Turbo 2.3 or 5.0

[EMB1230]

Title says it all, probably yield a little better MPG out of the 2.3t.

 

[dangerranger83]

Depends on what 5.0 you put under the hood along with the trans you put and gearing in the axles. You can do 20mpg with a 5.0 efi under the hood of a ranger.

Biggest factor in fuel mileage, how heavy is your foot on the skinny pedal.

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[EMB1230]

Bump

 

[chrwilkins30]

Id go 2.3t, just because I love turbo noise. Now if you got $$$ get a 5.0 and turbo that with a manual trans offcourse.

 

[kunar]

totally and entirely depends on what you want from your truck. they are two very different engines. the 2.3t is a revvy engine thats gutless down low and can set you back in your seat when it builds boost. the 5.0 is just the opposite, all the power you want down low but doesnt rev nearly as happily as the turbo engine. i love my turbo coupe just because its a 4 cylinder that performs. im getting mid 20's for mileage and should be able to do better if i spend a little time fine tuning. get it out on the highway and its a ton of fun. the 5.0 is gonna get mid teens for mileage or less if you drive it like a v8 should be driven. if you plan on towing/hauling at all i would want the v8. if youre building a mud truck or rock crawler, i would want the v8. if youre building a daily driver or highway cruiser, i would want the 2.3t.

 

[EMB1230]

Yeah, that's what I'm leaning towards as well (2.3t). 2 questions: how much of my current N/A 2.3 could I use for the turbo conversion? Intercooled/non-intercooled, that I haven't decided on yet either. And also, could I use my current M5OD-R1, or would I need something beefier? I know that the 3.8 S/C used the R2. I've had a Caddy 4.9L and a 3.0 SHO, so I know just how both feel, the 4.9 had tons of low end and the SHO loved the high rpm's.

 

[kunar]

Yeah, that's what I'm leaning towards as well (2.3t). 2 questions: how much of my current N/A 2.3 could I use for the turbo conversion? Intercooled/non-intercooled, that I haven't decided on yet either. And also, could I use my current M5OD-R1, or would I need something beefier? I know that the 3.8 S/C used the R2. I've had a Caddy 4.9L and a 3.0 SHO, so I know just how both feel, the 4.9 had tons of low end and the SHO loved the high rpm's.

it depends on how much power you wanna make. stock n/a internals wont take too much boost before they give up, not exactly sure how much but im thinking 6-8 lbs is a safe limit. if you wanna build an engine you can put forged internals in your stock block, but if you can find a 2.3t somewhere for a reasonable price, thats the way to go. turbo fords are getting rare though, and its a damn shame to destroy a good car for the engine. the aftermarket is there to build a 2.3t from a catalog if your wallet allows, and in the end they can make a lot more power than a stock 2.3t. as for intercooled or not, again thats up to you. if youre gonna turbo your n/a engine and only run 6 lbs or so, you really dont need one. if youre gonna run much more than that though, there's power to be gained with an intercooler. the mazda trans should hold up just fine. IIRC the internals are all basically the same no matter what engine was in front of them, so if they will hold up to the 4.0, they should hold up to a mild 2.3t.

since youre already running a 2.3, i would probably start by turbo'ing that engine. turbo guys are always upgrading from stock parts, you can probably find yourself an e6 manifold and an ihi turbo for reasonably cheap. not sure exactly what all else you'd need but this is a good start. just know that once you start boosting, you're only gonna want more.

 

[86 Ranger 5.0]

I have a 5.0 efi in my ranger and I get 17 in town and 21 on the highway.