Is it crazy to want an LS7 Prowler?

Maybe I'll just stick to dreaming about the FF 33 hot rod.

Adrian_Thompson wrote: Looks like a great idea, but I appear to be in th eminority in liking the original car. It's a production built cruiser. Ice cream runs and date nights with the wife. To me a V6 with auto would be fine, but I admit I haven't driven one to really comment.

This. It was never intended to be a pathement scorching beast

Vigo wrote:

it does not take huge increases in HP very well.

Unfortunately that is almost all down to the difficulty in changing the shifting behaviour of the TCM. The few people that managed to run the clutch-to-clutch 604/606 with both high power and standalone shift computer reported good durability even with 600hp. We're talking 10 second 1/4 passes on stock guts (in a neon, admittedly).

To me a V6 with auto would be fine, but I admit I haven't driven one to really comment.

Well, how do you feel about your Mustang? The prowler was at the very bleeding edge of what is now mainstream: High-power V6s in perfectly passable sporty RWD cars.

While the V6 in the Prowler "only" made 253hp, Chrysler didn't really have an option for a much more powerful V8 to throw in there. The 5.9L in the pickups only made 245hp, and the HO4.7L from the Grand Cherokee just barely beat it out with 265hp.

The 5.9 only made 245 in certain trim and i dont think the HO 4.7 existed yet, non-HO were around 235hp rated! People forget now, but in 1998 when dodge released the 250hp 3.5 version, it was exceptionally powerful among 'mundane' family car 6 cyls. More powerful than an M3 motor, an SHO v6 or v8, nissan's VQ, NEARLY as much hp as an NSX v6, and just forget about the Mustang gt!To get the same effect today, you have to be in the 350-400hp range from similar displacement.

Now a few guys have stroked the 3.5 to 4.0/4.4 liters

How about 5.0? Requires some massively expensive machine work. Look at those sleeves starting to touch the coolant jackets!

The 5.0 have been moderately reliable but not like the 4.0 that I have seen. Also the transmission is so not good for 600hp in any long term reliability. The factory had issues with stock cars chewing up the internal plates in 99-00 and eventually changed the shift patterns to this increasingly aggressive shift tune to keep everything from coming apart.

Given the extreme difficulty in fitting another transaxle to a prowler i would focus any high-power build around moving power up in the RPMs so that it wasn't necessary to make a huge amount of torque. That would mean 8-9000 rpm and trying to keep torque below 400, maybe far below, at all points. On the plus side, that would let you take 3rd to higher speeds instead of being effectively limited to the top speed of 3rd @ ~6500 rpm and not able to use 4th due to durability issues.

Even a stock 3.5 will burn up 4th in very short order due to the extreme weakness of that clutch pack. I should know, i did it (and then rebuilt it personally). When i still had my intrepid i was looking into finding a dealership guy to flash my TCM to the Prowler cal so that i wouldnt have a forced 3-4 upshift at 5500 rpm. That was about 115mph. I got the car to crawl up to 130 in 4th before burning it up and never tried again. If i could have stayed in 3rd i could have gone 136 before upshift iirc, and the car definitely had the power and aero so i was pretty irritated about having this car that could dust off older mustangs but couldnt go over 115 without damaging it's own transmission.. The weak 4th gear is endemic to all the 604-based stuff. There is one guy with a turbo 2.4 604 car who burned up his 4th gear instantly after accidentally shifting into it at the dragstrip.

Prowler is rear ransaxle, right? If so I'm assuming they just crammed a whole corvette driveline in it.

Kenny_McCormic wrote: Prowler is rear ransaxle, right? If so I'm assuming they just crammed a whole corvette driveline in it.

it's an Intrepid 3.5 up front hooked to the Intrepid transmission in the rear via a torque tube..

In reply to iadr:

Yeah, this particular swap. The two are more or less layed out the same, so its kinda logical they would do that if already using a vette motor. Also fixes that whole mandatory automated transmission issue

Kenny_McCormic wrote: In reply to iadr: Yeah, this particular swap. The two are more or less layed out the same, so its kinda logical they would do that if already using a vette motor. Also fixes that whole mandatory automated transmission issue

Except there is no way to get the corvette trans-axle all up into a Prowler without some HUGE surgery.

