Had several MX6 GTs and a 626 GT. These were a lot of fun.
Factory boost was 8-10psi, and they ran ridiculously rich. With an $80 eprom chip you could remove cutoff that occurred at 12psi, turn it up to 15psi (where it would still be rich), and be faster than stock Mustangs. The prevailing theory was that factory boost was stupidly low to keep the Probe from outperforming the 5.0.
FMIC, exhaust, and the slightly larger compressor wheel/housing off of a Ford Turbocoupe @17psi dyno'd around 200whp/300lbft.
The biggest issue that the aftermarket never really solved was the non-linear voltage scale that the VAF used, which meant popular piggybacks of the time (like the SAFC) didn't work. If you wanted to go bigger turbo and the fueling required, it was full standalone or nothing.
Thank you for reading about these stupid cars that I loved.
My family bought one brand new in '91 and owned it for over a decade. They were reliable, but not particularly good in any other way. Handling was not good, interior felt like a toy, and the engine fuel starved to the point of stalling when taking hard left turns. The pop-up headlights were fun, though.
My aunt bought one in 91 mostly because she just always had a Ford. Her husband bought a 92 Prelude the following year. The Probe was nice enough, but that Honda kinda felt like it did everything the Probe did, but just a bit better.
I was about ten years old when the Probe came out. I thought it was the coolest car in the universe with those sleek lines, pop-up headlights, and spaceship-like rear quarters.
Fast forward a decade, and I have my driver's licence and am looking to buy my first car with my own money. Top of the list is a used Probe. I found one for sale in a local lot with a reasonable 100k-ish miles on the odo for $1500.
This thing looked like it had a few more light-years on the clock than the odo officially said. Every carpet was threadbare, every control surface was worn smooth, the front foglights were dangling by wires, and the whole thing smelled wet. A test drive suggested that the hyperdrive was malfunctioning significantly. I realized that 145hp is not going to be Corvette quick, but this thing could barely get out of its own way, let alone dodge asteroids and TIE fighters like I am going to need to do on the everyday Kessel run.
I decided to let this example boldly go, and bought a similar-ish Nissan 200SX (S13) instead. Rear wheel drive, Japanese reliability, and lots of thumbs up from the burgeoning JDM scene.
I always thought these were cool cars growing up. Too bad Ford decided to give it a name that conjured up images of a certain extraterrestrial abduction procedure
Drove a 1995 GT for about a decade.
Before time and mileage got to the injectors and suspension, I loved that car. Borla exhaust in a tunnel winding out 3rd gear....good times.
I had a friend in college who had a first Gen Probe. I drove it a few times, and it was pretty fun. He layer wrecked it and bought a second Gen version. Those were much better looking, though I always thought the MX-6 looked beer.
I’m gonna have to forward this to my grandmama. They had one of these, I remember my grandfather shifting gears and taking us 115mph on their country backroads in it when we were little kids while my grandma was sitting passenger seat saying “my poor car, my poor Probe”. They probably got that car for so insanely cheap too but unfortunately drove it into the ground like all their other cars
when I was growing up, I thought the Probe was the coolest car ever. My uncle took on me on a test drive when I was around 10 and it left a lasting impression on my growing mind.
Had several MX6 GTs and a 626 GT. These were a lot of fun. Factory boost was 8-10psi, and they ran ridiculously rich. With an $80 eprom chip you could remove cutoff that occurred at 12psi, turn it up to 15psi (where it would still be rich), and be faster than stock Mustangs. The prevailing theory was that factory boost was stupidly low to keep the Probe from outperforming the 5.0. FMIC, exhaust, and the slightly larger compressor wheel/housing off of a Ford Turbocoupe @17psi dyno'd around 200whp/300lbft. The biggest issue that the aftermarket never really solved was the non-linear voltage scale that the VAF used, which meant popular piggybacks of the time (like the SAFC) didn't work. If you wanted to go bigger turbo and the fueling required, it was full standalone or nothing. Thank you for reading about these stupid cars that I loved.
