Been cruising the BON forums. Here are some exerpts from an interview with Ed Golden, design director for Mustang.
http://warnerrobert.com/ubb/ultimate...c;f=2;t=001507

Apparently in addition to the 200+ hp power base motor, there will be two new versions of the 4.6. A 3V SOHC for the GT and a 4V DOHC version for another hot Mustang.

Elsewhere on the board...someone found tire sizes for the '05 Mustang on the official BFG site. The V6 will have 16" tires and the GT will have 18".

I wonder what size wheels the Boss/Mach 1/Cobra will have?

 

Sounds like their "racier" V8 will be more mass produced than Cobra... maybe something equivalent of Camaro SS (back in the days when they used to make them), while GT stays more like Z28.

 

I hope the Z/28, once again, becomes a whole bunch more...than just the entry level competitor for the base V8 Mustang.

 

ALOT more that that. The top/all-out model it deserves to be.

 

A am amazed at the apparent number of powerplant options the 05 Mustang is going to have...

It really starts to make me think an intermediate V8 for a mid-range camaro is more doable than has been let on...

 

Who knows....there may be a good deal of denial going on at GM over this.

I was talking to a GM rep not too long ago. Not only was there disbelief that the '05 Mustang would have multiple V8's.....they were denying that the "current" Mustang has multiple V8's.

 

A devious tecnicality. All Mustang V8s are 4.6 liters.

Ask that same GM rep about different levels of V8 power, and see what comes out of him then.

 

Well, Guy...you'd better believe that I did!

Even though they are the same displacement ....I mentioned that there are differences in the blocks, bottom end, valve gear, heads, induction, exhaust, etc.,...and one has a supercharger.


The response from the GM rep: " No...they're all the same".

 

Does this mean no 5.0 or 5.4? what will the cobra get, the same S/C 4.6?

 

From my info, the 4.6 and Cobra may be parting ways soon.

The current Cobra SC 4.6 may find it's way into the Marauder . The '06 Cobra is rumored to get a 5.4 of around 400 hp....with a supercharged, supercooled, 500hp 5.4 as a Cobra option for around $40 G's.

 

What's so unbelievable about multiple V8 options? It should be a given on any new mass-produced sports car/muscle car. Again, if they could do it in the 60s, 70s, and 80s with vastly inferior technology, they should be able to do it today.

Multiple V8 options (and a good base V6) give a degree of customization and personalization to the car that a single-flavor V8 cannot. It also provides a big surprise for the unsuspecting.

I hope the Mustang is available in a WIDE range of colors--and that the tan-colored part of the dash and doors are color-keyed to the body.

Multiple V8s, lots of colors, color-keyed interiors, lots of shiny metal inside rather than elephant-hide plastic crap--that's the way cars SHOULD be!

Keep the GT under 25K and kick GM's "V8s are 35K and above" attitude right in the butt!

 

One thing to note is Ford uses alot of variations of the 4.6L on the Mustang. I wonder if the real expense in a large engine assortment is more using engines of diffrent displacements.

I always have belived the F-body didn't see the LS6 not because they couldn't afford it, but more because Dave Hill has a stranglehold on it. The Corvette part of team Camaro/Corvette wanted the Z28 to have a 300 HP V6 because they couln;t make enough LS1's at one point...so I wouldn't be surpised if that was teh case.

 

I guess that's where we get back to the level of commitment that Ford has for the Mustang.

It seems that at GM most don't care about Camaro....and there are those who actually want to hurt it!


Can you believe it!

No wonder the Camaro is dead...and Mustang is selling like hotcakes!

 

I am sure if the V6 Camaro has $159 a month leases it would have sold too...but no they raised the price to the point when it was retired a V6 Camaro with hardtops and roll up windows cost $19,350

 

I'd like to add to the discussion about all the V8 variants that Ford is throwing around these days...

