The 1984 Mustang GT Turbo Tried to Prove V8s Weren’t The Future 

I love these cars. Not every car has to be 1,000hp loud vehicle to be enjoyed

My buddy had the svo back in the college days. 300hp, no exhaust, and zero fucks given. Neighbors hated it but it was a lot of fun.

As a lifetime owner of turbo 2.3 fords, I can say that the concept was modern when it debuted. Ford de-tuned these cars from the factory to comply with federal CAFE and EPA emissions standards. The Mustang in the video could easily push 300 plus HP with some simple mods, without modifying the internals, which I think is pretty cool. Thanks for the vid.

I used to drive in a 1984 gt turbo mustang back in 86 it was awesome. Love the gt turbo

There was also a 1984 SVO Mustang. This one is not an SVO. The SVO had an air to air intercooler making it more powerful.

These are so cool. Hilarious that my 2.0 ecoboost makes damn near double the output of this. And i absolutely love the Marlboro light air freshener hanging from the mirror haha

Fox Bodies are the best... of poor build quality and pure fun. Between myself and my dad, we've had 5, including an SVO. The first real turbo-4 Mustang was actually the 1979 Pace Car. After that, the M81 McLaren Mustang (only 10 made), then the Turbo GT. The SVO was the pinnacle of the Lima turbo 4. I've seen streetable SVO builds with 400hp from that motor.

This motor 2.3L non-intercooled setup went into the ‘85-‘89 Merkur XR4Ti once the Mustang GT Turbo died off in 1985; albeit with slightly different intake runners. But the 1st thing I did when I bought my XR4Ti 11 years ago was add a FMIC.

I love my 86 notchback 5.0/5speed, 0 option car. It's a definite blast from my past. We all had these fox bodies back in the day.

These 80's non-intercooled engines are fine.... so long as you keep away from that boost controller 😂 That's when they'll start singing Guns n Roses: Knock, knock, knocking on heavens door, like a bad tribute band lol Modern probably fuel helps a lot too. Very cool car.

I love car reviews like this

Nice to see this young dude taking care of what his grandma provided for him.

I had an 84 Turbo GT and never had any problems. Car ran great and was pretty fast for the time. Went on many road trips and it never overheated. Replaced the clutch once. Upgraded to a 86 SVO, then a 88 5.0

Young folks taking care of these pieces of art is awesome...The car just needs a freshen up. New suspension, brakes, new radiator etc.....

This guy's grandma is more of a car guy than most car guys.

The 1980 turbo Trans Am had three lights indicating turbo operation on the hood scoop facing the driver. Car and Driver said they stood for none, a little bit, and whoosh. I owned a 1988 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe with the same drive train as this Mustang. It had an intercooler and didn't have any cooling issues. For the era it was a pretty good car.

I had an 84 gt turbo...over 600 lbs lighter than the 84 5.0.....and it handled waaaay better. An excellent little Gt car that I really loved.

This…. Is….. AWESOME! I love these old oddball cars. This just goes to show how advanced today’s cars truly are. I howled at your comment about the steering wheel. Strangely enough it looked identical to the Chrysler steering wheels from that era as well, lol. Very nostalgic thanks for this hilarious and awesome video!

20 year break? dont you mean 30 year break?

The first car I remember my dad having when I was a kid was his 79 Mustang Indy 500 Pace Car replica, with the turbo 4-cylinder. That had less HP than the one in this video, of course, but I thought that thing looked SO cool, lol. Later, he had an 85 GT convertible with the 5.0, and he hot-rodded that one up quite a bit eventually. He still says the only cars that would beat him off the line were Vettes and Grand Nationals.

I’ve always been a v8 guy. My first car when I got my license in 97 when I turned 18 was a 83 olds delta 88 with 305. It would only roll em over if it was wet! But I just recently bought my first turbo 4 car and I love it.

Proper intercooler and turbo setup and a stand alone Ecu with a real tune that thing would fly

My Suspension & Brake instructor had two T-Bird Turbo Coupes, an 85 & 86. They were great. My engine builder built many Ford 2.3,s for a racing series. Naturally aspirated they were pushing around 450hp he told me. I wanted one in my step dads 1994 two dr Tempo. The 2.3 is a great motor, always has been. Fun Video, brought back many great memories!!

I owned a 1986 Thunderbird Turbocoupe--best $1,000 car I ever owned--before getting a 1986 GT Mustang. the 'bird had an SVO intercooler in the grill, which killed boost below 3,000 RPM and the T3 didn't deliver the torque like the IHI turbo in 1987 did. but it rode well, and no boost light, but an actual gauge said I could get up to 12lbs on low octane fuel. They weren't race cars, but affordable Porsche 944 rivals. they swung the tach needle like only a boosted OHC engine does. the 5.0 Mustang is a tin can with a truck engine. torque where you want it, and responsive due to its low weight. It is a different experience, and in today's traffic, feels better suited. Glad the OP knows the history--this was the answer to the gas crisis. Hot Rod Magazine in this period of time announced on its front cover that the V8 was dead, and the Buick V6 was the replacement. Too bad Ford didn't put a turbo V6 in the Ghia Mustangs, that might have been an interesting answer to the Buick T Type of the early 1980's.

