Camaro didn't "Always have tons more horsepower" until Ford downsized the engines and Chevy upsized the engines. When the playing field was level with 5 liter V-8s, Ford owned the street (with the exception of the Grand Nationals and the later Corvettes). The 5 liter Mustangs could stay right with the 350 engined Camaros and Trans Ams of that time. Ford went to the more "technologically advanced" smaller 4.6 engine while Chevy was making their refinements steadily on the 350 after dropping their weak 305 out of the picture. Obviously their move was great and Ford's was questionable especially in the first couple years. Those first 4.6 engines had no *alls at all. I had one. I almost got dusted by a Nissan Maxima. I sold that car and bought a Cobra shortly after that.

 

I didnt say the TT V6 couldn't.......I'm saying that Ford wouldn't.

 

True. But that said, in the real world, the Mustang's performance is still in the upper echelons of sport coupes, equalling or bettering cars costing thousands more...and blowing away everyone else for the same money.

The new Challenger - for all its 425 HP Hemi might - still won't be faster, 0-60. So other factors must always be "weighed" into the overall equation.

 

Good point Hollywood, Ford with the Mustang has found the sweet spot in terms of looks, performance and price for alot of people. Something your average Camaro guy just cant wrap thier type A minds around.

 

I'm with you here V10. For all of the loyalty surrounding the V8 it will take a serious advancement over the existing 4.6L V8 for any practical, reasonably priced V8 Mustang not to be overshadowed by the smaller, turbocharged engines companies like Ford and BMW are developing and debuting as we speak.

The rumored 400hp, 5.0L V8 could be that engine, if the power figures hold up and if fuel economy is as good as the newest crop of DI V8's from other major players in the auto industry. The 3.5L would still make superior low end torque compared to the V8, and fuel economy would likely be at least a little better too; but the greater hp of the 5.0L V8 would certainly (or is that hopefully?) make up for the difference in low end torque, and the fact that a 5.0L V8 is..well...a V8 would likely convince more than a few to turn a blind eye toward the 3.5L's potentially better fuel economy.

In a perfect world I would still like to see both make the Mustang cut.

 

Give that 5.0 400hp V8 enough gears to play with and it would eclipse that torquey little V6.

Then again I fail to understand why Ford can't apply the same operation strategy and configuration to a V8 of larger displacment. I dont see where doing the same to a V8 would create some sort of exponential increase in cost (or exponential reduction in effciency and increase in consumption). Especially if Ford were to design increased commonality in their engines.

Given the OHC engines Ford is now partial to producing I could see a 2.3 - 3.5 - 4.6 engine familly that could share alot of parts all of them ecotech

 

I agree, the door is open for both the turbo V6 and a 5.0 NA V8.

If the next gen Mustang gets a 265 HP, 3.5L V6 as it's base engine and a 400 HP 5.0 V8, that leaves a huge 135 HP gap between the base V6 and the 5.0. That opens the door for a 340 HP Turbo V6. Plenty of HP for most Mustang customers while having a far more positive effect on Ford's CAFE # than another version of the 4.6 V8 will.

Besides the CAFE impact, I do not believe that a 4 cam / 4V engine will cut it as the Mustang GT engine as it will be too costly to manufacture. That means the high HP 5.0 will be in a more expensive model positioned above the GT which would seem to indicate the next GT gets a rehashed 4.6 or the turbo 3.5.

 

Well I really HOPE it happens! I guess we will all just have to WAIT and see!