Just a little tid bit i noticed in march's Motor Trend. They're talking about future lincolns. First of all, the next LS will be based on the 500 platform with the Yamaha V8 (the one in the XC90) putting out 311 hp or something like that. Transverse mounted, but powering an AWD system that is rear-biased for "sporty handling".

Then they say the next Town Car will also be based on the same platform, albeit and stretched and widened version of it (no more body on frame lincolns...). They say its supposed to get a 3-valve triton 4.6 L, but also say that that engine should get bumped up to 5.0 litres by the time this car goes on sale in 2009. They also say they wanna ditch the Town Car name, bringing back the Continental nameplate. I think that's a good call, its got more prestige to it.

 

Why Yamaha? What's wrong with Lincoln engines?

 

I guess they've already spent the time and money on fitting the yamaha into that platform.

 

Nothing's "wrong" with Lincoln engines. Quite the contrary. I'm a little surprised F/L/M would promote the Yamaha engines after the 96-99 V8 SHO cam problems. Apparently that 3.4 is similar in design to the Lincoln LS 3.9 V8, but the Linc engine doesn't have the 3.4's problems.

Don't confuse it with the earlier V6 3.0/3.2 SHO Yamaha engines...they were darn near bullet proof, assuming someone didn't try shifting the 5spd version at 10K RPMs! I still think it's one of the prettiest engines ever made.

 

Just to make sure its clear. The Yamaha V8 going into the LS is the 4.4 litre engine that just went into the Volvo XC90 suv. It gets 311hp at 5850 rpm and 325 lb-ft at 3900 rpm.

This 5.0 V8 sounds very interesting. Hopefully that would go into the Crown Vic/Grand Marquis replacements as well. I really wonder when we're gonna hear more concrete news about those cars.

 

Nothing's "wrong" with Lincoln engines. Quite the contrary. I'm a little surprised F/L/M would promote the Yamaha engines after the 96-99 V8 SHO cam problems. Apparently that 3.4 is similar in design to the Lincoln LS 3.9 V8, but the Linc engine doesn't have the 3.4's problems.

Don't confuse it with the earlier V6 3.0/3.2 SHO Yamaha engines...they were darn near bullet proof, assuming someone didn't try shifting the 5spd version at 10K RPMs! I still think it's one of the prettiest engines ever made.
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They may be similar in design, but they aren' related in any way. The 3.9L is a Jaguar-based design. Supposedly, they've fixed the cam issue in the 4.4L engine. As someone said already, they've already engineered it's use in the Haldex AWD system so it's a pretty easy drop-in for the 500-based Lincoln.

You're absolutely right about V6 Yamaha engines. I shoud know (see my sig).

 

The new Yahama in the XC90 also meets ULEV II standards, which I think is pretty cool.

 

hey that's darn cool, thanks for pointing that out, notch

 

Well, remember, this V8 is still a Ford piece. The "Yamaha" V8's are actually Duratec's with an extra pair of cylinders. As for the cam issue, that was only because the lobes were pressed, even in the 3.4L SHO this is fixable by having the cams welded. So that should be a total non-issue on the new 4.4L mill.

 

Awhile back I read an article about the Volvo V8 and it said tghat while the origins of the V8 go back to the SHO engine, it's been reworked and improved so much that it's hardly any similarities left. No parts will even interchange between them.