The Ford Mustang's 5.0-Liter V8 Won't Become a 4.8-Liter in 2018
There are big changes in store for the 2018 Mustang-which could gain Magneride and a 10-speed automatic, and lose the base-model V6 engine. Now, it sounds like the Mustang GT's famous 5.0-liter V8 could be replaced with a new, slightly smaller 4.8-liter to aide efficiency.
Update 4:40 p.m. ET: An R&T source inside Ford has cast heavy doubt on this ever happening. The rest of this post has been left unchanged.
Reuters first reported last month that Ford's Essex plant in Ontario would soon begin production of a new 4.8-liter V8 for the F-150, which currently offers a 5.0-liter similar to the Mustang's. Ford Authority now believes that this 4.8-liter will find its way into the 2018 Mustang and will be announced at the Detroit Auto Show next month.
Ford Authority reports that this 4.8-liter V8 will have both direct- and port-fuel injection, a system first used by Toyota on its 3.5-liter V6. By utilizing these two types of fuel injection, Ford can run a higher compression ratio, boosting fuel efficiency and horsepower without resorting to turbo- or supercharging.
Of course, it'll be sad to see the 5.0-liter name go, even if its replacement is objectively better. The 5.0-liter name was first applied to the third-generation "Fox-Body" Mustang that debuted in 1979. Because of its tuning potential, the 5.0 name became a synonym for cheap horsepower. Ford first retired the 5.0-liter V8 for the 1996 Mustang, which used a then-new 4.6-liter design, but brought it back for 2011.
The latest 5.0-liter V8, dubbed the Coyote, is a masterpiece. It produced 412 horsepower when it debuted in the 2011 Mustang GT, and now makes a heady 435 horsepower.
Enthusiasts will no doubt be sad to see the 5.0-liter dropped, but if these reports are true, Ford's 4.8-liter sounds like a sweet compromise.
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