LOL I always get those two mixed up.

 

I think that the sources on this very website are more reliable than those at Car&Driver maybe we can get some input from those people. Sometimes these magazines put out these articles with no real insider info. I call BS on the whole story. IT sounds great and I hope I'm wrong (I was wrong about the 5.0) but it doesn't make sense with the current car already seeing significant change from 2010 to 2011. I say make the SVTPP, Recaros standard and be done with it.

Like others have mentioned I don't think it makes sense for Ford to modify the "dead" 5.4. I think what Ford should do if the 5.8 is the real deal is take as many tricks from the Boss program and put them into the GT500. I absolutely love the GT500 but it is kinda sad that the cheaper, less powerful Boss 302 outperforms it. I'm thinking these spy pics are for the ecoboost 5.0 we have been hearing about. Just because it is being tested in a 2011 shell doesn't mean that it's not just a mule for the next gen GT500 in 2014-15.

 

So you'd rather see a company sit on its heels instead of constantly engineering better vehicles? I don't get it. If the 5.8 is real, who knows what it might end up in down the road. What tech is associated with it? Ti-VCT? Direct Injection? We don't know yet. To say it's "old" is ill-informed at best. Because it shares an ancestor in the 5.4 motor doesn't make it old. IIRC, the new 5.0 is an evolution of some 4.6 design, does that make it bad?

 

Hold on a sec! I am not faulting Ford for doing this if it is true! I just personally think it is unlikely to use the old 5.4 as a basis of this new motor (Car&Driver may be wrong about it). I spoke to a Ford engineer years ago when the 05-06 Mustangs were first hitting production and I asked him "Why doesn't Ford just stick the 03-04 Cobra motor in the 05-06 cars to make a Cobra to hold us off before the GT500 could be available in model year 2007" His response was that Ford considered the DOHC 4.6 a "dead motor" meaning that is was no longer worth building in the assembly plants because they has switched over to a new engine program.

I just find it weird that so many insiders have talked about a 5.0 ecoboost and now we are possibly getting a blown 5.8. This past month's Muscle Mustangs and Fast Fords compared the current 5.4 with the 5.0 in the GT and they concluded that the 5.0 is a better starting point to modify. Perhaps as you said Ford is putting a lot of the new tech from the 5.0 into the 5.8... not saying it's a bad thing I just don't expect it to happen.

 

What??? The first thing is the recaros do not match up with the rear seat and looks lame. The recaro's work with the seat delete but that's it. Dead 330 WTH are you talking about and the 302 out performing it, sorry again WTH are you talking about.

 

Sorry the new 5.0 does NOT make a good starting point for mods. The 5.0 11.0 compression bad for blowing. 5.4 8.4 compression good for blowing.

 

What I mean by the 330 being dead is that it is a motor that Ford plans on replacing soon, not saying anything bad about it. I haven't even seen the recaros in person yet, I didn't even know that the 2012 GT500s even hit the streets yet so I can't quote on it's looks, but the current GT500 seats could use more bolstering IMO. EVOs and STIs have Recaro and i'm fine with the way they match the back seat. The Ti-VCT also gives the 5.0 better mid range power, probably the reason why a 2011 GT gets the same 1/4 times as a 2007-09 GT500 despite the huge power gap.

The road tests I have seen have the Boss 302 either matching or outperforming the GT500 in handling and 1/4 while giving up a lot of power to the GT500. I think it is purely due to how hard the GT500 is to launch. The 2011 GT500 is a huge step forward from the 2007 model but it's still a difficult car to get the most out of.

Thats "WTH" i'm talking about

 

Just a thought going along with that... they did roll out the 6.2 along with the other new engines.

Maybe it would make more sense to use that block rather than push out the 5.4. Throw different heads & cams and a blower on the 6.2 block and Ford is getting more payback on their 6.2 engineering.

 

That would be a step back really. The 6.2 is very heavy, and weight is why they went to the aluminum 5.4. I don't see them making an aluminum 6.2 for a one year run of a specialty vehicle when the trend is moving toward smaller, more efficient engines.

 

Gotcha - didn't know the 6.2 was cast iron... I would have thought all the new engines were alum.

 

The only way a GT or Boss hangs with a 500 is driver experience in that vehicle. I can almost guarantee that any owner of a 500 that's driven that vehicle for months, know how to put the power down. Of course with that much torque, traction is a problem, but easily remedied for a few hundred dollars. These road test you see are unreliable IMO.

 

How can these road tests be unreliable if the same people are driving both cars. In some examples they are having experts drive these cars that I'm sure can drive better than you and me combined! The car with the most power does not always perform better. Ford developed the new Boss 302 to be the best overall performing Mustang ever, the suspension and engine are tuned with that in mind. This is not just one magazine, pretty much every publication I have seen has the Boss equaling or pretty darn close to matching a GT500 in overall performance. Granted the Boss is heavier than a standard GT yet it does still weigh less than the GT500 and it is easier to drive because of the mid range power the 5.0 puts out. The best numbers I have seen by any magazine is Motor Trend the Boss does 12.3 while the GT500 does 12.4. That admittedly is a drivers race but in a road course the boss will walk away from the GT500. Because of the staring point of those cars having such high HP the HP becomes less important.

Keep in mind that the GT and GT500 are closer than ever in overall performance, the Boss only adds to an already great base V8 model.

 

Ford can easily change compression on the current 5.0 and make it stronger for boosted power (see the 2003-04 SVT Cobra 4.6L)

 

Keep reading your magazines.

 

Don't take my word for it go to the local drag strips I see less powerful 5.0s smoking 2007-09 GT500s all day and nipping at the heels of the 2010-11 GT500s. What is power if you can't get it to the ground?


BTW 2003-04 Cobras have the same problem as the GT500s but i'm willing to accept that

 

On street tires probably, Like I said simple fix

 

blah blah blah......

 

I'm not so sure about that. Walk away from it? It might be a dead heat with a 2010 GT500, but have you seen the road course numbers the 2011 PP cars are putting down? They're no slouch.

 

a) GT500 production is pretty low and has little effect on corprate average fuel economy - Ford will see more than enough DSG equipped A class econo cars to cover it, and b) The car is an outlier, it has the ability to defy those trends simply because it is a GT500 (or Cobra if you prefer), people are going to be more fixated on "its got 600+hp" rather than "if only Ford would have managed to get that power out of an ecoboost V6", and c) Displacement + boost = fewer warranty problems.

 

All I'm saying is if this motor is out for 2013 I have a feeling it is going to be around for a while. If this is what we get I doubt the TT 5.0 is a reality I think it's either a TT 5.0 or the 5.8 Car&Driver is talking about.

From what we have seen from the SHO Ford can probably make a 600 HP ECOBoost V8 and still avoid a gas guzzler tax. Isn't the SHO supposed to be upgraded to 400HP this year with the same MPG numbers? Ford has made it clear that Eco boost is the future of Ford in 4, V6, V8 applications. Either way I hope this new GT500 causes 2011-12 GT500 values to plummet so I can grab one second hand for a good price!