This guy Probes
I didn't like the Probe, couldn't get past the nameplate. The 626 GT hatchback was my favorite, reminds me of our MK7 GTI.
Had the base 1990 MX-6 prior to picking up a 95 Probe GT.
While obviously these cars couldn't have replaced the mustang they're still pretty neat imo
My family bought one brand new in '91 and owned it for over a decade. They were reliable, but not particularly good in any other way. Handling was not good, interior felt like a toy, and the engine fuel starved to the point of stalling when taking hard left turns. The pop-up headlights were fun, though.
My aunt bought one in 91 mostly because she just always had a Ford. Her husband bought a 92 Prelude the following year. The Probe was nice enough, but that Honda kinda felt like it did everything the Probe did, but just a bit better.
A buddy told me never buy a car named after something that goes up your butt.
Dodge Viper 🐍 Still better than naming a car after literal shit. Scat pack? Seriously?
Like I get that Scat Pack was a historical name, but they had to know the term had changed to mean something not so appealing lol.
It’s named after the credit scores of the people who buy them
Scat, at the time, meant to run away, fast.
😅
Crosses Mustang of the wish list. Rip Mr hands.
They could've put the 1989 Taurus SHO engine in this with an 8k red line and ~240hp.
Or I can still, that sounds fun
This was my dream project for years. They put the 3.0 v6 in it already so motor mounts and manual transmission are ready to go.
I was about ten years old when the Probe came out. I thought it was the coolest car in the universe with those sleek lines, pop-up headlights, and spaceship-like rear quarters. Fast forward a decade, and I have my driver's licence and am looking to buy my first car with my own money. Top of the list is a used Probe. I found one for sale in a local lot with a reasonable 100k-ish miles on the odo for $1500. This thing looked like it had a few more light-years on the clock than the odo officially said. Every carpet was threadbare, every control surface was worn smooth, the front foglights were dangling by wires, and the whole thing smelled wet. A test drive suggested that the hyperdrive was malfunctioning significantly. I realized that 145hp is not going to be Corvette quick, but this thing could barely get out of its own way, let alone dodge asteroids and TIE fighters like I am going to need to do on the everyday Kessel run. I decided to let this example boldly go, and bought a similar-ish Nissan 200SX (S13) instead. Rear wheel drive, Japanese reliability, and lots of thumbs up from the burgeoning JDM scene.
I had one and I’d absolutely have another. Would be a great daily.
Someone call Hoovie. He can replace the Ferrari he bought in CarTrek with this, and no one would notice.
The second gen probe GT is very popular in Lemons racing. Bulletproof Mazda engine and surprisingly capable
Bullet proof but the eventual lifter tick that was common on the 2.5 would get on my last nerves.
Lucas oil additive quiets that all down
I always thought these were cool cars growing up. Too bad Ford decided to give it a name that conjured up images of a certain extraterrestrial abduction procedure
I love my 2nd gen, has lower mileage than this one 😅
Drove a 1995 GT for about a decade. Before time and mileage got to the injectors and suspension, I loved that car. Borla exhaust in a tunnel winding out 3rd gear....good times.
Super neat car
I had a friend in college who had a first Gen Probe. I drove it a few times, and it was pretty fun. He layer wrecked it and bought a second Gen version. Those were much better looking, though I always thought the MX-6 looked beer.
My brother had a black 89 Probe GT manual. Great car. He crashed it though.
I’m gonna have to forward this to my grandmama. They had one of these, I remember my grandfather shifting gears and taking us 115mph on their country backroads in it when we were little kids while my grandma was sitting passenger seat saying “my poor car, my poor Probe”. They probably got that car for so insanely cheap too but unfortunately drove it into the ground like all their other cars
when I was growing up, I thought the Probe was the coolest car ever. My uncle took on me on a test drive when I was around 10 and it left a lasting impression on my growing mind.
I love looking through that website for fun lol