TTAC - Ford 5.0 Likely to Recieve Direct Injection
08-31-2010, 02:41 PM
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TTAC - Ford 5.0 Likely to Recieve Direct Injection Do Not Buy A 2011 Mustang 5.0
By Sajeev Mehta on August 31, 2010
What you see above is the cutaway of the Ford 5.0L mill, taken from the 2010 New York Auto Show. Formerly known as the Coyote V8, the 5.0-packed 2011 Mustang GT hit the showroom floors, winning rave reviews with every journalist lucky enough to get their hands on one.
While blogging for TTAC at the New York Auto Show, I hit up the Five-Oh engine displays at the Ford booth. It was a thoroughly technical and suitably beautiful exhibit. Only problem was, it gave away a secret that nobody should know. Camera in hand, I did the deed: a picture tells a thousand words, but this TTAC Editorial still needs about 800 words to go with.
Take a gander at the 5.0’s combustion chamber, highlighted in red. It’s a strange little bump. And nothing more, right? Sure, unless you read between the (casting) lines: its proof that the 5.0 Mustang shall receive a significant improvement in the near future. Yes, Dearborn’s got a trick up its sleeve: direct injection.
I spoke with one of the well-versed product specialists, a booth babe in true TTAC style, aside from the fact that he was most certainly not a “she.” No, I never asked if he came with the car, but I did challenge him to explain the 5.0’s tempting cylinder head design. And while he never said anything quotable, the look on his face was picture perfect: if I told you, I’d have to kill you.
Typical auto show banter between savvy product specialists and bored car hacks? Perhaps. But the fact remains, nobody should buy a Mustang GT until that casting bump turns into a hole for a fuel injector. But what’s the big deal?
Direct fuel injection, as opposed to (intake) port fuel injection, is the latest technology in the advancement of the internal combustion engine. It’s one of many advancements that proves the piston engine gets better with age, and beats the dubious “Moore’s Law” argument of Tesla fans. And the proof is already on the street: owners of late model diesels, EcoBoost Fords several GM products like the Cadillac CTS already know the drill: direct injection gives more power, more economy and lower emissions with zero changes to the driving experience. It is the textbook definition of having your cake and eating it too.
Geek Alert! Let’s get detailed: a port fuel injection vehicle has the fuel injector placed in the intake manifold, usually at the end of the runner, behind the intake valve. Direct Injection places the injector in the red circle from the picture above: so there’s no more mixing of air and fuel in the intake. The benefit is simple: injecting the fuel at a very high pressure (2000psi, compared to 10-60 psi) directly into the combustion chamber produces a cooling charge. Much to the joy of mechanical engineers everywhere, “cold” fuel gets shot into a hot combustion chamber: Thermodynamics wins. This helps reduce engine knock, so higher ignition timing and/or compression ratios can be implemented. Just like sane doses of Nitrous Oxide on a motor, the extra cooling charge afforded by Direct Injection is a huge win by itself.
The doubters might mention the Jaguar XF makes “only” 385 horses with its direct injected 5.0L mill, which is less than the current Mustang’s 412 ponies. But both 5.0s come from different engine families. And when you consider the Jag’s power bump from port to direct injection, the improvement is real.
Even if my theory is correct, there’s no guarantee that the direct injected Mustang shall be any more powerful than the current model. Ford can pull a fast one: de-tuning the direct injected 5.0 for a multitude of reasons. Thanks to drive-by-wire and traction control nannies, the direct injected 5.0 can easily give 80% of a day’s work and nobody will notice. Considering damn near every vehicle today has power robbing torque management built into its DNA, why would Ford up the Mustang to its full potential?
Go back to 1986: the year that port fuel injection (@200hp/285tq) took the 5.0’s game to refined places the Holley four-barrel (@210hp/270tq) of 1985 couldn’t even imagine. Torque went up, but the 1986 Mustang lost 5% in peak horsepower. Cue the modestly-redesigned 1987 Mustang: a quickie head swap to ye olde F-150 parts turned the Mustang’s EFI 5.0 (@225hp/300tq) into the real deal. That’s a healthy 7 and 11% increase in hp/tq over 1985’s tried and true Holley carburetor. All of which signaled the end to our fascination with glorified toilet bowls on engines. For the better!
Imagine if the direct injected 5.0 pulls a “1987” on us: the 412hp/390tq we see today will be nothing compared to the 441hp/433tq of our near future. It’s entirely possible. But will history repeat itself? Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
By Sajeev Mehta on August 31, 2010
What you see above is the cutaway of the Ford 5.0L mill, taken from the 2010 New York Auto Show. Formerly known as the Coyote V8, the 5.0-packed 2011 Mustang GT hit the showroom floors, winning rave reviews with every journalist lucky enough to get their hands on one.
While blogging for TTAC at the New York Auto Show, I hit up the Five-Oh engine displays at the Ford booth. It was a thoroughly technical and suitably beautiful exhibit. Only problem was, it gave away a secret that nobody should know. Camera in hand, I did the deed: a picture tells a thousand words, but this TTAC Editorial still needs about 800 words to go with.
Take a gander at the 5.0’s combustion chamber, highlighted in red. It’s a strange little bump. And nothing more, right? Sure, unless you read between the (casting) lines: its proof that the 5.0 Mustang shall receive a significant improvement in the near future. Yes, Dearborn’s got a trick up its sleeve: direct injection.
I spoke with one of the well-versed product specialists, a booth babe in true TTAC style, aside from the fact that he was most certainly not a “she.” No, I never asked if he came with the car, but I did challenge him to explain the 5.0’s tempting cylinder head design. And while he never said anything quotable, the look on his face was picture perfect: if I told you, I’d have to kill you.
