Little more power for daily?

[dogdammit]

I have a 2003 Ranger with a flex fuel 3.0 Vulcan, and I believe a 5r44e transmission. Everything else I know little about. I like to be sure about every little detail so if you think for example I actually have a 5r55e, let me know just for the sake of knowledge.

My question is can I reliably get 450 to maybe even 700hp out of this and still keep it for at least 5 years/200k miles? I am willing to fully tear down the block and start over, but if that's not entirely feasible what can I drop in? As in drop-in ready, I am not super willing to cut things to make it fit. Thanks in advance!

Edit: I'd also like to add 4wd and active suspension, if anybody knows anything about that that would be pretty valuable.

 

[pjtoledo]

we all like to dream but 450 is way WAY over the top for your engine.

do some searching/reading about what others have done. and hit the Tech Library tab above.
then check your wallet, power/speed costs money. how fast can you afford to go?
since you're in California check into the restrictions they put on modifications.

search for Tom Morana racing


I'm cheap, and drive slow.

 

[dogdammit]

we all like to dream but 450 is way WAY over the top for your engine.

do some searching/reading about what others have done. and hit the Tech Library tab above.
then check your wallet, power/speed costs money. how fast can you afford to go?
since you're in California check into the restrictions they put on modifications.

search for Tom Morana racing


I'm cheap, and drive slow.

I've been reading some stuff but I need to read more. I was hoping someone could tell me for sure what I can do here, because I haven't really found a good setup yet.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

You should have a 5r55 trans for that year.

450-700 HP is not a “little” more power. You will likely need a different engine/trans to get that kind of power. Theoretically it may be possible to squeeze that power out of a 3.0, but for the time and money you would be better off moving to a motor that’s better for building power. 2.3l EcoBoost or a V-8.

You could free up a little bit going to an electric fan, electric power steering, and stick a smaller turbo on it, then tune. Not going to hit your HP numbers but it will wake up a bit.

Your transmission can use a shift kit. I put a TransGo kit in one of mine and went almost to the max on any optional stuff. I’m going all the way to max performance when I do another. It wasn’t harsh but it cleaned up all the mushy/slushy shifting. My 92 Ranger with a 4.0 I did a bunch of valve body stuff (A4LD) and that thing would light up the tires from a stop with too much gas and it would chirp second if you were really on it with an empty bed. The trans is where you’re losing a lot of performance. Also, the auto trans shifts too soon for the 3.0 unless you pin the throttle.

 

[tjm73]

I'm going to assume you are talking power at the crankshaft. Your 3.0 was rated 154hp from Ford. To get to 450hp you looking at having to almost triple the stock power. The 3.0 has not been widely pushed to that kind of power. If anyone has tried at all.

To put it another way you would need around 28 psi to make 450. It'll take a metric butt ton of money to build that and have it stay in one piece. And it'd all be custom one off fabrication.

Where did you pick 450-700hp from? Do the numbers just sound good to you? Have you driven something with that kind of power? I've driven a 710hp AWD Hellcat Durango. And I have driven my own ~415hp 331 '93 Mustang GT. My daily is 181hp Bronco Sport. I'm driven a number of other vehicles in the 300-400 hp range.

If you had 350ish hp you would be pleasantly surprised by how useful it is and accessable the power is without being wildly overpowered.

350 or so is very achievable by a number of paths.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

My question is can I reliably get 450 to maybe even 700hp out of this and still keep it for at least 5 years/200k miles?

No way. Not for a 3.0 in a dd setting. Maybe for a weekend with a huge budget but no way it will see 200k miles under its own power reliably.

5.3 LS out of a truck is a tad over 300hp to start off with IIRC. Adding 100 to that isn't really rocket science.

4wd swap is not easy if you have a coil spring suspension. Basically a solid axle swap which will require a 4wd transmission.

Active suspension? Like IRS or computer controlled stuff?

 

[tjm73]

Can I ask how old you are and what your experience level is with modification to vehicles?

In my 52 years I have seen many a post like this and it's almost always a younger or inexperienced guy that's just getting started and not yet aware of the total effort required to hit a number. The bigger the number the bigger the effort.

I was there at one point and I am still there on some things.

 

[RobbieD]

we all like to dream but 450 is way WAY over the top for your engine.

No way.

But y'all are forgetting about this miracle of engine performance technology:

Ads on the internet wouldn't lie, would they?