed for the Mustang, while the G35 is favored by having the same block as the 350Z. For the money, it may or may not be worth it to you to do that breating upgrade to a car with the residual value these cars now have. You certainly will not recover it on resale, so it has to be for the joy of driving, and practical use you have for the car.
And so here is the real point....what do you want in the car and why. If you want a real performance return as a "driving" vehicle, then you probably don't want or have to do much to the motor at all. And certainly not the gears or differential. What you might consider doing instead is work on the handling of the car. But when you are done.....it won't be a "Lincoln" anymore. Put on some stiff Adco sways, some harder composition bushings, a coilover suspension, and wider wheels so you can fit some 255mm treadwidth a lower aspect ratio/stiffer sidewall tires all around for better grip, and you are set with a vehicle that will rip through a turn tight and flat. (No kidding, it will out corner a brand new Benz or Bimmer) And if you want to mountain/canyon drive you might even go with a BBK, though again the cost returns are probably not there for anyone other than a real driving enthusiast.
Before you spend a penny of your hard earned cash, think it through very carefully and develop a plan of what you want and need from your car, so you do not do and then undo mods, or have to redo parts as you move along with the plan. This is a very fine driving experience vehicle just the way it is for everyday driving.
I like the chip, headers and dynomax exhaust on my car, and it really shows up when you put your foot into it and it opens up at 65-100mph with a roar. My reflection is that the mid to upper range materially benefits from them, and the lower end may benefit slightly but probably does not suffer. So it is pretty much an "all good" thing to do. But the real fun for me is carving through turns and balancing the weight transfer with a modified suspension that just leaves the euro snobs in their $80,000 toys agape and falling behind. You need or should have some advanced driving school or racing experience to do that safely......but golly it sure is neat to do. It is one of the best looking and most comfortable sleeper cars out there.
And, to the extent you can, refine the programming to your chip to deliver a more efficient burn. You get a few ponies and lbs/ft. But only a few. There is some auditory satisfaction with the low down growl of a set of headers, and there is no denying that the rumble is most satisfying. It grabs a gentleman's attention the way a new pair of shoes in the window arrests the walk of most ladies. Fast, loud and shiny is just pre-programmed into the genes it seems. So, a nice high flow intake and filter, headers and cat back will usually do a good job....but unless you are prepared to go FI and/or build the motor, the driving experience is not really a huge change.
The key is always what really is it that YOU want out of your car, and why, and what does it do to the driving experience. Will it be a cost effective and reasonable thing for you to embark upon? You can take a Yugo and make it a rocket ship.........but why would you? (Not unlike Mark Twain remarking that the remarkable thing about a dog walking on its hind legs was not that it was done badly...but that it was attempted at all!)
The Mark VIII is a rather unusual bit of work for Detroit, a car that averaged about 20,000 units a year for six years...but in fact after a rather robust debut kind of trailed off, rallied briefly with Gen 2, then faded fast. It probably did not deserve to disappear so quickly given the quality of the car and its innovations, but for whatever reasons, and there are many, Ford did not stick with it.
You might be amused/bemused at the fact that the Mark VIII is almost the same wheelbase and curb weight as a............Infiniti G35 coupe!!!! (But about two feet shorter overall...the Mark has a heck of an "overhang" at both ends.) A very popular seller these days, but much less luxurious and still priced about ten grand below the debut price of the Mark VIII in '93.
What is remarkable about both cars is the powerplants. The aluminum block Tedsik cast 4.6L DOHC V-8 is really something, as is the Nissan 3.5L VQ35DE V-6. Both deliver very adequate power, and driven with discretion, decent gas mileage. You can bump the grunt by up to 40hp/tq with breathing mods and tweaks...and then you are about done. The Lincoln benefits from many of the innovations developed for the Mustang, while the G35 is favored by having the same block as the 350Z. For the money, it may or may not be worth it to you to do that breating upgrade to a car with the residual value these cars now have. You certainly will not recover it on resale, so it has to be for the joy of driving, and practical use you have for the car.
And so here is the real point....what do you want in the car and why. If you want a real performance return as a "driving" vehicle, then you probably don't want or have to do much to the motor at all. And certainly not the gears or differential. What you might consider doing instead is work on the handling of the car. But when you are done.....it won't be a "Lincoln" anymore. Put on some stiff Adco sways, some harder composition bushings, a coilover suspension, and wider wheels so you can fit some 255mm treadwidth a lower aspect ratio/stiffer sidewall tires all around for better grip, and you are set with a vehicle that will rip through a turn tight and flat. (No kidding, it will out corner a brand new Benz or Bimmer) And if you want to mountain/canyon drive you might even go with a BBK, though again the cost returns are probably not there for anyone other than a real driving enthusiast.
Before you spend a penny of your hard earned cash, think it through very carefully and develop a plan of what you want and need from your car, so you do not do and then undo mods, or have to redo parts as you move along with the plan. This is a very fine driving experience vehicle just the way it is for everyday driving.
I like the chip, headers and dynomax exhaust on my car, and it really shows up when you put your foot into it and it opens up at 65-100mph with a roar. My reflection is that the mid to upper range materially benefits from them, and the lower end may benefit slightly but probably does not suffer. So it is pretty much an "all good" thing to do. But the real fun for me is carving through turns and balancing the weight transfer with a modified suspension that just leaves the euro snobs in their $80,000 toys agape and falling behind. You need or should have some advanced driving school or racing experience to do that safely......but golly it sure is neat to do. It is one of the best looking and most comfortable sleeper cars out there.
