Are all 2002-2005 Ford Thunderbirds the same mechanically? Were there any changes from 2002-2005?
Except for various different exterior and interior color combinations, all 2002-2005 Thunderbirds share the same body style. But that’s where the similarities end. All 2002-2005 T-Birds are powered by Ford’s 3.9 liter V8 engine, however, for 2002 that engine produced only 252 horsepower. Beginning with the 2003 model year, output was boosted to 280 horsepower by reprogramming the on-board computer and adding variable valve timing.
The 2003-2005 Thunderbird also featured a redesigned engine compartment with a different style engine cover and air filter configuration. In addition, there were changes to the design and configuration of the exhaust pipes.
2003 also saw the addition of heated seats and ‘Select Shift’ transmissions, allowing the driver to choose between fully automatic and ‘manual’ shifting. The 2002 Thunderbird also used a slightly different instrument cluster configuration.
For the interior, the 2002 Thunderbirds used ‘Nudo’ leather for the seating areas. Nudo is a somewhat softer and more supple leather than the Imola leather used on the 2003-2005. Special edition ‘feature’ car Thunderbirds such as the ‘007’ James Bond Edition and 2005 ’50th Anniversary Cashmere’ also used a special, softer grade of leather in white and cashmere respectively for those cars only. The 2004 feature car, the ‘Pacific Coast Roadster’ featured seats in ‘Light’ and ‘Dark’ Ash colors and had cloth inserts sometimes referred to as ‘Special Suede.’ This ‘Special Suede’ was not leather, but rather a cloth material. This was the only time any cloth material was incorporated into the 2002-2005 Thunderbird’s seats.
