Solution to the Under-powered 500 Problem!!
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Senior User
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 275
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From: Louisiana
Solution to the Under-powered 500 Problem!!
Ok first of all I dont know from experience if the 500 is under-powered or not but from everyone that I talked to I got the impression that it could use some more Ponnies. Ok Volvo (and Yamaha and Ford) developed a new 4.4L V8, it produces 311 Hp. and 325 Tq. that is optional in the 2005 XC90. I was reading on the Volvo website and they said that in the future that thay planed on putting it in the S80 and poss. other Volvo cars. Well correct me if I am wrong but isin't the new 500 built off of the S80's platform, so therfor it would be a highly likely canadite. It is not unheard of having a V8 in a Ford car, they did have the SHO Taurus that had a Yamaha V8 very similar to this one, just smaller. What do ya'll think about this idea, this would allow it to compete with the new 300C with the HEMI.
Hotshot
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 12,679
Likes: 15
From: BC, Canada
I'm sure that Ford will put some more power into the 500 and Freestyle soon. It will be interesting to see exactly what they decide on. I haven't driven a 500 yet but have driven a couple Freestyles which are pretty much just 500 station wagons. After what I read about them I was prepared to be really underwhelmed by the power but I didn't think they were that bad.
The CVT will take a bit of getting used to though.
The CVT will take a bit of getting used to though.
Hotshot
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 12,679
Likes: 15
From: BC, Canada
Are you familiar with a snowmbile or ATV belt driven transmission?
That's the principle that the CVT uses. Except for a rubber belt though they use a steel chain/belt type of thing. The CVT is built by ZF so hopefully it will be reliable but it's pretty early to tell for sure. Take a look at http://auto.consumerguide.com/auto/e.../act/opinion32 for some more info on how a CVT works.
I think they feel pretty good to drive. You don't feel any shifts which is unusual and when you hold your foot to the floor the RPM goes up almost to redline and stays there. The sound doesn't change because it doesn't shift but the speed keeps going up. I think it feels kinda neat
The Freestyle looks good, I think, and drives nice. I was surprised when I first saw it how big it was and how much room it has in it. It's actually longer and has more room than an Explorer.
I might change my mind after I work on a few of them but so far I like them
That's the principle that the CVT uses. Except for a rubber belt though they use a steel chain/belt type of thing. The CVT is built by ZF so hopefully it will be reliable but it's pretty early to tell for sure. Take a look at http://auto.consumerguide.com/auto/e.../act/opinion32 for some more info on how a CVT works.
I think they feel pretty good to drive. You don't feel any shifts which is unusual and when you hold your foot to the floor the RPM goes up almost to redline and stays there. The sound doesn't change because it doesn't shift but the speed keeps going up. I think it feels kinda neat
The Freestyle looks good, I think, and drives nice. I was surprised when I first saw it how big it was and how much room it has in it. It's actually longer and has more room than an Explorer.
I might change my mind after I work on a few of them but so far I like them
Posting Guru
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 1,006
Likes: 4
From: Sussex County, DE
An AWD 500 could compete with a 300, if it had the power. But you are right about a FWD vrs a 300. But that's just my opinion, which is automaticly jaded 'cause I hate FWD. The 500 looks nice like the styling (esp.the interior), but I don't like the 3.0L Duratec. Or the fact that it's a sidewinder, and propably won't even have enough room to change the serp. belt without lifting the engine. A V8 would only be worse under the hood. Pictures I have seen seem to suggest that the engine bay is already overcrowded.
Posting Guru
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 1,174
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From: Near Wamego KS
Originally Posted by '961506
That couldnt compete with a 300c unless they made it RWD and more luxerious. Since the 300C is cometing with the crown vic
The Crown Vic isn't competing with anyone, yet. The 300 costs to much to be very popular as a patrol car and the civilian buyers are for the most part to old to even notice the 300 is on the road. The CV like its target market will die a slow prolonged death over the next 3-5 years.
The 300 is going after the upscale baby boomers that nearing retirement age but still want a mover and a shaker, something the 500 is not. The 300's base engine equals the ONLY engine in the 500 and the 3.5L plain stomps the duratech in the 500 and more then matches the 4.6 in the Crown Vic, then you can still move up to the Hemi.
Ford missed the boat by not having the their own 3.5L engine available for the 500 when it was introduced. With that engine and the new model they could have eaten the Wimpala's lunch and taken a bite out of the ever increasingly bland Camry & Accord market. In the late 80s and early 90s the Taurus competed very successfully against those two cars until Ford introduced the "fish car" in 96.
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Elder User
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 871
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From: Perkasie, Pa.
A Ford 500 with 311hp would be nice! However it wouldn't be able to keep up with the top of the line 300 Hemi. The 2005 300 hemi 6.1L is good for 425hp.
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Post Fiend
Joined: Nov 2001
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From: Topsfield, MA
My snowmobile is like that, you could be at a dead stop, pin it, and it'll take off w/ the engine screaming at about 7k rpm, then as you start to get movin' past 30-40 the rpms will creep up to the 8k redline, and the sled will pull hard (no shifting, all 1 gear)to 115. It's really neat because you have a constant acceleration vs breaks in momentum by shifting.