Typical auto show banter between savvy product specialists and bored car hacks? Perhaps. But the fact remains, nobody should buy a Mustang GT until that casting bump turns into a hole for a fuel injector. But what’s the big deal?
Direct fuel injection, as opposed to (intake) port fuel injection, is the latest technology in the advancement of the internal combustion engine. It’s one of many advancements that proves the piston engine gets better with age, and beats the dubious “Moore’s Law” argument of Tesla fans. And the proof is already on the street: owners of late model diesels, EcoBoost Fords several GM products like the Cadillac CTS already know the drill: direct injection gives more power, more economy and lower emissions with zero changes to the driving experience. It is the textbook definition of having your cake and eating it too.
Geek Alert! Let’s get detailed: a port fuel injection vehicle has the fuel injector placed in the intake manifold, usually at the end of the runner, behind the intake valve. Direct Injection places the injector in the red circle from the picture above: so there’s no more mixing of air and fuel in the intake. The benefit is simple: injecting the fuel at a very high pressure (2000psi, compared to 10-60 psi) directly into the combustion chamber produces a cooling charge. Much to the joy of mechanical engineers everywhere, “cold” fuel gets shot into a hot combustion chamber: Thermodynamics wins. This helps reduce engine knock, so higher ignition timing and/or compression ratios can be implemented. Just like sane doses of Nitrous Oxide on a motor, the extra cooling charge afforded by Direct Injection is a huge win by itself.
The doubters might mention the Jaguar XF makes “only” 385 horses with its direct injected 5.0L mill, which is less than the current Mustang’s 412 ponies. But both 5.0s come from different engine families. And when you consider the Jag’s power bump from port to direct injection, the improvement is real.
Even if my theory is correct, there’s no guarantee that the direct injected Mustang shall be any more powerful than the current model. Ford can pull a fast one: de-tuning the direct injected 5.0 for a multitude of reasons. Thanks to drive-by-wire and traction control nannies, the direct injected 5.0 can easily give 80% of a day’s work and nobody will notice. Considering damn near every vehicle today has power robbing torque management built into its DNA, why would Ford up the Mustang to its full potential?
Go back to 1986: the year that port fuel injection (@200hp/285tq) took the 5.0’s game to refined places the Holley four-barrel (@210hp/270tq) of 1985 couldn’t even imagine. Torque went up, but the 1986 Mustang lost 5% in peak horsepower. Cue the modestly-redesigned 1987 Mustang: a quickie head swap to ye olde F-150 parts turned the Mustang’s EFI 5.0 (@225hp/300tq) into the real deal. That’s a healthy 7 and 11% increase in hp/tq over 1985’s tried and true Holley carburetor. All of which signaled the end to our fascination with glorified toilet bowls on engines. For the better!
Imagine if the direct injected 5.0 pulls a “1987” on us: the 412hp/390tq we see today will be nothing compared to the 441hp/433tq of our near future. It’s entirely possible. But will history repeat itself? Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
08-31-2010, 04:09 PM
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Not really big news. Word about Ford giving the 5.0 the DI treatment has been around since before the final specs had been unveiled. It's always been a question of when, not if. I'm not counting on seeing it for the 2012 MY, but it's not impossible we could see it for 2013. Of course, at that point we then have to consider that the next generation model would be right around the corner for the 2014/15 MY. A freshly tuned DI 5.0 would go quite nicely with the redesigned 50th anniversary model.
08-31-2010, 08:21 PM
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My money is on DI being in the same engine for the next generation. Probably one year after the next Camaro launches, to follow the cycle that's being going on for like 30 years now.
09-01-2010, 02:08 AM
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I'm surprised there are already "provisions" cast, makes me think its going to come earlier. If its 5 years out theres why worry about casting that in, make the head as is then revise it in 5 years.
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09-01-2010, 03:40 AM
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09-01-2010, 05:53 PM
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If we're all about learning from history, we should still wait another year after the DI is implemented. 
The cycle never ends. It's like when I was into computers from 1999-2004 or so. There was always something bigger just on the next wave. At some point, you just have to go ahead and buy the dang thing.
The cycle never ends. It's like when I was into computers from 1999-2004 or so. There was always something bigger just on the next wave. At some point, you just have to go ahead and buy the dang thing.
09-01-2010, 09:38 PM
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Motor yes but putting that ls3 in a pig body the 5.0 is miles ahead.
09-01-2010, 10:38 PM
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Haha a lot of good statements here.
This is a lot like subaru. Every 2 years, sometimes every year, there are thousands of customers saying "oh if only i waited...."
This is a lot like subaru. Every 2 years, sometimes every year, there are thousands of customers saying "oh if only i waited...."
09-01-2010, 11:18 PM
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Not at all.
LS3 vs 5.0 (meaning engine for engine), the LS3 is out in front. Both pound for pound (physically) and overall performance.
Car for car, the 5th gen Camaro SS and '11 Mustang GT are pretty evenly matched when stock.
Miles ahead is what the LS1 Camaro was compared to the '98-'02 Mustang GT (well, actually all the way to the '10 Mustang GT)
LS3 vs 5.0 (meaning engine for engine), the LS3 is out in front. Both pound for pound (physically) and overall performance.
Car for car, the 5th gen Camaro SS and '11 Mustang GT are pretty evenly matched when stock.
Miles ahead is what the LS1 Camaro was compared to the '98-'02 Mustang GT (well, actually all the way to the '10 Mustang GT)
