The Fox Body Mustang (and 5.0 SN95) is all you need to go drifting.

Cheap, V8, rear wheel drive, and easy to work on. And cheap. Did I mention it’s affordable?

Love it or hate it, the fox body mustang is one of the most approachable, cheap, drift cars on the market today.

There is a lot to love but there are a few things to keep in mind as well…

-the Ford 5.0 v8 is a simple pushrod engine that sounds great and is ripe for some upgrades. There are some differences between the years: from adding fuel injection in 1986 and forged pistons in the H.O. engines, which is great for adding turbos :). See the roadkill episode below for some turbo motivation!

-In 1985/6, the fox body also received the slightly stronger world class t-5 manual transmission.

*Fun fact: I have this 1986 H.O. 5.0 and word class t-5 swapped into my RX8 see, @bondstgarage on instagram for more info

-87-92 Ford H.O. 5.0 V8’s had  225 hp / 300 ft-lbs. torque respectively, which is plenty for spinning the back tires. Plus, you get the glorious sound of the V8. With some headwork and a new cam, you can easily attain hp numbers well above the 300 mark.

-While a solid rear axle is not always the best handling option out there (although grassroots motorsports has some great info on making a solid axle work: “Suspension myth busting: solid axle vs IRS“), it does make for an extremely affordable way to have both wheels spin at the same time without needing an expensive LSD or welding the diff. A full spool or mini spool will do the trick and set you back a whole $70.

-As for angle kits, there have been a lot of new entrants into this market for late model mustangs. Drift American makes what looks like an awesome kit for $1,000 and you can get a set of coilovers from Late Model Restoration that will run you $800.

Below is an awesome video from Chris Fix It showing how and why he installed new suspension and an angle kit in his “Drift Stang”

Affordable price, V8, rear wheel drive, manual transmission, and cheap (non welded) rear tire lockup solution = a formidable choice for an entry level drift car.

Vaughn Gittin Jr. knows what’s up:

I’ve spent hours combing Autotempest, and here are some of the best deals on fox body and sn95 mustangs with 5.0 v8’s and manual transmissions (35 to be exact!!): CLICK HERE