Details Emerge on New Mustang GT Engine

http://www.autosavant.net/2008/02/details-emerge-on-new-mustang-gt-engine.html

The 2010 Ford Mustang will have a lighter and smaller engine than its segment competitors, but will give up nothing in horsepower...

By Igor Holas

02.14.2008

For a while, rumors went back and forth on what engine will power the new 2010 Mustang. Finally, sources are agreeing and statements are converging on specifications of a single engine.

Throughout Ford, the V8 lineup is undergoing a significant makeover. With the debut of the 2009 F-150, Ford released a new version of the 5.4l Modular (also called MOD or Triton) V8. This new engine, while sharing many components with earlier models, will sport meaningful improvements in horsepower, torque, and fuel mileage. This update will position the engine’s torque in the neighborhood of much larger V8 engines, such as Toyota’s 5.7l iForce, or GM’s 6.0l Vortec Max. The new 5.4l will see only truck duty, however.

Later this year, Ford will also finally release the BOSS V8 engine, and once again this engine will be truck-only. The engine will be a 6.2l SOHC V8 with an expected 425hp and 450 ft.lbs of torque. The first vehicle with this new engine is to be the 2009 Navigator, the one vehicle in Ford’s lineup that desperately and unquestionably needs the engine. Around the end of 2008, this engine will finally make it to the F-150, and maybe even the Expedition.

The Mustang GT is currently powered by the 4.6l MOD engine, and while this engine received minor tweaks for service in the 2009 F-150, its production life is coming to an end. When the 2010 version of the F-150 debuts, the small V8 currently available in the F-150 will probably be replaced with a truck version of Ford’s ubiquitous Duratec V6 engine. Shortly thereafter, the engine will also disappear from the Explorer and will finally die along with the Panther platform cars in 2010 calendar year.

Given the truck-only designation of the 5.4l MOD and 6.2l BOSS engines, there has been wild speculation about the engine for the Mustang GT. About six months ago some sources have began talking about a new 5.0l V8. Now, finally, details on this engine are much more solidified. This new engine originates from the Modular family, but with many unique parts. The engine will include a new aluminum block and new four-valve-per-cylinder head. The engine will also include direct injection, and variable valve timing.

All in all, this new engine promises to make a respectable 400 – 425 horses, and similar torque. This would position Ford squarely among other similar high-tech V8 engines from Lexus, BMW, or Audi. More importantly, this new engine will allow Ford to compete with the upcoming Camaro and Challenger. However, unlike the large displacement, low-tech, pushrod LS and HEMI engines in the competition, Ford’s engine will rely on more sophisticated technology to squeeze greater power from a smaller engine, promising better fuel economy.

The new Mustang will probably debut in L.A. this fall or in Detroit next winter, and we should know then just how well Ford prepared for the suddenly competitive-again pony-car segment.