While I'm a huge fan of all American Muscle... I'm very skeptical of this engine. The bore is maxed out. From what I'm understanding, it essentially comes with factory bolt ons and what would equate to a mail order tune, bigger cams than you usually see in a performance V8 of any kind. Doesn't seem to me like there's much to gain from mods other than forced induction, which, for 99.9999% of Mustang buyers is out of the question for one reason or another (money, know how, preference).

 

I'm sure there is still plenty of room to expand upon this engine. Sure, it's got tuned headers, but long tubes without cats should help a bit. It can always use more compression, more cam, more airflow to make more power.

 

Time will tell, but if true, that seems like a good thing to me. Why not make as much power as possible from the factory? I'm sure there will be gains from louder intake and exhaust, though they may not be large. But optimizing to the max extent possible while keeping it legal all seems good to me.

 

Actually, blowers are far more popular with the modular crowd than the H/C/I mods that you see with the LS1/2/3 community.

Neither you, nor I, nor likely anybody on this Forum knows what 'hot-rodding' tricks will do for the new 5.0. It's all that speculation thing again....and wishful thinking on the part of some (one way or the other).

Bob

 

Aftermarket aside (with all the re-sleeving craziness that goes on). What regular production block could take a significant amount of boring to increase displacement. All my life, its been pretty much capped at .060 or less. The bigger issue I see with the new 5.0 is the tight crankcase, there isn't any room to stroke the crank any meaningful amount.

IMO, as for easy to do stuff, I think tuning will yield the best results mostly due to the I/E VVT. At the bottm of the list will probably be porting.

I agree with Bob, FI is much bigger in the Mustang community because its easier to do and yields much better results for the money. Swapping cams and heads on a mod motor looks alot more daunting than strapping on a blower.

 

Well, when you consider the engine is detuned for the GT, then I imagine there is plenty left in it.

There have been a few numbers thrown around, but I guess we will all have to wait and see.

Its funny, because threads like this start with "Yeah, woo hoo, the Mustang finally catches up," to "it still sucks because I will not be able to mod it to within an inch of its life, due to the fact that it is tapped out."

 

I'm pretty sure the bore spacing was so the Mod motor could be used in FWD applications. Ford kept the new 5.0L bore spacing the same to save on cost. Makes sense. Maybe that is why I hear this new motor referred to as more of a revised modular than a completely new engine. Many Ford faithful I talked with were expecting larger bore spacing for the 5.0L.

 

Speculation is a big part of this particular forum.
It's kind of hard to talk about Future Vehicles without some speculation.

 

I think every man and his dog were expecting a 4" bore. You can get away with it on an OHV but it's fairly limiting to do that with a DOHC engine.

We might be going around in circles here but perhaps an even smaller V8 (e.g. 4.0L) with twin turbos could have been the better performance option? Not discounting the 5.0L as I genuinely believe it will be a great motor, but I wonder if Ford outdid themselves when they announced that ECOboost wouldn't be available on the Coyote?

In any case, I don't think performance will be an issue for the 5.0. I read an article on the Shelby version which uses a S/C to boost power to 500hp. That's more than enough power for most street muscle cars.

 

Won't argue with that.

 

Not sure if anybody cares, but the 2011 GT will be pacing the Daytona 500 next month...

http://bumpinmyhead.wordpress.com/20...-500-pace-car/

Maybe that will take some of the "redneck" comments away from Camaro.....

 

From rumors i heard the 2011 camaro ss will be getting a pump in hp.. Also i just read a article that the Z28 will be produced.. sure seems like there is going to be a pissing match going. And on top of everything i will put money that 5.0 will not respond to mods like the LS3..

 

You're right except that I don't remember anyone actually cheering for the Mustang to catch up...

Kidding aside Ford deserves all they credit they are getting and more. They are extracting near LS3 engine power from 24% lower displacement. The 5.0L mated with the new 6-speed in the 2011 GT is the new hot combo and should trump the Camaro SS.
I don't think the discussion really ever said the 5.0L sucks or that is tapped out but that there are no shortcuts to performance especially normally aspirated and Ford has the new 5.0L in a higher state of tune than the LS3.

 

I think it is more like 20-21% smaller (302 ci / 376 ci) , but HP / L really isn't a big teller here. I mean, I'm stoked about a 400+ hp Mustang, but I'm going to guess that the LS3 is still a physically smaller engine, regardless of internal displacement. Multi-valve, higher revving engines have always been able to make good power relative to a larger-displacement, 2 valve OHV design. It's the overall packaging and weight that matters.

Again, I'm not dissing this new engine at all. It sounds pretty great. But I don't think they worked some sort of voodoo to get to 412 hp from 5.0L in this day and age.

I think the SS and the GT will be a pretty good matchup. At least in a straight line... If you'll forgive a moment of magazine racing, Car and Driver tested the new (claimed) 435 hp 2010 Roush 427R, which they generally loved. It ran a 13.0 @ 111 mph, which is just about even with a 2010 Camaro SS. The 2011 GT will have a similar power output.

 

As far as mag racing goes, thats a decent point. Man, that 427R is a NICE car. Its got a great combinatoin of style (exterior and interior), power, handling, ride, etc.

I really like that Roush made this one look more grown up, aggressive yet not boy-racer in your face and gaudy. The wheels are perfect and it sounds like the exhuast is perfect too. I wouldn't mind having one of those.