27th Mar 2005, 14:51
It's all in the gears. The V6/5speed Tempo has a 3.52:1 final drive ratio. A stock Mustang GT has a 2.73:1 or 3.08:1 final drive. Plus, the Tempo has smaller wheels. The Mustang will do close to 80 in second gear. With its lower gearing, the Tempo can beat a stock Mustang off the line and be a champ in a stoplight drag race. But the Mustang will blow its doors off in a highway race. Needless to say, the Tempo won't touch a Mustang with 3.55 gears!
21st Nov 2005, 15:56
A stock Tempo V-6 will NOT ever beat a Mustang V-8. Come on people! the Tempo 0-60 was at best in the mid to upper 7's with 140 hp and a 5 - speed while the Mustang 5.0 was in the low to mid 6's (maybe 6.7 with the 2.73 M code axle). I drove Tempo's with the V-6 5-speed combo and even the Probe LX with the same V-6 when I was selling Ford's back in '92 and they were no match for any Mustang. The tempo V-6 is, however, an underrated car as it really did drive nice with that powertrain in it. You gotta look at the facts BEFORE making claims about your car's performance. Most of the time when you race people on the street, they don't know how to drive or they are just toying with you so you'll boast about how you beat them! Been there done that.
28th Nov 2005, 21:37
Well it does not matter if a ford tempo or a topaz can beat a mustang. The Ford Tempo is a Great little car and is pretty quick. They are great on gas. I have owned many Tempos and they last as long as any other car. I hate Ford, but the Tempo is a great little car.
29th Nov 2005, 22:28
A stock V6 Tempo would probably run 0-60 in about 9 seconds or more. Now, I did say stock Tempo, as all V6 Tempo's had the 3 speed automatic which was not made for quickness. Now, if you had a Topaz XR5 with the standard 5 speed or the equivalent Tempo model, or done some swapping, then the 7 second 0-60 time might be easier to believe, but in a stock V6 Tempo no way.
30th Nov 2005, 13:02
All V-6 Tempos did NOT have mandatory automatics. The automatic was a free standing option on these cars or included in a package. You could NOT order an airbag on a V-6 Tempo, for whatever reason. Trust me, I ordered hundreds of these cars over the years for my rental company.
1st Dec 2005, 09:48
The above is true... When I sold Fords in '92 we had a bright red Tempo 2-door V-6 5 speed on the showroom floor. We couldn't sell it to save our lives, but it existed non the less!
30th Jan 2006, 18:25
If MAINTAINED PROPERLY, 2.3 HSC Tempos are capable of racking up TREMENDOUS MILES! I am a mechanic and have seen them! 150k is not unrealistic to achieve with no more than oil and filter changes and trans services.
Tempos do have an appetite for tie rods (especially auto trans Tempos, I can't explain why) and muffler systems. The 2.3 4 cylinder is a push-rod design engine. It is not a high performance car and should not be treated as one. It is a very reliable and economical engine. The 3.0 Vulcan V6 is also a push-rod engine. Almost the whole country has driven one of these in the Taurus at one time or another. It is less economical, harder to work on (in a Tempo) and gives great performance if its limitations are respected! It's not a high RPM engine. Its strong suit is all that delicious V6 torque. We Americans have always BOUGHT HORSEPOWER, but we DRIVE TORQUE! Most people never understand that.
The last version (my favorite) is the diesel Tempo. 2.0 liters, port injected, quick cold start glow-plug ignition. BUILT IN fuel heater. In line water trap with warning light. 56 horsepower. Manual trans only. NOT A FAST CAR. 40 MPG!! EASY at normal HWY speeds. 600 mile per tank range! Mazda designed and supplied the engines. Ford only sold this model to prop up their cafe numbers. The Tempo is the ONLY Ford product ever sold in North America to be offered in 4 cylinder gas, 4 cylinder diesel and V6 gas versions. It is also the only model Ford has sold in N.A. that was offered as front wheel drive and also ALL Wheel drive (4 cylinder LX only)!
I am not a Tempo fanatic. I have owned several of them, happily. I commented here because I saw too much either gushing praise OR trash talk. Not much balanced comment. In a few years these cars will wear finally wear out and fade away. I think it ironic that Ford can't make an American car that anyone wants any more. Future Ford cars will ALL be foreign built, Korean most probably. And almost nobody will remember the cars that could be bought new for less than 12 grand (WITH options!) and serviced for spare change.
28th Feb 2006, 07:08
I have a 92 tempo Gls v-6 5 speed, From light to light, it will beat a mustang, I know this because I own a 95 GT and compared times on both cars. So people can estimate all they want, but these tempos are quick!!!
25th Jul 2006, 20:11
I have a 92 tempo with a 2.4L and 3sp auto. I have had it for about 5 years now and I have to say it is not a bad car. My friends tease me about it, but hey, I don't have to make car payments on it! It breaks down once in a while, but it is very cheap to get it fixed.
6th May 2007, 15:33
I don't know if my Tempo would beat a Mustang, but I certainly wouldn't trade it for one. My ex owned two Mustangs and I absolutely HATED driving them. They are uncomfortable and loud. I always ended up with a headache after a long trip.
20th Aug 2007, 16:09
To the light-to-light Tempo owner: Just because you are getting better times with your Tempo than your '95 Mustang doesn't mean anything other than you can't drive the Mustang very well. The Mustang beats the Tempo by at least 2 seconds to 60 so there is NO WAY the Tempo would win other than incompetence behind the wheel. You are either smoking the tires off the rims on take off, or you are just not shifting at optimum points to get the most out of the Mustang. Not everyone is a good driver...don't fault the car for that.
13th May 2008, 21:27
Yeah, the Tempo and Topaz are well known for their rugged reliability and pure indestructibility, and the quality of the I4 and V6 motors.
Anyone interested in building, maintaining or modifying one should definitely check out www.ttowners.com
5th Jul 2008, 03:45
I like all cars. The Tempo is certainly no worse than the Mustang. Tempos have lots of acceleration for their engine size and design. They also handle better than most in snow.
Both the Vulcan v-6 and Tempo L-4 are reliable. Both can easily make 500,000 km. Both are simple push rod engines with no overhead cam issues (i.e. rubber timing belts to replace).
Tempos get 20-30 mpg easily (or better).
As far as racing goes, the driver is the main factor, not the car. In a drag race, a Mustang might win. In a road race, the best driver will win.
For a sporty car, the Tempo is best (lighter).
14th Oct 2011, 21:32
Stop light racing isn't like quarter mile drag racing. With a shorter distance, a lighter but slower car can win. Same with the 50 to 70 mph highway passing times. In a Car & Driver or R&T comparison from 1990, a naturally aspirated Plymouth Laser with an automatic transmission was faster than a 5.0 Liter Mustang GT with a 5 speed standard transmission in the 50 to 70 mph test. Despite the fact that the Mustang was much quicker in the 0-60 mph and quarter mile times. But I still suspect that these Mustangs that are losing to Tempo's are V6 models.
12th May 2004, 03:03
I own a 1994 Tempo GL coupe. I have loved the car since I bought it nine years and 287,000 miles ago. Anyone else have one with that many or more miles on it? I now have 304,000 on it. (17,000 miles when I bought it.)
RY from Wichita, Kansas.