Ford Probe Tuning

"This will PROBEably be fun!"

The Probe is loved by it's owners and often overlooked as the basis for a tuning project, especially over in the UK. It is actually quite a good car for a project and can be turned into a storming track day car if you plan your mods carefully - the large engine bay can be home to some very impressive conversions.

We shall in this article take a peek at Probe tuning and summarise the best modifications for you. Ford Probes are fantastic project cars and with the right performance parts you can substantially maximise your driving fun.The Probe is popular among our members for tuning projects Sit down first and research Probe tuning to avoid making the usual dear slip ups we see.

Handling modifications are usually your first port of call for the Probe. We suggest that you fit uprated suspension and lower the car by 30-35mm. Larger drops require arch work - especially on models already equipped with sports suspension.

Turning our attention to the Probes engine we need to get a bit more power out of the top end.

The best power gains come from larger engine sizes. The more you start with the bigger the return on investment so engine swaps are good value mods for small engined cars.

This list of the stages and mods that are usually performed by our members, decide how far you want to go before you begin.

Getting the correct grade of mods for your planned usage of the car is a time and money saver. Stage 3 motorsport parts just don't work well on the road difficult in stop start traffic.

Stage 1 mods:sports exhaust,Panel air filter,lighter flywheel,alloy wheels,Remap,suspension upgrade (drop 30-40mm).

Stage 2 mods:Fast road cam,Ported and polished head,power clutch,fuel injector & fuel pump upgrades,.

Stage 3 mods: competition cam,adding or upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger),Engine balancing,Internal engine upgrades (pistons/head/valves),sports gearbox.

Tuning modifications.

Peak power is nice in motorsport but for a driveable and fun car you need a wide torque band and perhaps extending the rev range. The aim of this article is to give a limited introduction of car tuning mods and point you in the right direction, our forum is the place to go for detailed advice and tips on your project and all aspects of modding cars.

It improves the intake and exhaust flow and pushes up the power if done right. Ideally you'd add other mods and finish up with a remap. We'd also caution you not to go with a motor sports profile cam as this upsets the engines idling and general town driving characteristics.When pushing up the power you will need to pay attention to the fuelling. More power needs more fuel. Using higher octane petrol is another option if you find you are suffering from pinking or premature ignition on your Ford project after fitting other mods. Uprated injectors will enable you to supply sufficient fuel to the engine. A fuel pump will only deliver a finite amount of fuel, so you may need to uprate this if your injectors are demanding more fuel.

Intake and Exhaust Tuning.

The next area for modification is the intake and exhaust. Contrary to popular belief there is usually very little power gain to be had by fitting an induction kit, they only work well and are recommended after you increase the engines power to the point where the standard air intake box cannot cope! For most Probe engines TorqueCars would suggest you just go with a washable panel air filter. On heavily tuned engines and turbo vehicles an induction kit will help release the power providing you address the problem of needing cold air.

Sports exhausts can usually air flow from the engine but do not go too large or you could will reduce the flow rate. Stick to 1.5 to 2.5 inches as a rule of thumb.

Head work including a head port and polished and 3 or 5 angle valve job will really help to release the potential of the engine. When you start tuning your Probe you will find that the standard clutch starts to complain so get an uprated clutch. NASP engines do not achieve big power gains if you remap them, unless you have done extensive modifications. With turbocharged engines this is another story. A remapped turbo will give impressive power gains and take full advantage of the strength of the block. Despite the large cost involved adding forced induction to a NASP engine will give large power gains. Turbos are generally harder to add than a supercharger. It is harder to map a turbo as the boost comes on exponentially with engine speed. Superchargers however will give a boost which is proportional to engine speed so is easier to map. Decreasing the engines compression ratio will allow you to add forced induction, water injection may also help prevent detonation.

Alloy wheel upgrades.

Alloy wheels will help the brakes cool down and are usually lighter than the steel ones. It is worth noting that although they can look cool on the Probe Big alloy wheels will actually decrease your performance. The larger you go the lower your acceleration will be - this is due to the change in your effective final drive ratio. Although some people have gone larger we would stick to a 18 inch rim size as the maximum.

For more information on Tuning your car please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss Probe options in more detail with our Probe owners. It would also be worth reading our unbiased Ford tuning articles to get a full grasp of the benefits and drawbacks of each modification.

We need your help improving this article, so please send us your feedback in the comments box below and pass on any tips, points or facts we have wrong or have not covered. We really like hearing from our readers, and hearing about which mods were the most effective for them, it helps us improve our recommendations and articles to reflect current trends in modifications and ensures that our guides and tips are kept up to date.

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This article is flagged for an update, so please pass on specific tips below that I can include. All articles, and content was written by me, Waynne Smith TorqueCars founder. Some outlines are just too general so I appreciate your feedback and suggestions. This entry was filed under Ford. You can leave a response below or join our forum to discuss this article and car modification in detail with our members.

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