GT500's Future?

[Madlock]

With Ford Australia's FPV (Aussie SVT) taking the wrapper off the new Falcon GT and GS lines, the future direction for the GT500 (or its successor placeholder) may be coming more clearly into view - and as more than one auto-related source has noted it may all be based around the Coyote 5.0 V8.

 

http://www.examiner.com/autos-in-detroit/ford-australia-unveils-new-supercharged-5-0l-v8-boss-335

 

What's most remarkable isn't that Ford Australia has adopted the Coyote V8 for its own vehicles or even that the supercharged variants FPV will be putting in the Falcon GS and GT are so modestly-tuned by comparison (423 and 450hp). These are BOSS 302 numbers. It's why Ford wouldn't combine what's already available in the form of BOSS enhancements and supercharging to the Coyote core to offer a fully-credible 5.0-based GT500 successor. Even without raising the roof on horsepower to the same extent as the FR Coyote kits allow within the U.S., the Aussies are apparently more than willing to supercharge the Coyote, even modestly, for the sake of the benefit to the torque curve, even at relatively modest horsepower levels by comparison.

 

Yes, the Ford Racing supercharger enhancement for the 5.4 L V8 rests at 750hp, and moving to the GT500 to a Coyote derivative would lower the theoretical OEM tuning potential to 625 in terms of overall potential based upon what exists today (in strictly FR terms). But, making the 525hp supercharged Coyote the core of the next GT500, would allow Ford to support a single engine core across GT and GT500 (with improvements to the 525hp sure to come), and even allowing for a boutique product to sit atop GT500 to to either go directly against Z28 or supersede it powered by a future derivative of the aluminum 5.4 L (or even the 6.2 L truck engine) for which Ford could more fully-leverage its brand equity by charging appropriately.

 

Given the fact that only a relatively small percentage of GT500 owners actually go as far as to take their vehicles to the 750hp level, even if it were 1 in 5, supporting the entire 5.4 line on the backs of 1,000-1,500 customers each years seems like a poor business decision compared to the economies of scale it could derive from a single 5.0 core across GT and GT500, and finally the kind of trade-off that's actually WORTH making from a business perspective. All of this is made possible by the kind of huge investment Ford was willing to bet its own future to develop beginning back in 2006 (when Bill Ford realized saving itself was Ford's own responsibility rather than the government's - or the taxpayers').

 

Personally, I'd have no qualms whatsoever about owning a Coyote-powered GT500 successor whatsoever, not just because I believe the Coyote to be SO good - but because I believe it's only begun to tap its full - and not even close to being fully-realized - potential, and because it happens to be one of Ford's more revolutionary achievements during its great reinvention, like EcoBoost and its commitment to in-vehicle technologies.

 

I'd have actually loved to get my hands on one of those wonderful Australian Falcon's long ago.

[OneDay...]

Good writeup man. I would definitely enjoy one of Fords new supercharged 5.0s!

[Madlock]

Good writeup man. I would definitely enjoy one of Fords new supercharged 5.0s!

 

 

Thanks. So would I. And I doubt I'm the far from the only new GT500 owner to whom the most part about choosing GT500 is how bloody phenomenal the baseline 5.0 happens to be - regardless of the 5.0's far better overall value proposition. The fact of the matter is that there's very little that can't be done to a baseline GT using FR packs and parts to make the difference between it and a stock GT500 virtually indistinguishable.

 

At the end of the day, the GT500 buyer pays for two things - brand appeal and a factory-tested, built and warrantied product. Don't get me wrong, I chose the GT500 - but I did so knowing I'm not getting the full measure of $18,000-$20,000 more power, handling, or overall quality. And kudos to Ford and Shelby for continuing to make the GT500 an attractive product despite raising the GT baseline SO high. I've loved the old adage "there's no replacement for displacement", but everything Ford has done in creating the 5.0 Coyote goes to show displacement has become only one of many parts of the debate.

 

What's also so terrific about Ford Australia (and mark my words) is that it will be the origin of the world-class "driver's" car (the proverbial M3 killer) Lincoln so desperately needs. And because chassis and powertrain development and and refinement can occur under the banner of Ford Falcon in Australia, it can arrive in North America as a fully-mature vehicle in full Lincoln guise without subjecting the Lincoln brand to further fits and starts of "not quite there" products it needs to avoid as desperately as it needs to create the one or two vehicles that will be a credible Blue Oval luxury vehicle. EcoBoost is certainly part of that equation, but imagine a MKS or MKZ successor with the Coyote power and the kind of rear-wheel drive handling dynamics Ford Australia is capable of developing.

 

The best news is that the more Coyote becomes intertwined throughout Ford's DNA, the more Ford will invest in improvements and refining it, creating economies of scale that can benefit all products it touches, whether it be with respect to performance and economy, or development capital that can be reinvested in interior, chassis, or NVH refinements. At that point, supporting an additional engine JUST for the purpose of giving a GT500 product (or its successor) meaningful differentiation no longer seems relevant (or necessary) when Ford can keep all of those dollars in-house and/or reinvest them in improving handling and other aspects of Mustang even further.

 

Maybe I'm wrong, but I think this will prove to be a point of critical mass for FoMoCo and Mustang (no matter what the GT500 may be called).

[Whammer]

I'm not mechanical genius but the question surrounding the 5.0 seems to be how long it will last under SC boost. The stock engine is an 11:1 compression ratio, adding SC boost to that might be more than the engine can handle.

It's one thing to boost a race car, engine life is not really a concern. But Ford's powertrain warranty is for 100k miles (or something like that), so putting a SC on the 5.0 might make it impossible for Ford to do. Those who are adding a SC to their 5.0 GT's might prove to be test dummies.

OTOH the 5.4 seems almost bulletproof.

[Five Oh B]

I'm not mechanical genius but the question surrounding the 5.0 seems to be how long it will last under SC boost. The stock engine is an 11:1 compression ratio, adding SC boost to that might be more than the engine can handle.

It's one thing to boost a race car, engine life is not really a concern. But Ford's powertrain warranty is for 100k miles (or something like that), so putting a SC on the 5.0 might make it impossible for Ford to do. Those who are adding a SC to their 5.0 GT's might prove to be test dummies.

OTOH the 5.4 seems almost bulletproof.

 

 

Ford's powertrain warranty is 5 yrs / 60K miles. While the 5.0L has 11:1 compression, that just means you can use less boost to achieve the same cylinder pressure and power levels as a lower compression starting point. With the new oil squirters under its pistons, good tuning, and forged internals, an 11:1 motor can survive long-term with reasonable boost.