We've all heard and said that it takes a long time to turn a big heavy ship like Ford or GM - they don't change directions in a flash. Well in a nutshell, what we are seeing today is the result of almost prophetic foresight by the same guys responsible for the 5.0 craze of the late '80s. There were a group of guys who wanted to offer V8's (and even V6's) in a variety of configurations - like torquey engines for trucks, free-revving HP engines for cars, miserly engines for 5-passenger commuters, etc. The economical way to arrive at all these derivatives was a "modular" design that allowed common tooling/castings but could "grow" into whatever final specs were required. Thus was born the modular engine family for Ford that is now finally reaching maturity.

I can recall one of the first big projects testing the concept of "modular" design was the GT-90 concept car (that should have been built like the new GT-40's are IMO). Jack Roush's engine development facility was chosen to provide the V-12 for the car. Instead of doing a lost-wax or 1-off sand casting for the block, they took 2 of the "new-at-the-time" Modular V8's from the also "new-at-the-time" Romeo engine line, literally cut 2 of the front cylinders off of one engine block, and then vacuum welded the two existing blocks together to form the V12. The design of the crank and cams were done the same way. It was all over the tech mags back then, and I even recall reading about the exercise in an engineering magazine for it's concept and approach to the advantages of modular designing.
Here's a link to the first site I hit , I know there are tons more but beware - many sites fabricate stats and BS about the car.

Essentially, all the hype we hear about the 4.6 4V, 4.6 2V, 5.0, 5.3, 5.4, Boss, Cammer, 3.5, 3.8, 3.9, and 4.2 in their various N/A and S/C states are derivatives of the SAME BASIC DESIGN, and often the SAME TOOLING. Obviously the parts don't interchange between the 3.8 V6 and the 4.6 V8 in your driveway, but the parts are created in castings and molds that are modular like the engine, and offer considerable cost advantage. For example, if you need 10 new sections of a casting because they are worn out, you may be able to order 20 to get a better price since the same sections are used on the V6 and V8 designs. Most of the variation in these engines is due to different stroke/bore combinations on a common block, or different bolt-on components like the heads. There are also changes that can be made in material selections like the cast-iron block in the Cobra vs. the alloy blocks used on the standard 4.6's. Also, the cams and intakes have everything to do with the engines personality, allowing Ford to offer the same 4.6 as a torquey truck motor with pokey, short duration cams, and long intake runners, or whether it's a feisty 4.6-4v with aggressive, high lift-long duration cams and short, open intake runners.

I am the first to admit that there have been many growing pains and lots of guy who have hated the modular engine program from the day they announced the 5.0 was dying in the Mustang. There was a huge aftermarket that was in peril, and purists who left camp over this - especially when GM put out the LS1's with one cam and pushrods like the old 5.0 used to have. But I've got to applaud Ford for sticking with it through thick and thin, supporting the aftermarket for these things, and making them run when appropriate. What the market is now seeing is just the tip of the iceberg as far as modular technology goes, and like I said before, big companies don't make big changes overnight.

Mileage and efficiency have not been the best in high-performance applications for sure, but the efficiency of truck/passenger car engines has been decent to good overall. I think we will see DOD and other efficiency enhancements in the modular motors soon. And Lord knows that if they are finding 500hp plus in 5.0 liters of V8 for the upcoming Lightnings and Cobras - the are having no problems with making power now.

Along these lines, I recently read that Ford has decided NOT to use the 3.5L V6 in the future Stangs (past '06) as previously thought. The direction now is an enhanced 3.8 with @225hp.
Totally unreal when you think that the mid-'80's Mustang 5.0's only had 225 hp and were among the fastest cars of the day...

I think it would behoove GM to do somethig similar with the F5 too. Not a whole corporate engine program of course, but at least offer 3 or 4 different levels of performance and engines to the buyers. Cater to the tree-hugging econo-crowd, the "I want a little more than base" group, the first-time tuner crowd that wants to play with his HO-V6 or base V8, and then cater to the purist who wants an all-out V8 that he can still take up a notch or two if he chooses. Remember, whether its the color, the interior, the wheels, or the engine - every lost sale is a no-no. Try to offer "everything to everybody" with the car, and you will unquestionably get more sales. The trick is how to offer that variety in a car without making it too expensive.

I have my fingers crossed for the F5 in 4 engine configs... X