The 5.0-liter V8 is back! The V6 has 305 hp! But, sorry Mustang SVO fans, there will be no turbocharged four-cylinder under the hood of the Ford’s pony car, at least not anytime soon.
At the launch of the 2011 Mustang, Chief Engineer Dave Pericak said that there are no plans to bring a 4-cylinder version of Ford’s much ballyhooed EcoBoost line of direct injected, turbo engines to the Mustang lineup.
“Right now we don’t see us going any lower…Right now we don’t plan to go backwards and go down in horsepower. We’re going to stay at at least 305 (hp) and take this thing to the next level,” Pericak told Fox Car Report.
With the entry level V6 model getting a near 50% boost in power, there was much speculation that Ford’s upcoming, fuel efficient 2.0-liter EcoBoost - expected to produce about 230 horsepower - would find its way into the Mustang. That engine is scheduled to make its debut in the Ford Edge crossover in late 2010, a vehicle which, incidentally, is also available with the Mustang’s V6.
For its part, the V6 model of the ‘Stang is the first car in history with more than 300 horsepower to also get an EPA fuel efficiency rating of more than 30 mpg highway, 31 mpg to be exact. Ford says the Mustang’s image as a gas guzzler was one of the main reasons potential buyers cited for passing on the car in previous years. Along with the rest of the Ford lineup, increasing fuel economy was as important as bumping up the power in the development of the 2011 model line. To that end, the new V8 also boasts class-leading fuel economy of 26 mpg highway, because that’s exactly why fans have been waiting a decade and a half for the return of the storied 5.0 nameplate.
Uh, sure.