I used to have a 93 Tbird LX 5.0 - it was slightly modded, but still moved like molasses compared to my 94 Mark. The 93 Thunderchicken was one of the best cars Ive had. It was very easy to work on like my 92 LX 3.8, but the 302 was a lot more durable than that stupid headgasket eating 3.8 slug (0-60 was about 12 seconds in the 3.8 LX), as my 3.8 blew the HG's in the worst way possible and destroyed my bearings. My 302 had over 180k miles on it, with the last 80k put on by me, and it was relatively trouble free and I really drove the car a lot all over Los Angeles every day for my job.
When I first got my Mark and had to deal with dumb things like a stuck cap on the crossover pipe, I was very discouraged. I wanted the simplicity of my old Tbird back. But after a while I got used to the motor, and I am a lot more familiar with working on it now, and have had my car parked for 10 months now while slowly fixing all the millions of issues so it can be a reliable daily driver again.
I didn't expect my Mark to feel lighter, but it DOES feel lighter the way it handles, especially when compared to the Tbird because the Tbird is heavier. My 3.8 LX with the stereo included was over 4100 lbs! The 302 LX was roughly 50 lbs more. As far as the motors are concerned, the 5.0 is a more relaxed kind of thrust, much slower revving. The Mark motor is much more free revving, and has a very strong lively top end all the way to redline. If my Honda came with a V8, it would probably be like the motor in my Mark.
