300 vs. 302
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300 vs. 302
I'm sure this topic was discussed before but i'm new here. I'm looking at buying an F-150 but I don't know much about the 300 engine. All I know is that they last hella long and have monstrous torque. But what about HP? Does it have some get-up-and-go kinda power, from off the line at an intersection to punching it on the hwy? Gas milage (I searched that and i guess it's somewhere around 20mpg?)? Also, what does a custom exhaust sound like on one of these puppies?
Last edited by gearbot; Apr 16, 2005 at 10:04 AM.
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They do last, but "monstrous torque"?
They make about the same torque as a 302, but they start making it at a lower RPM. That's the good news.
The bad news is it's all over by about 3500 RPM at which point an EFI 300 is making somewhere around (yawn) 150 horse.
They accelerate fine, but are not drag racing engines. Even with my gap-0-matic 4 speed OD, I can stay with most traffic. I can hold speed on most hills in OD or 3rd.
Gas mileage: yes, you can get into the 20s with the right gear and light foot and no load.
Custom exhaust---loud. You can't make it sound like a fueler. The closest "loud" sound I can think of is our city garbage trucks with inline 6 oil burners--a 300 would sound a little like that with louder pipes.
Not that it's a bad sound, but it isn't a V8 and will never sound like a V8.
If you want to gas it and spin the tires and pitch it sideways on the on ramps, buy a 302 or better yet 351. If you want to haul loads and drive it like a truck buy the 300.
They make about the same torque as a 302, but they start making it at a lower RPM. That's the good news.
The bad news is it's all over by about 3500 RPM at which point an EFI 300 is making somewhere around (yawn) 150 horse.
They accelerate fine, but are not drag racing engines. Even with my gap-0-matic 4 speed OD, I can stay with most traffic. I can hold speed on most hills in OD or 3rd.
Gas mileage: yes, you can get into the 20s with the right gear and light foot and no load.
Custom exhaust---loud. You can't make it sound like a fueler. The closest "loud" sound I can think of is our city garbage trucks with inline 6 oil burners--a 300 would sound a little like that with louder pipes.
Not that it's a bad sound, but it isn't a V8 and will never sound like a V8.
If you want to gas it and spin the tires and pitch it sideways on the on ramps, buy a 302 or better yet 351. If you want to haul loads and drive it like a truck buy the 300.
Postmaster
Joined: Jul 2003
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From: Pittsburgh
EFI torque is around 265 at 2000, but from idle-3800 torque never drops below about 250 lbs. It hits the HP peak at around 3800 RPM and puts 150ish to the ground.
And the sound of a 300 with a different exhaust is most defintely a sound of its own. I recently pulled the entire exhaust system off of my truck due to a clogged cat; right now I'm running about 2' of 2" off of the manifold and that's it. It sounds like an I-4 on steroids. You get the V8 rumble, but the 4 cylinder buzz (allbeit, nowhere near as high pitched).
Whatever you do, DO NOT run true duals on a 300. It sounds like a pair of motorcycles racing one another. You basically get the sound of two 3 cylinder motors running in unison. Run a 2-1 Y pipe into a single highflow cat (if you need to be emissions legal) and (IMO) forget about a muffler. I think it sounds awesome running just through a cat or just through a muffler.
Justin
And the sound of a 300 with a different exhaust is most defintely a sound of its own. I recently pulled the entire exhaust system off of my truck due to a clogged cat; right now I'm running about 2' of 2" off of the manifold and that's it. It sounds like an I-4 on steroids. You get the V8 rumble, but the 4 cylinder buzz (allbeit, nowhere near as high pitched).
Whatever you do, DO NOT run true duals on a 300. It sounds like a pair of motorcycles racing one another. You basically get the sound of two 3 cylinder motors running in unison. Run a 2-1 Y pipe into a single highflow cat (if you need to be emissions legal) and (IMO) forget about a muffler. I think it sounds awesome running just through a cat or just through a muffler.
Justin
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