Looking at the title "3.0 V6 Tech The little engine that could. Or Derek thought! This is the forum for you "Vulcans"." I was wondering what the deal was. I bought my Ranger recently and I'm new here and to the owning of a smaller truck. Is there something wrong with the 3.0 V6 or am I missing something?

 

I've been here for a while and I don't know who Derek is either. The 3.0 is referred to as the Vulcan though.

 

Derek8819 - was trying to set his truck up to race I believe. It's been a while since we've heard from him, and he's gotten a new truck too.

 

i have recently bought my ranger and i also have the 3.0. i had talked with my uncle because he owned two that are the same year and style motor and everything as mine and he told me of three things i could do to the motor to out run 5.0 stangs from light to light. let me just say " LOTS OF POTENTIAL "

 

You're joking right?

 

3 things =>

1. New Engine
2. Bored and Built
3. Supercharged

And you got yourself a stang killer

 

its just a good ol reliable work horse, she will take the abuse and be begging for more... shes just a big ***** when it comes to these things.

As for making it into a stang killer... haha good luck with that, unless they started making 3.0 v8s, takes a lot of $$$$$$$$$$$$$$ to build one up right, to save yourself in the long run just swap out the 3.0 for a 5.0 or build up a 2.3T those are sick little motors. But Welcome to the boards!

 

The wonderful thing about the vulcan is the simplicity of a pushrod engine. The newer (non pushrod)engines are more Hp but more complicated. Vulcan has one timing chain and one camshaft. A dohc engine has additional timing chains in the rear of the engine making it very challenging to change them. There's also 2 camshafts per cylinder bank. A V6 or v8 DOHC has 4 camshafts.

The reason for the increased HP on DOHCs over pushrod engines is two fold. The lack of pushrods allow for higher rpms. The DOHC setup generally has more intake/exhaust valves per cylinder also.

As far as making a 3.0 fast like a mustang, a supercharger on a 3.0 generally gets the numbers close to a 4.0 SOHC Ranger. Thats still another second (1/4 mile run) from a newer Mustang.

 

Hmm....if memory serves me correctly....

2 words...

Doug Stottard.

 

yeah, why does everyone dog the 3.0? Seriously about how slow it is. Honestly I thought its was kinda peppy even fast for a lil V6. I mean it ain't no 300 HP Mustang GT, but its not a 1980 somethin Suzuki Samuri either like every makes it out to be slow as a snail!!!

 

HMM.... been doing a little research on the 3.0 other than here. Found a couple of places that sells stroker kits and performance parts for the 3.0 and able to increase HP significantly for a decent price. Although I am tempted to bore and stroke the 3.0 to a 3.3 and install a blower making it capable of pushing 400+hp (according to them) I think I like what I have right now. The engine is easy to maintain and the mpg is pretty good.

 

its not much of a dog more like a mule... my 3.0 managed to beat a BMW 325IS, granted I spent $900 some odd dollars and cents to make it do so, and I also suck at reaction times resulting in 10.7's but it will do it consistently all night.

 

Why? Simple.. It is slow, lol.. Ive owned a 3.0 (automatic) and it was so slow, it was ridiculous. My 2.3 ranger i had could easily beat it no problem, even though it was a 5 speed. And to use the words "peppy" or.."Fast" in the same sentence with "3.0", is just funny. The newer 2.3's have just about the same HP as the 3.0's. No disrespect or anything but ill take my 4.0 that gets the same, if not better mpg than the 3.0, and still have much more power.. Just my .02.

 

my lil 3.0 can straight up take off like a bat out of hell man. it really suprised me when i first got it with stock tires then i put 31's on it and it still has lots of pep =]

 

I have the 3.o in my 92 and i have to say it gets pretty bad gas mileage and stuff but i ahve done alot to make it achieve better horseys. I ahve the maf resistor mod and a exhaust manifold back exhaust, cai, and i have had it flashed to provide better firing. And its sitting on 32's with stock gears, it takes off slow but once i get the rpm's up its pretty peppy. I do wish i had a 4.0 but im putting in a 5.0 soon anyways lol.

 

The 3.0 is a real workhorse but I agree with most everyone else here it is slooooooooooooooooooow real slow. I have driven both auto and 5 speed with the 3.0 . the truck with the 5 speed was still slow! The 2.3 /5 speed Ranger I had was faster! I don't see how a 3.0 can be a "Mustang killer"

 

Definetly nothin wrong with the 3.0 Vulcan....you can actually get 30 mpg highway in a Taurus if very maintained. Maybe it's because it's lighter than a Ranger with slightly more HP (155 vs. 148)

Both my old Ranger 3.0 and 94 Taurus 3.0, I get about the same. I currently have an 02 Taurus with the 24v DOHC and I can get up to 27-28 highway.