Mercury Topaz SHO

[backroad101]

Interesting engine swap

http://www.tempo-topaz-performance.com/topazsho/index.html

 

[Jason]

Have you ever seen a thread title that sounds so stupid, you have to look? This one did that to me. But, that car is pretty damn sweet! What a sleeper.

 

[JPRanger03]

The V6 Topaz's were already pretty much a poor man's SHO Taurus

 

[James86]

The V6 Topaz's were already pretty much a poor man's SHO Taurus

only with less room, less performance, no all wheel discs, no handling, etc....



Oh, and about 75 less HP.....



and people get in a tizzy over the 15HP difference between a 3.0 and a 4.0

 

[Jason]

Plus the SHO made the power so abruptly. It feels like a rocket fired up in the midrange.

 

[Psychopete]

Very cool car. Takes a lot of effort to work on the Tempo/Topazs, everything is just in there so tight. Just changing the harmonic balancer is a hell of a job on the 4 bangers with having to take off the front end dress, steering stabilizer, and dropping the engine down low enough to pull it out of the wheel well, can't imagine what he went through lol.

and people get in a tizzy over the 15HP difference between a 3.0 and a 4.0

I think the biggest thing is that the 4.0L makes more torque at a lower RPM, and that does make a difference.

 

[Mark_88]

Cool...I was thinking about this swap at one point...but nice to see it done...

There was also a SHO engine that came with the Tempo/Topaz in the 2.3 format...never saw one and read that it wasn't much more powerful than the stock engine...can't remember, but it wasn't the Taurus SHO version for sure...

Oh, and when I bought my 89 Tempo I was also considering the 5.0 Mustang or the SHO...and had dreams about the Turbo Coupe T-Bird...now that was a classic

 

[James86]

There was also a SHO engine that came with the Tempo/Topaz in the 2.3 format...never saw one and read that it wasn't much more powerful than the stock engine...can't remember, but it wasn't the Taurus SHO version for sure...

There were sportier versions of the Tempo/Topaz but the name escapes me - the Mercury Topaz XR-5 I think. There were two different 2.3 OHV's that were slightly diferent tunes because they needed more torque for the AWD Tempos in the late 80's, so there is a slight increase in torque but the HP stays about the same. I think they were called the "HSC" and HSO" engines. They also made a stroked version around 2.5 litres for the base taurus when it came out, so I guess some people might mix and match parts that way since the blocks were the same.

It's hard to find a decent pic of the XR-5's, but I like how they look:

 

[gw33gp]

I had an 86 Topaz Sport model that had the HO engine. It definitely had better performance than the standard engine. The head on it was different and the injector components were also different. I don't know if the throttle body was different. What I really liked about it was the five speed transmission that came with it. It had perfect ratio gearing in it for spirited driving.

It actually handled fairly well. The main drawback was that when driving on the edge with it, the under-steer came on quickly if you went slightly over the edge. Larger tires helped a lot but didn't make the problem go away.

Around town the gas mileage was not quite as good as with the standard engine but Interstate driving returned remarkable mileage. I could easily get over 30 mpg at 75 to 80 mph and approaching 40 mpg if I could keep it around 70.

 

[Mark_88]

There were sportier versions of the Tempo/Topaz but the name escapes me - the Mercury Topaz XR-5 I think.

Yeah, I remember that...but then they brought out the V6 3.0...I think I test drove one of those when they first came out and was not impressed by the power...seemed a waste of money...and the engine, at that time, wasn't proven so I didn't jump...I don't like buying things in their first year because they tend to have bugs that need to be worked out...

I had an 86 Topaz Sport model that had the HO engine. It definitely had better performance than the standard engine. The head on it was different and the injector components were also different. I don't know if the throttle body was different. What I really liked about it was the five speed transmission that came with it. It had perfect ratio gearing in it for spirited driving.

It actually handled fairly well. The main drawback was that when driving on the edge with it, the under-steer came on quickly if you went slightly over the edge. Larger tires helped a lot but didn't make the problem go away.

Around town the gas mileage was not quite as good as with the standard engine but Interstate driving returned remarkable mileage. I could easily get over 30 mpg at 75 to 80 mph and approaching 40 mpg if I could keep it around 70.

I loved the 5 speed in my Tempo...just thought it a bit under powered...I remember racing a V6 Chevy and they smoked me...but I managed to stay up with them through to third gear...

Oh, and my Tempo had almost 400,000 Km on it when I finally decided to send it to it's final resting place...I really loved that car...sniff..

 

[backroad101]

Yeah, I remember that...but then they brought out the V6 3.0...I think I test drove one of those when they first came out and was not impressed by the power...seemed a waste of money...and the engine, at that time, wasn't proven so I didn't jump...I don't like buying things in their first year because they tend to have bugs that need to be worked out...


:

The 3.0L at that point was 6 years old, serving duty in the Taurus/Sable to start, then the Probe LX, etc

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Vulcan_engine

 

[Mark_88]

The 3.0L at that point was 6 years old, serving duty in the Taurus/Sable to start, then the Probe LX, etc

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Vulcan_engine

Interesting...thanks...didn't realize it was the same engine (since it was transverse mounted)...but I think it was the first year that they were actually in the Tempo model and that's what really had me concerned

I have, since coming to TRS, found out that the 2.3 Tempo and 2.3 Ranger engines were different...at one time I was planning on putting my Tempo engine in the Ranger...back around 2002 or so...

 

[Z3CHYD]

I had a 93 Tempo, 3.0 5-speed, and that thing was a total sleeper lol, easily reach top speed, not the best mpg's though lol. sounded beastly straight-piped though
friends called it the zombie response team tempo.....I called it the "TEMPOrary" lol.

http://youtu.be/sXY4MkcHGFg

 

[mp3deviant721]

An AWD Tempo would be pretty kickass. Parts would probably be impossible to find though.

 

[Z3CHYD]

An AWD Tempo would be pretty kickass. Parts would probably be impossible to find though.

they did make an AWD Tempo, 89-91 if i recall correctly. But they were weak lol