I love pushrods but that isn't really the only answer. It's the displacement. Imagine if Ford even went with the 5.4l block of the triton, or the 5.8l block from the trinity, as a basis.
Pushrods allow you to have more displacement for the same engine size though, that's why they're so competitive. I find those engines mega boring though, like sure in a truck that's exactly what you want, but for a sports car? Meh
Right, but Ford could have made the coyote bigger, is my point. Both the 5.4l and 5.8l were in a Mustang, and supercharged. We know they fit. Just think about all the research and design that went into getting the coyote it's numbers, but with a 5.8l displacement. That engine would be absolutely nutty.
I get that. I think the 5.0L was a point of pride for Ford given it's history though, so it makes sense they focused on that. I know the mod motor platform that the Coyote is based on also has a weird bore spacing that makes things difficult for the engineers, although I forget exactly what is involved in that since it's from an article I read ages ago.
The real reason isn't as cool. One of the constraints, that made coyote possible, was that it had to use the same factory lines and tooling as the 4.6l to cut down on costs. That I get. What I don't get is why that couldn't have been done with the 5.4l as well.
You're correct, but there are a lot of architecture issues which produces the tendency of pushrod engines to be lower revving. Keep in mind, the OP wanted torque at 2000 rpm. That's barely off idle. It takes long intake runners, small port cross-sections & volumes, reduced valve area, high cyl. pressure cam grinds with lots of intake advance and little crossover. These are all what's needed for low rpm truck engines, as you say. A 4 cam/4 valve engine with these attributes would be absurd, as is the request.
