jmy2469

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/10/01/2...-coyote-v8-or/

Lancer

That would be one slick car. I'd love to see it happen.

remz857

I love it

rhumb

My guess, an AL block 5.4 in 2011 as a stop gap measure then the TT 5.0 in 2012. Power similar to the 5.4 with perhaps a broader, deeper torque curve but much lighter and more efficient. Bottom line, a faster accelerating but much better handling and braking GT500 that'll also get better mileage and spew less noxious effluvia into the air.

Boomer

Can't see it happening that soon... like only offering the AL block 5.4 for one year.
I can see maybe the next version or so if it happens, but not the current one.

jsaylor

No doubt, if the GT500 lives on long term I'm sure the 5.4L will be replaced, but at the moment an aluminum block 5.4L with an Eaton TVS or even a twin screw attached easily has the capability to run in the 600-700hp range in production trim while shedding serious weight off the nose. Truth is, when we start talking about engines that could genuinely throw out ZR1 levels of power without breaking a sweat the platform probably deserves some upgrades before we start looking at going the full on, thermo-nuclear reactor route. If it were up to me, I would rather see Ford focus more on giving us the on-again, off-again plug and play IRS, implementing more weight saving materials, and further refinement of the suspension. Don't get me wrong, I would love to see a twin turbo 5.0L V8 sooner than later, but if I have to choose...and realistically Ford does to an extent.....in the near term I would prefer that Ford focus any further efforts elsewhere first.

Eights

jsaylor's immediately preceding post is sage as ever!

As a lark, I wish Ford would run some aluminum sheets (instead of steel sheetmetal) through the Mustang body stamping machinery and create 5-8 aluminum-bodied Mustangs. Crash test 2-3 of them just to see how they'd compare impact-wise to a same-thickness steel sheetmetal Mustang. Build complete Mustang GTs out of the rest and compare their weights, braking, handling, acceleration, economy, torsional rigidity, yada yada yada just to have a baseline of performance data for reference. It might be quite enlightening!

I know engineers claim such info can be gained through computer simulation, but I think it would be worth doing even if the steel sheetmetal spotwelds had to be replaced with heli-arcing by hand. For one thing, if this aluminum Mustang was completely destroyed by a 35 MPH frontal crash, it probably means aluminum is clearly not the hot tip for lightening cars and engineers should start looking at carbon fiber for any serious weight reduction. If that frontal crash caused damages only mildly more severe than would have occurred to a steel sheetmetal Mustang, then somewhat thicker aluminum sheeting used here and there might yield equivalent results to steel sheetmetal and thus would be worth spending some research bucks on the use of aluminum in future Fords.

Many years ago, Ford built some Tauruses out of carbon fiber which saved hundreds of pounds even though the panels were just duplicates of the stock sheetmetal--no one re-engineered them to take advantage of carbon fiber's other unique properties. I dunno what was ever resolved because I never read anything about it again. Post what you know about this if you know it...

Meanwhile, someone needs to approve the Aston-Martin V12s (Since Aston ain't part of Ford anymore, who cares what protests Aston may make?) for use in Mustangs (in which that beautiful as well as short and narrow 6.0 V12 is a simple drop-in into the Mustang's engine compartment!) and perhaps the transmissions that go with it--Ooooooooooohhhhhhh yes!

Greg "Eights" Ates

SteelTownStang

I doubt it... maybe 2014... maybe