Which the car in my original post apparently had.

As I said before, I'll stick to dreaming about the FF 33, but the 818 is more likely in my future.

I would still love one.

2 things I will never understand-

1- why anyone would think a Prowler is attractive

2- Brand loyalty of any kind, but especially to any Mopar built after the early 1970s.

You don't need a LS-7 when you have have and keep the car all mopar!!! How about 6.1 SRT hemi?

We did it!! Check out more at www.facebook.com/hemiprowler

Chrysler nationals Reveal

Treyb 11-11-2012, 12:59 AM Live on the dodge stage Here a few more of my favorite Picts for many that never saw it !

You can watch the full Interview with SRT and Dodge here from the reveal Custom Prowleron DODGE - live streaming video powered by Livestream

So last week I found the Prowler on the list of the worst vehicles ever made. I don't know if it belongs there...

Cool build, but the shaker scoop kills the look for me.

What's the weight difference between that hemi and a LS7?

Appleseed wrote: Cool build, but the shaker scoop kills the look for me.

yup...

N Sperlo wrote: So last week I found the Prowler on the list of the worst vehicles ever made. I don't know if it belongs there...

My dad's friend had one, it had an archaic 4-speed along with horrible reliability and terrible ride quality with infantile power for it's $42k? price. This is one of those cars if it was $25k it wouldn't be horrible, however it was almost $45k out the door if not more and that was simply insane.

The Crossfire that replaced it was a far better car though still underpowered. SRT-6 (or AMG perhaps?) Crossfires are great. If those came with a manual i would buy one.

wearymicrobe wrote:

Kenny_McCormic wrote: In reply to iadr: Yeah, this particular swap. The two are more or less layed out the same, so its kinda logical they would do that if already using a vette motor. Also fixes that whole mandatory automated transmission issue

Except there is no way to get the corvette trans-axle all up into a Prowler without some HUGE surgery.

In the Howler concept car they used a V8 and a standard RWD transmission (T56 I think). That gave you real trunk space as well. Have you ever seen the "trunk" in the Prowler? It's only a few inches deep and traces the curve or the trunk lid so you aren't getting anything other than a garment bag in there IIRC.

I'd love to have a LS7 Prowler. It's really a shame that the Prowler, SSR and Thunderbird were executed the way they were: as Boulevarders rather than serious vehicles. What the bean counters didn't get was that serious performance heads would shun them, and the rich old guys that they were marketed to want capable cars, even if they don't use them that way. Look at 70 percent of the Cobra crowd. They drive them like they do their econobox, but want full respect while doing so. At that time anyway (before the age of 300 HP NA v6s) a V6 would get you snickered at.

Prowler, SSR and Thunderbird were executed the way they were: as Boulevarders rather than serious vehicles.

The updated 6.0 SSR is the only one of those that could put up half a fight against a Prowler on a road course, and it would probably still lose. To be honest, i see how you got to that comparison, but really, if you put all 3 of those on a road course, the Prowler would absolutely stomp. The whole boulevarder thing is based more on perception than reality.

SilverFleet wrote: No, you are not crazy. I'd rather have a new Hemi in there to keep it all Mopar, but hey, that's just me. The stock ones are LAME.

Nah not just you.

hemiprowler wrote: You don't need a LS-7 when you have have and keep the car all mopar!!! How about 6.1 SRT hemi? We did it!! Check out more at www.facebook.com/hemiprowler Chrysler nationals Reveal Treyb

Trey,

I remember seeing your Prowler at Carlisle 2 years ago when the photos were taken. I spent a long time talking with the folks that own the red '73 Road Runner GTX in the back of this photo. I spent a little bit of time looking at the Road Runner next to your Prowler, but since I have a '73 GTX I was more interested in the red one.

You Prowler is pretty bitchin'. Have you had it out on the track yet?

The Crossfire that replaced it was a far better car though still underpowered. SRT-6 (or AMG perhaps?) Crossfires are great. If those came with a manual i would buy one.

Weren't Crossfires basically reskinned Mercedes SLKs? I've always found them very attractive, although I imagine that part are pricey.