Going to 351 CID on a sleeved 5.4L is not the safest or most durable engine. Because Ford got rid of the piston sleeves it is safer to go to 351 CID. There is nothing new about 5.8L other the displacement. All the major engine components are off of other cars. It uses a reengineered FGT block, FGT cams, and 00 Cobra R heads.
And there's nothing new about the 5.4 other than the displacement from the 4.6. You can say the 5.4 is a "reengineered 4.6 block" Or the 5.0 is a "reengineered 4.6 block". Or the 6.2 is a "reengineered 5.4 block". They're all the same exact architecture of OHC, and the only differences on the blocks are tweaks on the bore, stroke, and bore spacing to get the different displacements.
This makes no sense because 2013 is the last year of the S-197 chassis. There will most likely not be a CJ for 2014.
I've heard the rumors that 2014 the mustang gets a total revamp, but with the updates to the entire lineup for 2013's with the recent facelift, I'd also bet that the revamp won't come till 2015 at soonest. Could be calendar year 2014 since the Mustangs are out very early in terms of model years. 2013's are right around the corner from getting built and it's not even 2012 yet.
Your logic makes no sense again. Ford sent million R&Ding the 00 Cobra R and they only build 300 of those cars and then destroyed all the molds for the Cobra R specific parts within months of the last car being built. So yes Ford will just throw away money because they can.
You just said that the 2013 GT500 just uses the Cobra-R heads, now you say they destroyed all Cobra-R specific molds immediately after only building 300? Which is it? lol. The Cobra-R was just an iron block 5.4 with 32v heads on it. 90% of what made the Cobra-R the Cobra-R was the chassis/suspension/brakes/equipment. It was a factory gutted track car. The engine was impressive for it's time, but not a one-off adventure of all brand new one-off parts. It used the standard iron block 5.4. It used the same forged crank as the lightning, and it got a set of aftermarket Carrillo rods from the factory, higher compression forged pistons, and aftermarket Canton oil pan and windage tray. They massaged a set of 32v heads from the 4.6, and changed the cam profiles. Using what they had on the shelf, modifying some parts, and bam, Cobra-R engine!
Huh, look at all that, at the root of it, the 00 Cobra-R was a standard 5.4 block that Ford used in umpteen other vehicles. It just had some minor tweaks that they do all the time (the ENGINE, the Cobra-R itself had much more work done in suspension/equipment/chassis side to make it what it was). They did the same to them as they did to the 5.0, to go from a mustang 5.0 to the f150 5.0. Changed the compression, changed the cam profiles, changed the intake, but all in all the same 5.0 block. By changing a few parts on the same block, the powertrain becomes fitting for multiple vehicles. No reason at all Ford won't continue that with the 5.8 and utilize it in other vehicles now that the block is done.
1. The 5.0L, 6.2L, and Ecoboost
Did you read this? If the 4.6, 5.4, and 5.8 are a dead platform, I hate to say it to you, but the 5.0 and 6.2 are equally as endangered.
4.6: Bore 90.2mm, Stroke 90mm, Spacing 100mm
5.0: Bore 92.2mm, Stroke 92.7mm, Spacing 100mm
5.4: Bore 90.2mm, Stroke 105.8mm, Spacing 100mm
5.8: Bore 93.0mm, Stroke 105.8mm, Spacing 100mm
6.2: Bore 102.0mm, Stroke 95.0mm, Spacing 115mm
4.6/5.0/5.4/5.8/6.2 Architecture: SAME - OHC
The 5.0 is every bit as much of a mod motor as the 4.6, 5.4, 5.8, etc. The 6.2 is as well. The part where the 6.2 branches off as different from the others is the bore spacing, but all of these engines employ the same exact architecture of OHC, same exact bolting patterns, same style cross bolt mains, crank driven oil pumps, same same same. Changes to bores, strokes, and spacing is all that makes the differences in displacements. The only reason the spacing was increased on the 6.2 was to allow for the larger bore. If you want to talk about a platform being dead and a new one coming around, look at Windsor motors to Modular motors. They went from pushrod OHV to no-pushrod OHC. The entire architecture of the engine changed. The architecture of the 5.0 and 6.2 is still the same as the 4.6/5.4/5.8. They're simply different displacements, different tweaks to heads, but overall the same architecture.
As for ecoboost, that has nothing to do with the block. And little to do even with the heads for that matter. Ecoboost simply means direct injection with turbo forced induction. They already have the spots in the 5.0 heads to add DI, and they could easily add turbos to make it "ecoboost", yet the 5.0 block is nothing more than a very mildly bored & stroked 4.6. Even the heads interchange, just with some improvements to cooling passages on the new 5.0 heads. Ford could make a 4.6 or 5.4 ecoboost tomorrow if they wanted, by simply adding a port in the heads for a DI injector, and tossing a turbo or two on it.
2. The Mod Motors are 20 years old they don't have fuel economy or make the power of the new motors so why keep them around.
What are these new motors? Again the OHC architecture of the 5.0 and 6.2 are the same as the 4.6/5.4/5.8. The 6.2 doesn't get stellar mileage, but the 5.0 is doing a pretty damn good job at it getting 25 mpg in the mustangs with 412 hp and running mid 12's from the factory in the 1/4 mile. Now thats a combination of performance, fuel economy, and bang for the buck. The 6.2 could see some gains from shedding a quick 100 lbs from going aluminum block, and adding DOHC for ViVCT, which would improve mileage and performance.
Don't get me wrong, the 5.0 and 6.2 are two excellent upgrades from the 4.6 and 5.4. With the new displacements comes a handful of small tweaks, improvements, changes to the block, and small improvements on the design, making them capable of more power and better efficiency, but realistically they are just refined siblings of the same OHC engine architecture.
I also definitely think EcoBoost will be playing a larger role in the future. In it's 1st year it already accounts for 1/2 of all F-150 sales, so the potential there is huge. Just simply saying with all of this, you need to dig down into the weeds a little to see what the basis of all these motors have in common, and while on top it may seem like a brand new totally different engine, while the displacement has changed, heads have changed, and minor improvements throughout have been made, the architecture is really the same as the 4.6/5.4.
Big BlueAdministrator