In 1990 sold mine off and bought a rare 1987 Dodge Charger Shelby GLHS. One of the quickest 4 cylinder cars in the 80’s. It just broke down a lot. Now they are worth 50k. Then had a Conquest TSI. That was the coolest looking. Then also had a 82 Nissan/Datsun 200 Sx. The old version of skyline before 240sx style.

The good old 2.3 8 valve turbo...same engine that was in the SVO, the Thunderbird Turbocoupe, and many others, but it was always lackluster in terms of performance, but a still highly loved powerplant. I had a 1990 Thunderbird Supercoupe (with the 3.8 supercharged V6 with a 5 speed manual) and it blew the 2.3 out of the water. I got the chance to drive a couple Thunderbird Turbocoupes and I was less than impressed. They felt very underpowered for such a heavy car, especially after feeling my Supercoupe, but i would definitely go after a much larger turbo upgrade, supporting engine mods, and then it'd be fueling mods along with a possible standalone fuel management system. Still, I have always wanted a Merkur XR4Ti. I used to see them ALL the time when I was a kid, but I haven't seen one in the last 30 years.

I don’t know about the mustang, but the turbo Thunderbird was a pretty fast car for its time

This guy turned this review into a review about the NISSAN by the end of the video. Definitely an import fan boy.

Turbo light was a cheap car thing. The better cars had a gauge. In this case, it applies even for fox bodies. T-Bird had a gauge.

I feel like u could add an oil cooler in front of the rad so the oil gets cooled ans goes right into the turbo and back to the pan

My mom had one of the 87 T-Birds which was pretty cool they were kind of in the same boat they had a turbo version as well. Oh no for done a pretty good job of what they had to work with at the time

I worked at a dealership as a detailer back in the mid 80's. My 1st time driving one I almost took out a row of taurus sedans. It was also my 1st time in a turbo car. I wanted to see what the fuss was all about so I punched it (18 and dumb). Thats when I learned about turbo lag. For a second I was not impressed at all. Then the car and my world turned sideways. Just barely gathered it back before wiping out some family cars. I almost ruined a new seat. I hoped nobody saw but I looked to my left and there was a salesman laughing his ass off. Thankfully he didnt snitch.

There's a ton of mods for these, including a way to graft a 16 valve Volvo head onto the block.

These were a good idea from Ford, but a little too late. I had one of the earlier carb turbo Mustangs and it ran not so great. A little fun when the boost hit, but it was short lived. By the time they got the turbo motor sorted with efi, the gas crunch was kind of over. That same year 5.0 liter GT made 175 hp with a lot more torque and easily outsold the turbo. It was a lot faster and also way more fun to drive. The optional TRX suspension also firmed up some of that body roll you noted. Also it’s more pronounced in the convertible. Still a very cool car.

Apparently it was correct in its proving, because now days we got turbo 4 cylinder mustangs.. I guess gas hogging v8s are not the future after all.

Had a 87 Mustang Hatchback 4-cylinder five speed I think got fifty miles plus per gallon.Best gas mileage of any car I ever owned,Chevette was pretty good.

I owned a 1979 mustang 2.3 turbo was an awesome car would absolutely smoke em when I drop second gear but soon found out how hard metric tires were to find a woman In a 73 Bonneville blew a stop sign and sent my stang to the junk yard I loved that car

I had a gt 350 turbo. best fun I had. First car. loved it. now its someones race car. I regretted selling it when he picked it up

Friend had a 79 Pace Car and man, even my mildly built VW beetle would smoke that thing lol but it was definitely a cool looking car that attracted the ladies😂

You really don't know how to appreciate a mustang bro. A V8 foxbody with very light upgrades can easily beat any nissan, this car will always be a legend. And you're looking at horsepower numbers when torque is what wins races. really shows you don't know your stuff.

And now look at em. Mustang is the last holdout of the big 3 with a front engine v8 rear drive platform.

Turned 16 in 1990 and drove a 1980 Mustang with a pack of Winston hanging in place of the fuzzy dice that everyone else had at the time... Funny stuff to think about now Haha!!!

I have the original Ford SVO intercooler kit for this car in my shop somewhere. It adds a small intercooler to the front area. I don't know if Ford also included something to increase the boost from stock 8 psi to something more. I had a chance to buy the 83 Turbo GT Mustang. Was a dark green hatch model. But I was poor and already had an 86 SVO.

Have a friend who had a 86 turbo Thunderbird it was a good car until split fire spark plugs run good for about 6 months then the plugs burned 2 pistons and a few valves and did something to the head got it rebuilt never run wright again

The 1986 SVO with the good stuff and intercooler were pretty good, albeit fragile. I thought they really looked nice. The GT was just more durable and cheaper and could take the abuse that was flogged upon it. The 86 SVO along with the 86 Omni GLH-S where both cool, albeit fragile, fun cars.

