Let's talk about miscellaneous Probe-ing!

The Ford Probe was once heralded as the replacement for the Mustang and the future of the sporty American coupe. The GT version came with a 5-speed manual, and depending on whether it's a first or second gen, either turbo Mazda 4 F2T power or the KL-DE V6. I remember test-driving a brand new V6 GT back in the day. Seemed like a fun drive. Now, you hardly ever see them. Passed one on the road today and thought, "Wow. You don't see those anymore."

What's the scoop? Performance potential? Autocross candidate? Challenge candidate?

You will find many people here come to their defense. The JDM KL-ZE is a great swap for them and the chassis is surprisingly well set-up from the factory. Others on this board will know more than I do but I remember hearing that they make quite good autocrossers and even track cars with the right setup.

I think the main reason you don't hear about them more is that the people who ended up with them (they were super popular among my high-school peers when I was of that age) either mercilessly beat them into the ground or just let the timing belts break before junking them. They were the butt of many jokes for a while and their performance potential was kind of overlooked.

Working in the engine bay of a v6 was similar to shoving your arm into a meat grinder, or maybe a badger den.

One of those "had I known then" moments. My sister in law gave me her 93(?) GT after ventilating the block. I sold it as is for $500 rather than trying to fix it. I found the seating position odd and could never get comfortable in it.

I think they are greatly overlooked and therefore can be bought as a great value.

JohnRW1621 wrote: I think they are greatly overlooked and therefore can be bought as a great value.

Have to find one first.

Brother had one briefly with an autotragic, was a pretty good car. I found it much better than his NX2000 and its probably one of the better FWD cars I have driven.

Not too hard to find around here.
This one looks like it could be a turn-key Challenger.
https://toledo.craigslist.org/cto/5484620193.html

I owned a '93 MX-6 (same car as the Probe GT with much prettier clothes IMO) from '97-'02. It was fairly comfortable, handled well, had plenty of power up to about 105 when it ran out of breath. The gearing felt really short and I always wanted one more cog for highway driving. I never got into modding it though.

*Mazda 626 sedan shares the drivetrain as well.

edit: This looks like it has potential for someone.

Cinci area MX-6

They were decent GT cars, and probably would be decent but not great autox/HPDE cars unless they were heavily modified.

I agree the MX-6 was much sexier. I actually almost bought a '97 as my first ever brand new car, but the local Acura dealer jumped in last minute and gave me a screaming bargain on a left over '96 Integra GS-R.

Both the Probe and MX-6 were great cars. They were built on the same assembly line in Flat Rock. The second gen was only produced from 1993-97 but they were the cars to beat in GS (6 cyl.) and HS (4 cyl.) back then. By now, those that you see for sale tend to be neglected, poorly modded and abused.

The new first car I bought for myself was a '95 GT. The motor was nice, the chassis was very rattly after 50K miles, and it really could have done with an LSD. I traded it in on my Miata after 4 years.

http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/cto/5479886964.html

Wow, 379k miles.

Probes.

A neighbor had a turbo version a few years ago. Only drove it a few times before the timing belt snapped. It sat in his driveway for a few weeks then disappeared. Once I found out what happened (and the car was gone) I found out he scrapped it. The body was in very nice shape.

I just saw a video recently of a lemons probe with a working probe mounted on the roof of said car.

One more Probe comes to mind. On another site a guy built one for high mpg and was at or close to 40 mpg. It was done up kind of like an art car and had a human body part as a part of its name.

I remember that the first gen Probes were available with the Ford 3.0 V6 from the Taurus. Shouldn't a SHO V6 be pretty close to a bolt it swap with mix and match parts?

Edit: According to the Google, it's been done with Probes, MX6's and 626's. Sounds like a very good combo if done properly.

drainoil wrote: A neighbor had a turbo version a few years ago. Only drove it a few times before the timing belt snapped. It sat in his driveway for a few weeks then disappeared. Once I found out what happened (and the car was gone) I found out he scrapped it. The body was in very nice shape. I just saw a video recently of a lemons probe with a working probe mounted on the roof of said car. One more Probe comes to mind. On another site a guy built one for high mpg and was at or close to 40 mpg. It was done up kind of like an art car and had a human body part as a part of its name.

That's a shame. It's a non interference engine and changing the timing belt takes about 45 minutes.

Boost_Crazy wrote: I remember that the first gen Probes were available with the Ford 3.0 V6 from the Taurus. Shouldn't a SHO V6 be pretty close to a bolt it swap with mix and match parts? Edit: According to the Google, it's been done with Probes, MX6's and 626's. Sounds like a very good combo if done properly.

...except I'm told it's very hard to get a working SHO motor these days because the timing chain guides/tensioners/etc are NLA and all the ones in the junkyards are worn almost as much as the one in the motor you're rebuilding.

In reply to Boost_Crazy:

If one is doing an engine swap on a probe, you have f2t and fe-dohc. No reason to venture outside of the engines made for the car.

In reply to codrus:

Yamaha marine carries the tensioner chains and guides

captdownshift wrote: In reply to codrus: Yamaha marine carries the tensioner chains and guides

Huh, is that new? I have a friend who'd built a few SHOs (one with a custom 3.6L, I think) who was relating the tensioner story to me a couple years ago.

In reply to lnlogauge:

True, but the Yamaha V6 is a very different flavor than the F2T. Both get the job done in almost opposite ways.

In reply to codrus:

No, but most owners don't think to go that route when the dealership tells them NLA, and most dealer parts lackeys wouldn't be able to tell you that it's a Yamaha engine or think to contact a possible outside source to locate the OEM parts

I've owned 2 2nd gen GTs

They handled decently well, braked decently well and I really liked the seating position

Had a few annoying problems that led to me moving on from them

The automatics in them were garbage, and the MTX cases were prone to cracking under abuse. The early second gen had caliper sticking issues with the rear end. I've never seen one with a functional power antenna.

The DE engine felt decently quick, but it really could've used another 60hp