I see it's in its' natural habitat...
Klayfish wrote: I see it's in its' natural habitat...
Indeed. Probably because it's such an awful car nobody would bother to fix it.
Ugh. I had a customer with one when they were new. They were crap then. I doubt that they improved with age and mileage.
I had an old farmer friend that had one. He did not have any problems with it the few years I saw him.
Jesus. Do they measure the 0-60 with a sun dial? Or will a simple 0-60 "probably" do.
spitfirebill wrote: I had an old farmer friend that had one. He did not have any problems with it the few years I saw him.
I don't recall that they had any particular reliability problems but they were so unpleasant to drive that you sort of hoped that they would break so you could just go for a nice walk instead subjecting yourself to the abuse.
Because the gas-powered Tempo wasn't bad enough, here's one that's even heavier and slower!
Of course these days, just the fact that it is a diesel probably means somebody will buy it, "because torques"
Hey, the lights work.
APEowner wrote: I don't recall that they had any particular reliability problems but they were so unpleasant to drive that you sort of hoped that they would break so you could just go for a nice walk instead subjecting yourself to the abuse.
And you'd get there faster...
1- Purchase diesel Tempo
2- Apply sawzall until it's kind of a Rampage/Brat/ute type deal
3- Compete in challenge truck class
4- Advertise on craigslist as "Diesel Ford Pickup"
5- Profit!
Oil filters (two) were very expensive. Like, $35. And yes, slow.
Because curiosity was killing me, I had to look up the specs.
Diesel was sourced from Mazda
Curb weight of 2606lbs
53hp/82lb ft tq
0-60 in 22.5 seconds
Klayfish wrote: Because curiosity was killing me, I had to look up the specs. Diesel was sourced from Mazda Curb weight of 2606lbs 53hp/82lb ft tq 0-60 in 22.5 seconds Source
Imagine trying to merge onto the freeway in one of those. 
Tom_Spangler wrote:Klayfish wrote: Because curiosity was killing me, I had to look up the specs. Diesel was sourced from Mazda Curb weight of 2606lbs 53hp/82lb ft tq 0-60 in 22.5 seconds SourceImagine trying to merge onto the freeway in one of those.
Not a problem IF you live in rural Kansas.
I knew some people that had a diesel Escort. I suspect it was just as awesome.
I think that this is a sure Lemons winner. All you have to do is prep it and make a few laps and you'll win!
I drove a Tempo rental car many years ago. With an auto trans that made it seem like first was second gear it was slow off the line. Once up to speed it was OK, just OK. There was one model late in it's production that offered the 3.0L V6 as came in the Taurus. You could get it in auto or a 5sp manual. There have been a few that got the SHO engine installed by owners. Talk about sleepers!
jimbbski wrote: I think that this is a sure Lemons winner. All you have to do is prep it and make a few laps and you'll win! I drove a Tempo rental car many years ago. With an auto trans that made it seem like first was second gear it was slow off the line. Once up to speed it was OK, just OK. There was one model late in it's production that offered the 3.0L V6 as came in the Taurus. You could get it in auto or a 5sp manual. There have been a few that got the SHO engine installed by owners. Talk about sleepers!
OK, now I've driven my fair share of off-the-wall fun builds in LeMons that were incredibly slow. I agree it's definitely an IOE candidate right out of the box, but it'd be scary to run....uh, walk...it around the track. Though I guess if they need to black flag me, the corner worker can just run up to my window as I'm going down the straightaway and talk to me.
My father had a V6 Tempo for a very short time as a company car. It wasn't dreadfully slow, but wasn't "fast".
One time I saw the Mercury version, two door, diesel, and a stick. That thing had to be rare!
This is where things get interesting. The rf diesel is virtually identical to the fe, and subsequently the fe-t....which became the f2/f2t as a stroker to 2.2........
Yeah, you should in theory be able to throw many pounds of boost at this thing after gas conversion, but I don't know what head will bolt to this thing. If any. Get some gas Mazda head to bolt on without a lot of effort and this might be a pretty cool engine with a pile of Tempo wrapped around it.
Or go find an F2t and forget that nonsense. But F2t's aren't super common anymore so maybe this is worth the effort. For someone else to do, not me.
Klayfish wrote: Because curiosity was killing me, I had to look up the specs. Diesel was sourced from Mazda Curb weight of 2606lbs 53hp/82lb ft tq 0-60 in 22.5 seconds Source
I'm pretty sure a 4 speed 240D would beat that thing in a drag race.
BrokenYugo wrote:Klayfish wrote: Because curiosity was killing me, I had to look up the specs. Diesel was sourced from Mazda Curb weight of 2606lbs 53hp/82lb ft tq 0-60 in 22.5 seconds SourceI'm pretty sure a 4 speed 240D would beat that thing in a drag race.
I had a 4 speed 220D - got humbled by VW vans, transit buses, etc. First gear was pretty low geared - mostly changed to second before clearing an intersection after taking off from the lights. It was quite nice once going if you didn't need to accelerate.
My old boss/ automotive mentor still has a Tempo Diesel. It gets 50-60 mpg, is low profile, and well, technically a car. He's a Ford lover. Old mustangs, Falcons, etc. He loves his Tempo. Calls it the limo.
You'll need to log in to post.
