Thunderbird: Supercoupe or Turbo Coupe?

Boosted tbirds have always intrigued me. I'd like to own another foxbody cruiser someday. (Probably not soon. It will be one of those two or another mkVII. What's better to own, the earlier turbo birds or the supercharged version?

Wasnt the Supercoop the MN-12 platform not the fox platform?

turbo coupe hands down for me and ive owned one of each. 87turbo coupe/t5 car wish some minor performance mods felt alot better to drive then my supercoupe. the sc was an auto and that didnt help but the car always felt bloated.

XRTi

MrChaos wrote: Wasnt the Supercoop the MN-12 platform not the fox platform?

Yes. I'd classify it as more of a budget luxo grand tourer than anything else.

I like the Supercoupe. They're heavy (though I have mine down to just over 3400 pounds), and the steering feel is a bit numb, but they're fun cars.

Super, but I'm biased.

turbocoupe X1000. easier to mod, stronger motor, better trans (if manual, both have sucky autos, but the supers is better), better all around car. also less popular, so a bit more attention getting when done up well.

i have 4 of them. i have HAD as many as 10. may favorite is currently the 86, cause it has the best turbo and better interior, but the old body, lighter weight, and less electro gizmos to fail.

but i have an every option 88 TC, a zero option 87, a almost-every-option 86 (DD), and am restoring another of unknown year (87-88).

i can walk/talk you through ANYTHING, btw, feel free to call/email.

-J0N

I always liked the way "Thunderturd Super Poop" rolled off the tongue so I vote for the newer model.

When I was in college in '91 or '92, a fellow I knew had a chipped TC. He also had the ubiquitous for the time '69 Chevelle SS-396. He claimed the TC was faster. I remember just being blown away by that. I couldn't fathom how any 2.3 liter could run better than a big-block Chevy. Just could not! :-)

humm, I vote TC, but with a stick, either would be fine.

TC beats the SC in almost everything except stock horsepower and perhaps trunk space. The MN12 chassis is a bit of a wet noodle.

I vote tc, I had a friend in high school with one with quite a few mods, probably less than 300hp, but awfully fast in the late 90s

I didn't own one but my nephew did and I did own 3 Fox Mustangs and since the turbo coupe is a fox based car it's way easier to mod then the super coupe. Getting 300 hp using mostly stock but modified parts is also cool with the 2.3L turbo.

drdisque wrote: TC beats the SC in almost everything except stock horsepower and perhaps trunk space. The MN12 chassis is a bit of a wet noodle.

Yebbut, the MN12 has IRS vs. the quadrabind stick axle in the Fox platform.

Of these two, I'd go with the TurboCoupe. I've always wanted to play with one.

If I were going to do an MN12 car, I'd want a Cougar XR7 V8 with some boosty bits and a manual transmission swap.

I'd vote Turbo Coupe or, failing that, Mark VII. Marks can be snagged for chump change.

For performance, I'd vote TurboCoupe. I've always dug the look of the SuperCoupes but it seems like it takes a lot of $$$ to get them to do anything particularly well.

Will wrote:

MrChaos wrote: Wasnt the Supercoop the MN-12 platform not the fox platform?

Yes. I'd classify it as more of a budget luxo grand tourer than anything else. I like the Supercoupe. They're heavy (though I have mine down to just over 3400 pounds), and the steering feel is a bit numb, but they're fun cars.

Is that your car? Either way, thanks as that picture had me waste 2 hours looking for MN12 thunderbirds on Craiglist and eBay. When done right(and that one is done right) those cars can look great

Supers look better, but are a nightmare to work on.

http://hartford.craigslist.org/cto/4782363897.html

I had an '88 TurboCoupe tht I enjoyed immensely. 5 speed and very nice to put miles on.

Dark blue, it got lots of compliments.

Never had either but the turbo looks like it could be a really fun car.

Depends on your goals. Short version is the Turbocoupe starts worse but can be made better, the Supercoupe starts better but is more limited in how far you can take it. The fox chassis has a lot more aftermarket, but you're dealing with the crap inboard-spring front McP struts and the quadrabind rear. I'm not sure if it comes with the 7.5 or 8.8, but if it's the former it's easy enough to find and stuff the latter in. The MN12 starts with SLA front and rear and a better/stiffer chassis. Near as I know you're stuck with the 7.5" center section, unless someone's figured out a way to pull the 8.8" center section from a Cobra IRS.

In reply to GCooper:

Yes, that's my car. Thanks for the compliment--I've put a lot of work into it.

Rev Dexter is incorrect. V8 and boosted V6 MN12s come with 28-spline 8.8 diffs from the factory. Stick cars with high power and slicks have a tendency to snap the stub axles, but otherwise, the diffs are pretty damn stout.

One thing that's getting to be a limiting factor for the SC is shock availability. The Konis and Bilsteins are discontinued, leaving the Tokico electronically-adjustable variants as the only performance shock option. And even those are done in batches. Sometimes they're available, and sometimes they're not.

Turbocoupe... they are better looking, lighter, and Fox based.. do a 5 lug conversion using junkyard/cheap parts store parts and you have an almost unlimited choice of wheels with the common 4.5" bolt pattern whereas i think the Supercoupe uses some stupid silly metric bolt pattern.