I'M JUST WONDERING IF ANY BODY KNOWS THE ACCELERATION TIMES FOR THE 3.0L WITH THE EXTENDED OR STANDARD WAGON OR FOR THE 4.OL

 

You jogged my memory. In my pile of old magazines I found two comparison tests of mini-vans from years past.
Popular Science Oct 1987 tested a Aerostar XLT with 3.0L and 3:45 rear axle and reported 0-60 in 11.8 sec. No 1/4 mile time reported.

Popular Mechanics Febuary 1990 tested a Aerostar extended with 4.0L, no axle ratio mentioned, and reported 0-60 in 9.80 sec and 1/4 mile in 17.31 sec.

Times would be a little better with the 3:73 or 4:10 axle ratios on the 3.0L I would guess.

Hope this helps. Now I've got to decide if I should keep or toss some of these old magazines since I last looked at them probably 10 years ago. Ha!

 

Correction:

"Times would be a little better with the 3.73 or 4:10 axle ratios on the 3.0L I would guess."

Don't know why the happy faces appeared.

 

I found happy faces appear with the colon symbol followed by a 7 for a open-mouthed face :7 and followed by a 9 for a face with the tongue sticking up . You don't get the face until you preview/post. You apparently expressed the axel ratio of 3.73 using a colon and the middle turned into a face. I have seen other faces but don't know how to get them.

 

If you guys want to look at faces, to avoid them, or to use them, then click on the short cut entitled "Emotion icon short cuts", it should give you the whole list of 'em. It's in black above the blue box you type in :-)

Chris
1982 F100 Flareside
300" T18 4speed
Blue & Silver

 

hey MarkP did they use a automatic or manual transmission? how did they launch (brake torque, rev in neutral, or dump or slip start?

 

All automatics. Don't know what techniques they use to launch. They compared all the current mini-vans of the time in both tests and most likely used the same test track and technique on all of the different manufacturers vans they tested. Some mangazines try different launching methods to obtain the best times, like Car and Driver but in the real world most people just punch it and go without brake torquing and I suspect magazines like popular Science and Popular Mechanics do it this way since they are not trying to eek the last tenth out of what are essentially family trucksters. Just my hunch. I have timed my 88 3.0L automatic Aerostar cargo van, empty, with 3.73 limited slip and half a tank of gas on a level two way strech of clean surface blacktop on a clear windless 75 deg day through a 1/4 mile airplane speed enforcement trap that the Iowa State patrol so kindly provides over much of the states hiways at 18.0 sec average two way after four tries with my hand held stop watch.
My 1996 Nissan Maxima automatic did it in 15.3 sec on the same day. Not the least bit scientific I know but that was both just punching it and going without brake torquing either vehicle. The Aerostar layed down two patches of rubber for maybe six to ten feet most likely since it was so light in the rear without seats or cargo. The front wheel drive Maxima layed down probably twice the rubber before hooking up. Both have pretty hard rubber from the factory. I was just curious.

 

what was your 0-60 time and your quarter mile speed. my aerostar has the standard 3.73 will that be faster or slower than yours. i have a 89 extended xlt with the 3.0. what tires ya got. the aerostar produces

145 horsepower@ 4800 rpm
160 ft/lb torque@ 3600 rpm

i dont want to push the van to hard since it is 11 years old. how many miles ya got i have 181,550 miles

 

what was your 0-60 time and your quarter mile speed. my aerostar has the standard 3.73 will that be faster or slower than yours. i have a 89 extended xlt with the 3.0. what tires ya got. the aerostar produces with the 3.0

145 horsepower@ 4800 rpm
160 ft/lb torque@ 3600 rpm

i dont want to push the van to hard since it is 11 years old. how many miles ya got i have 181,550 miles

 

