"Initially, the engine choices were modest, with only the 3.8-liter Essex V6 available for the first three years, along with a 3.8-liter supercharged version available only in the Super Coupe model (more on that later). The base V6 was rather lacking in power output, with only 140 horsepower available. Acceleration times were leisurely, and it was only available with Ford's AOD four-speed automatic. If you didn't want the Super Coupe variant but did want a little more power, you were out of luck until the 1991 model year, when Ford shoehorned the Windsor 5.0 V8. This engine produced 200 horsepower and 275 lb-ft of torque, which was a gain of 35 horsepower over the last Thunderbird equipped with a V8 (1988). The television program Motorweek tested the new V8 T-Bird and saw 0-60 runs of 9.2 seconds--almost two seconds faster than the V6, but still not as fast as the Super Coupe version. Once again, the only transmission available was the Ford AOD Automatic."
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