If its carburetored you really don't need an intercooler especially for steet car...when the air goes threw the carb it cooles it to below 90 by the time it gets to the bottom of the intake

It would be interesting to see how it stacks up to a Volvo 740 Turbo. Both are 2.3L 8V Turbos. Both RWD and 80s cars and meant to be GTs. Also both got 14" Tires originally. Only difference is the Volvo has an Intercooler.

Svo was a fun car to drive back in the day

Check out Merkur XR4Ti. It had the 2.3 turbo SVO engine.

Reason you never seen these is they broke down moving them from the line to the parking lot!

If you approach these engines correct they had WAY more potential to go 12s then, dollar per dollar for way less than the 302s did. these had a good foundation no one for a l ong time knew what to do with. Which was great because the few that figured it out had cheapo parts all over. My svo [same car] ran high 12s with stock longblock, turbo, efi, clutch, 7.5: rear end, t5 and fuel pumps. used injs, eec, from an 88 t bird, 3: downpipe open, fmic, wide band, underdrive crank pulley, locked timing, 25 psi, and ported E6 from an 88 turbo coupe, I ran low 12s at 110 mph on slicks n skinnies. Did the same with many other turbo 2.3 cars. 12s isnt much today but right up until 10 years ago it was.. and these do it easy as can be with very few mods.

GT TURBO 🥶

Neither one of the guys in this video knew much about this car. The importance of it nor the details.

Man that looks more like fuel injection not a draw through carb set up

I prefer either older or newer ones

5 years from now they will be having this same video on EVs.

Also, 1983 Is the return the turbo 4, 84 was first year of SVO

The 2.3L 4-cylinder Ford Lima engine has lots of potential.

It really makes me sick when some Gen Z type drives an older car and finds all kinds of thing wrong with it, when todays cars are 100 times worse. I am not a fan of the Foxbody, and I am not a fan of turbos. An intercooler on such a low powered engine is not necessary. This thing still runs. And it burns gasoline. And it has a manual transmission. Most Gen Z types don't like real cars that burn gas. I'm a carbureted V8/manual transmission guy myself, and would never drive anything else. None of my cars have computers, and that just blows Gen Z types away. BTW, the late '70s Ferrari 308 GTS had 14" wheels, with real tires. I have a carbureted V8 car with 13" wheels. Car designers had some common sense back then. The new Mustang is GARBAGE. Not only does it not have any tires, but it also has a big sticker on it that says "WARNING. This vehicle is trackable by law enforcement agencies" I can't believe anybody would actually drive such a car.

It was before it’s time , so many cars now are turbo and only 4 cylinder

His Grandma was a badass

What an amazing car

Had one brand new turbo died twice in first 100k miles

That is why they did the SVT with the supercharger. Turbos sucked in the 80s just like fuel injection sucked in the 60s.

🔥 love the Foxbody has to be a V-8 though. Cool model though

The trans is a borgworner t5 nice pice

Only the government can force this type of nosense 😂

Pretty cool.

These were also available in the sister Mercury Capri RS. Just as anemic and unreliable but something different for sure.

where was this filmed?

If it had the straight 6 with a turbo it would’ve been a beast but the 4 cylinder sucked

Years ahead in thinking,but the tech wasn't.

A Mustang has to have a V8 and a manual. Otherwise its just a girls car

Ahhh slightly sleepy,the cure is that small little air compresser,the stock looking 4 sec 1/4,something sleepy lookn

That's a very rare car

Needs a Barra turbo.

Adjustable thermal switch

Wish this guy would have shown the motor more and the actual car,then running his mouth and driving🤡👍

I test drove an svo back in the day. It was really a pig honestly. My 2.6 1973 capri was much much faster. I ended up buying a 5.0 and never looked back.

"i had no idea it existed" cause youre a youngster. maybe you should stick to cars of your era instead of google monitoring cars you dont know anytjing about from my time lol. you dont know how cool it was to have a turbo at all. but nobody thought its better than the growl of a v8.

Ok im giving up 1:45 in when you cant do simple addition or subtraction... 1984+20=? 2015-20=? go ahead and get out your calculator you clearly need it... our society is doomed with this new generation.

Wait, say convertable again

I had owned 3 foxbody in the past, 1988 lx notch, 1993 lx notch 306 and a 1990 lx notch with a kenne bell supercharger... god I miss my 1990

Those were junk

The late 70's to the mid 80's was the worst era for sport cars honestly. Chevy didn't even put a Corvette out in 1983 and the 1982 - 1984 corvettes with the crossfire motors are absolute junk. They were struggling to pass emissions and still make horsepower during this time.

toyota is GARBAGE

Not the original. 79' Cobra had the option for a 4 cylinder turbo. Later SVO was better with fuel injection

The Merkur Mustang

I remember those things, they were dookie water, same 2.3 turbo as the XR4Ti