Phasing out

[B-52 Jetman]

I don't see Ford ever losing the V8 or making it smaller displacement for that matter. The 302, like the Mustang has too much heritage, history and is an American icon. They already made the smaller displacement mistake with the 4.6, which IMHO was a POS...mediocre power, weak connecting rods, stupid plug design & so on. I think Ford learned their lesson in that regard.

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[wildsailor]

I don't see Ford ever losing the V8 or making it smaller displacement for that matter. The 302, like the Mustang has too much heritage, history and is an American icon. They already made the smaller displacement mistake with the 4.6, which IMHO was a POS...mediocre power, weak connecting rods, stupid plug design & so on. I think Ford learned their lesson in that regard.

Unfortunately, the CAFE requirements for 2025 (only 10 years off!) are 54.5 MPG corporate average including all cars and light trucks combined. The S550 V6 has an average of 21, the V8 19, and the I4 26...all huge drags on the CAFE. Even the Hybrid CMax and Fusion do not achieve this average. I forsee all cars going electric by that time frame (the electric Focus gets 99 MPG average) to cover the fuel economy of the light trucks. If not totally electric they will be hybrids of some sort.

Let's hope the change in political climate for 2016 sees a loosening of the EPA CAFE regulations so we can keep a large part of our hobby!

 

[Strokerswild]

If the F150 didn't exist, the possibility that the Mustang would still have the 5.0 is unlikely. It costs far too much these days to engineer and certify a completely bespoke powerplant if you can't amortize the cost across a couple of volume product lines. Mustang GT production volume isn't all that high by itself.

It will be interesting to see what the future holds. Engines will continue to get smaller and use more forced induction and direct injection to hit fuel economy and emissions targets, not to mention be able to effectively tote around all the convenience and safety bloat.

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

Unfortunately, the CAFE requirements for 2025 (only 10 years off!) are 54.5 MPG corporate average including all cars and light trucks combined. The S550 V6 has an average of 21, the V8 19, and the I4 26...all huge drags on the CAFE. Even the Hybrid CMax and Fusion do not achieve this average. I forsee all cars going electric by that time frame (the electric Focus gets 99 MPG average) to cover the fuel economy of the light trucks. If not totally electric they will be hybrids of some sort.

Let's hope the change in political climate for 2016 sees a loosening of the EPA CAFE regulations so we can keep a large part of our hobby!

CAFE is only a small part of the issue. Ford -- like all other manufacturers -- is committed to selling its products globally. Every market except the U.S. and China is subject to the Kyoto protocol's restriction on CO2 emissions and taxes vehicles based on CO2. Lots of countries tax vehicles based on engine displacement, which is why you're seeing a lot of 3955 cc V8's, since engines over 4.0 litres are prohibitively expensive in a lot of markets.

Completely ignoring the CAFE requirements, large naturally aspirated non-hybridized engines are simply not marketable over the long term.

 

[B-52 Jetman]

Unfortunately, the CAFE requirements for 2025 (only 10 years off!) are 54.5 MPG corporate average including all cars and light trucks combined. The S550 V6 has an average of 21, the V8 19, and the I4 26...all huge drags on the CAFE. Even the Hybrid CMax and Fusion do not achieve this average. I forsee all cars going electric by that time frame (the electric Focus gets 99 MPG average) to cover the fuel economy of the light trucks. If not totally electric they will be hybrids of some sort.

Let's hope the change in political climate for 2016 sees a loosening of the EPA CAFE regulations so we can keep a large part of our hobby!

If that's the case, the whole Ecoboost vs V6 vs V8 is mute point...

 

[EngineerDave]

Heck they could stick a factory blower on the V8 and increase the fuel efficiency by 10% judging from the numbers I'm seeing from Procharger users, which would give it more power. That'll keep the V8's in the mustang for at least 10 years, assuming engine progress continues. Give her more aluminium + FI and you can probably average better than 30mpg highway.

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