Since my speedometer has never been very accurate I only did 1/4 mile times. The speedometer will read low when cold and after a few miles begins to get more accurate but never right on the money.
A true 65mph reads 71mph when cold and eventually gets to about 68mph using the road mile and 1/4 miles markings Iowa uses on the interstate. The odometer seems to be pretty accurate though, over say 10 miles. My 88 Areostar cargo van is about to turn 60,000 miles and is in excellent rust free condition since it isn't used that much. I ordered it to tow my race car and trailer and took delivery in Nov. 87. Should last me for years yet. It even still has the original Michelin 215x70-14 tires though they are due to be replaced soon. I have a set of four Bridgestone Blizzak ice/snow tires on steel rims for winter so the original tires probably have about 45K on them I'd guess. Hearing that the Aerostar will last to high miles is nice to know.






what was your 0-60 time and your quarter mile speed. my aerostar has the standard 3.73 will that be faster or slower than yours. i have a 89 extended xlt with the 3.0. what tires ya got. the aerostar produces
145 horsepower@ 4800 rpm
160 ft/lb torque@ 3600 rpm

i dont want to push the van to hard since it is 11 years old. how many miles ya got i have 181,550 miles

 

taken about 7 years ago when I was still racing and autocrossing.

http://www.geocities.com/markp_50310/vantrailer.jpg

 

Mark,

What does your trailer weigh loaded? What is the rear end ration on your Aerostar? Is it an automatic? I believe you said it is a 3.0 L. My wifes 3.0 L '92 with an automatic and 3.73 rear end towed a 2000 lb trailer fine up to about 50-55. It was a chore to go about 65 and there was a hot oily/rubbery smell which we believe was an overworked tranny (ran in drive, not OD). Also engine light kept coming on. Other than the lack of power, it towed beautifully tracking true probably because the ball was less than 3 ft behind the rear axle, but did get blown a bit by passing trucks. I think our problem was the profile of the trailer (camper) put up too much wind resistance.

 

for 1988 included 3.73 limited slip rear axle and automatic trans with the recommendation of keeping below 5100lbs for the trailer and equipement in the truck for the cargo van. I weighed the Hona CRX on the trailer with all my tools and spare tires for racing at a truck stop scales at 5200lb roughly. Pushing it a little I know, but in all the towing I did no problems ever came up. The trailer had self energizing surge brakes and I weighed the toung weight at about 500lb or 10% of the trailer. Ford recommended not towing in OD so I always left the trans in drive with cruise control on helping it out on hills and doing a bit of anticipating by speeding up. 65 to 70 mph on the interstate usually if head winds weren't a factor. I never used sway control but only a daed weight class 3 reciever and ball mount.
It towed very easily except for steep hills were it would drop down to 2nd gear and work like hell but never gave a probem. I changed the trans oil and filter every 30k miles and the rear diff oil and LSD modifier at 30K too. Engine oil has allways been 5W30 with the oil and filter changed at 3K. A trailer with more frontal area like a house trailer would be a bigger strain on the van though, even at less weight.

 

Mark P. I think you are right about the wind resistance. Our Aerostar rates no greater frontal area than the van itself which is about 49 sq ft, but the trailer is closer to 60 sq ft. I noticed when towing with my F150 (4.9 six) that with a really strong head wind it is a struggle. I wonder if any engineers out there could tell us a way to calculate wind resistiance vs weight drag. I think after about 65 mph the wind resistance must go up extremely fast.

Also what is a LSD modifier?

 

a friction modifier recommended by Ford and others to be added to differential oil so the the clutches in the LSD don't grab on corners causing
chatter. Ford sells it in a small tube to be added with the new oil.
Ford also issuse a towing recommendation guide listing such things as allowable trailer weights, trailer frontal areas and total weight of the tow truck/car with trailer, passenges and equipement for each vehicles engine/transmission/rear axle ratio. Larger frontal areas reduce the allowed total weight of the trailer. Most Ford dealers have these. I aquired them for the 1988, 1991, 1992 and 1996 model year Fords which should be the same for most Aerostar 3.0L combinations.
The trailer should not exceed 50sq.ft. in frontal area or reduced weight and slower speeds must be observed.