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Originally Posted by DGthe3
As a point of comparison to other 5.0L DOHC DI V8's out there ...
Lexus IS-F
416 hp, 371 ft-lbs
Jaguar XF
385 hp, 380 ft-lbs
I couldn't find any others (surprised that there are 2 out there with the same configuration as what Ford proposes) but I would be surprised if the Ford 5.0 bests the Jaguar's numbers. And something tells me that those engines are a bit more than ~$8000, which is about the limit for what would make this engine affordable in a Mustang GT. Is it possible? Sure, but I will not sit around waiting for all the promises to be fulfilled at once: A 5.0 making 400 hp/400 ft-lbs in a $30 000 Mustang that weighs 3500 lbs and passes all 2012 crash tests with 5 stars. Ford will surely meet some of those specs, possibly do better. But all of them? No.
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People love to compare the Mustang's future mill to the Jags as if the 5.0L Jag V8 is a definitive benchmark...it isn't. While nice enough the AJ V8 was a compromised design in many respects from the outset, and this newer, 5.0L evolution of the same is far from ideal in a lot of respects. Ford's 5.0L Coyote is, by all accounts, a clean sheet design that answers the question 'how would we do it if we decided not to make countless, ridiculous concessions to fwd fitment (Ford's own 4.6L)or ultra small displacement versions (The Jag AJ V8) , etc.' The AJ V8, much like the 4.6L Ford, was the victim of a few too many compromises and the new 5.0L unit based on the same doesn't shake enough of them off.
The Lexus V8 is arguably a better comparison, but the 5.0L unit found under the hood of the ISF is arguably far less impressive than the more sedate version of the same found under the hood of the run of the mill LS460. Effectively, Toyota paid Yamaha an unknown amount of money to poke the 4.6L V8 out to 5.0L and mess with the heads and intake. For their efforts they found another thirty peak hp, lost fifteen lb-ft of torque, and ruined the 4.6L units relatively flat torque curve for their trouble.
How Yamaha manged such small gains from such a heavily reworked piece is beyond me. Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if the ISF would have been a faster car had Lexus just stuffed the LS sedans more sedate 4.6L under the hood and called it a day since the 5.0L gives up so much torque in the lower and mid rpm range. You wont impress me with either of the above 5.0L units. The fact that Lexus can manage nearly 390hp from a smaller, 4.6L V8 sedate enough to power a luxury car that could lull a hopeless insomniac into sleep says what I need to hear. A 400+hp 5.0L V8 is no stretch, even without DI.
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By the way, I am strongly resisting the urge to speculate as to what GM might do to help the Camaro duke it out with the 2011 Mustang.
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I suppose GM could throw DI at the LS series V8, but given the current cash situation and the emphasis on small cars and hybrids I don't expect any major changes to the LSX V8 engines for at least the next few years. In fact, if we see any change I would expect that the LS3 might grow AFM for the sake of CAFE and lose a few horses.