1996 Ford Thunderbird LX 4.6 SOHC V8

Summary:

A fast luxury-performance car that responds well to modifications

Faults:

Corroded under hood connector affecting interior lights, power locks, power windows - warranty fix.

Dealer replaced computer - no problems - warranty fix.

Plastic surround at seat bottoms cracked - I'm living with it.

Blown out (2) factory coils - $160 fix.

Frozen rear caliper bracket - $20 from local salvage yard.

Slight oil leaks at valve cover, rear trans seal and differential pinion seal - not bad enough to replace yet.

General Comments:

I've done everything to this car you can do, except adding a supercharger, and it always runs great.

Modifications - underdrive pulleys, 70mm throttle body, K&N cone air filter, Superchips power programmer, MSD ignition, coils, and plug wires, NGK spark plugs, hand built true-dual 2.5" exhaust with 'x' pipe to 3" stainless tailpipes at rear bumper, Eibach springs - lowered 2", Ford SVT T-bird 17" rims, 3.73 positraction rear axle, 2000 Mustang GT aluminum calipers / pads with cross drilled 10.8" rotors, and adjustable fuel pressure regulator.

Excellent handling, Surprising acceleration, great mileage for the level of mods done.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 3rd August, 2004

1996 Ford Thunderbird LX 4.6L V8

Summary:

Fast, RWD, comfortable even for the weak

Faults:

The sunroof makes sort of clunking sounds when it's about 1/3 open. And the rivets holding the sunroof mechanism cover on were worn out. This was all when I got the car.

The CD player occasionally will not play, or eject a CD. This is apparantly not reparable, but I can force it to eject by pulling the player out and pressing down on this little arm inside which clicks up and down when it is futilely trying to eject.

I thought it was exhibiting the transmission shudder problem that I'd read about (only on gentle uphill inclines, though), but found that turning off overdrive in that situation (exactly the time one should turn it off) fixed it. I'm not sure if there is a problem here.

My dad replaced the radiator on his identical car (same year, roughly the same mileage, same color, and both our cars are salvage titles) at about 80000 miles, more as a preventative measure than anything. (He lives in Arizona)

General Comments:

I bought this car because my dad was happy with his, and I like rear wheel drive.

It's about as fast as my Z-car was (power to weight is about the same), but in my attempts to drive it like the Z-car I do squeal the tires a lot. (Don't get me wrong, it corners well, but not even CLOSE to the Z-car.)

The interior reminds me of my friend's 99 Taurus. Not neccesarily a bad thing. If you like the idea of a Taurus which is mechanically more Mustang, this is a good car for you.

The back seat gets no complaints.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 6th May, 2004

1996 Ford Thunderbird Sport 4.6

Summary:

Graceful and powerful, just a great car

Faults:

Nothing.

General Comments:

I have had no problems with this car. It is very comfortable, gets great mileage for a big V8 powered car. I am not worn out after a long drive home from work as I was sometimes with the 5 speed Mustang 5.0 (the Mustang was a great car also, I owned it from 1993 - 2001).

My wife has a 1995 Thunder-bird. After driving her car I had to have one too.

I like the limited slip rear differential. She lights up both back tires when you nail the gas.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 19th May, 2003

1996 Ford Thunderbird LX 4.6

Summary:

A steal for an American made luxury sports car!

Faults:

The only blemish with my car is that the radiator plastic cowling has had one screw loose and was hanging on by one plastic screw. This was fixed easy by just replacing it.

The only other blemish I have had with my Tbird is that on the passenger side of the roof, the paint has eroded away in about the size of a quarter. Unless you are standing on the rocker panel, you can't tell it's even there. I think that this is not a factory issue, but more of a issue where it was scraped by something or something acidic got on it.

General Comments:

This car rocks. Cranberry red, with gold trim, the Olympic Gold edition. V8 power, and it has a lot. You can fly in this car. I made it from Pittsburgh to Detroit in under 5 hours... 4.75hrs to be exact. You can run 90mph and you think you're doing 65. It has a nice float ride to it, and the rpm's just float in between 2000-2400 around 90mph... that's consistency!

Runs great on Sunoco 94 at high speeds on interstate trips, but use 89-90 grade for everyday riding.

Handles corners better than any car I have owned. Will chirp tires going into 2nd and 3gears WITHOUT a shift kit... factory tranny! Seats and console give you wrap around feeling aka plane cockpit. Gas pedal is touchy.. doesn't take much for this car to get going.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 9th April, 2003

7th May 2003, 10:01

The only comment I didn't like was that "This car rocks". A comment that I miss took as a movement that is not liked in a moving car (rocking like a boat), not took it as a groovy car. We have traveled all our holidays in a 1992 or 1997 T-Birds very comfortably and doing as a bird does "flies".