What is a stock 4.6 Town Car good for in the 1/4 mile?

[92SedandeVille-TownCar94]

I've always wondered, what's a 91-97 Town Car good for in the 1/4 mile? I've driven some and they seem pretty powerful. Not on the level of a Mark VIII or my 4.9 deVille, but not much slower. I thought I read somewhere that a mid-high 16 is normal, but when they went to the single exhaust in '97, I thought I read that the 1/4 mile time had increased to the low 17's...

 

[beeftallywacker]

I ran a '06 TC through the 1/4 mile in the low 15's.

Mid to high 16's seems about right.

Although, I would love to have a TC that ran the 1/4 mile in the 10's. But that's just me.

 

[formerknown]

91-97 will run mid-16's to 17 @ or around 83 MPH...

 

[92SedandeVille-TownCar94]

The fans of the LT1 Brougham always complain about how slow the SOHC four-six Town Car is. It's not that bad at all! In all reality, a stock LT1 Brougham will do naught to sixty in about 7.7-8.2 seconds, and the 1/4 mile in 15.6-16.2 seconds. A 4.6 Town Car will do it in 8.5-9 seconds, and 16.5-17.0 seconds. That's not much worse at all! And, like the LT1, the SOHC 4.6 has loads of aftermarket!

If I'm not mistaken, the 4.6 will get better mileage, usually by about 3-4 in city. My old LT1 Roadmaster would struggle to get more than 14MPG around town, and from all the reviews I've read, and all the TC owners I've talked to, the TC gets around 17-18 around town, and 26-28 on the open road. The LT1 will get about 25-26 on the open road, the best I ever got with my Roadie was 21MPG, but something wasn't right with that car..

 

[Fleet]

The '95 & newer seem to be faster than the earlier ones.
I have these road tests:
Motor Trend, Jan., 1990 (1990 Town Car Signature)
0-60 mph---------------- 10.5 secs
1/4 mile------------------ 17.7 secs @ 77.8 mph
Curb weight-------------- 4,064 lbs


Car & Driver, March, 1995 (1995 Town Car Signature)
0-60 mph---------------- 9.1 secs
1/4 mile----------------- 16.9 secs @ 83 mph
Curb weight------------- 4,177 lbs
C/D observed fuel economy- 18 mpg

It seems that the 2.84:1 1st gear ratio in the '95 TC's compared to the 2.40:1 ratio in the pre-'95s gives the later one an edge. This is one reason why I prefer a '95 over a '94.

 

[02LSE96LSC91SE84TC]

Remember the 1990 was still a 150hp 5.0, the 4.6 came in 1991.