Not usable legally on normal roads. Why even get a 420 HP car, heck why even get a 300 HP one.

 

One word - STYLE.

 

I hear ya. I would've been perfectly happy with a 2010 GT with Glass Roof, but it didn't happen that way. I'm much happier now but I digress - if the 2015 was available with Glass Roof, I would've waited, but solely for that, not for 20hp increase. That's only a tune away for me anyways. I love the 2015 interior, exterior I'm ehhhh still undecided. But you're right, the 2015 "base" is not as base as it was on this generation.

 

I hope the '15 is 450 HP and would like to see what a tune will get that to. One of these days those I will be able to get a FI kit for it and I think I will be happy then

 

I'm already saving for my Kenne Bell too. It would be nice to see 450hp stock, but I don't think so. I've been saying 430/400 all along. That's my guess.

 

I saw an article a week ago that quoted a Ford inside source who said the 2.3L Ecoboost is going to be close to 350hp. If that is the case I would think the 5.0 would at least be 450hp to keep enough separation in the lineup. But again it's on the internet

I would like the Hellion Twin Turbo setup or a Kenne Bell. But that is lots o' cash so it would be awhile

 

Exactly on the last part. I don't think the 2.3 will be rated 350 from the factory, but that's just my hunch. It's only rated 275 in the MKC. It's not being marketed as a performance model, a la SVO. It's being marketed as an Eco/Sport alternative to the V6, and will eventually become the base model. I'm guessing 325/300 for the 2.3 "rated" stock. Now it might be underrated, but I'm guessing that to be Ford's rating.

 

Even so, and it's totally possible that it could hit those numbers. 100 hp isn't needed to separate them. 80 more hp would still be more than substantial to justify the two.

I've seen so many react as if the 2015 5.0 is a whole new motor. What they should keep in mind is that there are only a few differences, and 90% of the differences are durability related. From there, the new cams, which are almost identical to the boss cams, will add minimal hp as we've seen with aftermarket cam upgrades already. The new heads are similar to the boss and the manifold is "revised" but still uses long runners. Which means that it will not be peaky in power. Tune wise, the FRPP pushes things as far as possible while still being legal and reliable enough for warranty. And it adds what? 11whp (16 crank) to the stock 5.0. Even then, without 93 octane and or an oil separator, people ping. So there is no way the factory tune will be even that aggressive.

With this said, I have no idea where people legitimately think the motor will have 450+hp. Since we know the manifold will produce less top end than the boss manifold (which is fact based on their physical designs). To hit even 444 would mean that the cams and heads have to produce significantly more top end power than the boss's even though they are pretty much the same specs. This I feel is VERY unlikely boarding impossible given what we know.

Since the short boss intake runners is what took tq before but added peak hp. We can assume the revised manifold and cams will add tq.

Which puts us at 430-435/400-405 hp/tq respectively. So to echo others. A big jump in power would indeed kill current sales. But since I don't believe this is the case, there is something else in play.