2005 Ford F 150 Beefed Up
Blueish Oval Heroes: The Shared Dna of the Ford F-150 & Ford GT
At a glance the Ford F-150 and the Ford GT couldn't be more unlike from each other. One is pickup truck that'southward sold millions of units, the other is a limited production, ultra loftier-performance halo supercar.
One might think that bated from a Ford badge, in that location'due south naught these two vehicles share, just when it comes to powerplants there'due south actually a fair amount of Deoxyribonucleic acid shared between the ii. Is this just a coincidence or is there something symbolic to it? Let's do a quick investigation.
The 2005 Ford GT
Big truck engines accept been put into cars for long time. Information technology's 1 of the oldest hot rodding tricks in the book, and the two generations of the modern Ford GT might merely be the ultimate example of this.
Allow'due south go back and look at the Ford GT of the mid 2000s.
When Ford wanted to capture the spirit of the iconic GT-40 with a modernistic supercar, it needed a burly powerplant to backup the car's retro looks. At the fourth dimension the Mustang was powered by the 4.6 liter modular V8 and even in supercharged form the iv.six only produced 390 hp. This was a serious corporeality of ability for a Mustang, just non enough for a proper supercar.
Still, if you go back a few years before to the iconic 2000 Mustang Cobra R, y'all might remember that machine used a special v.4 liter variant of Ford's modular engine, using the larger block from the F-series pickup with the four-valve DOHC heads, higher pinch pistons and other tricks to brand 380 naturally aspirated horsepower.
A less exotic version of this 5.4 DOHC engine could as well exist found in the Lincoln Naviator SUV and Lincoln Blackwood pickup which made 300 hp.
When it came time to engineer the Ford GT'southward motor though, things were taken to another level. With its roots still in the 5.4 liter truck block, everything (including the block) would be made from aluminum, it had a dry out sump system and the heads were further improved from the '00 Cobra R.
Then the engine was then topped with an Eaton supercharger, and the effect 550 horsepower and 500 pound feet of torque. Now these are big numbers today, but 15 years ago they were earth shattering.
The fully reimagined supercharged 5.4 in the Ford GT gave the machine more than enough horsepower to backup its timeless look, and is a big part of the reason the 2000s Ford GT is nevertheless extremely popular today.
The 2017 Ford GT
Fast forward about x years, and you have Ford working to develop a follow-upwardly to the 2005 Ford GT, this time with a incomparably less retro approach.
While the styling of the 2017 GT would still have enough of heritage inspiration, its chassis and its powerplant would be state of the art.
By the mid 2010s, Ford had further improved its family of V8 engines with members similar the Mustang GT'southward 5.0 DOHC Coyote and the even wilder supercharged unit from the Shelby GT500. Still they decided to become in a much different direction for the side by side gen GT.
When it was time to build an engine for the GT's new carbon fiber chassis, Ford decided to go with a twin turbocharged V6 rather than the traditional V8. The EcoBoost program was picking up steam and then it made sense that Ford would utilize this technology in its new flagship supercar.
At the same fourth dimension Ford was pushing its EcoBoost V6 engines in the F-series pickup, and the new GT would in one case again share its engine Dna with the F-150. This fourth dimension it started with the same all-aluminum 3.five liter cake and heads from the F-150 earlier things got wild.
Among the changes from F-150 to the GT are beefed upwardly internals, a dry sump oiling system but like the previous gen GT and a new high performance aluminum intake manifold. New cams and larger turbochargers help produce extra ability and give the engine a grapheme more appropriate for a supercar.
When it debuted for the 2017 model twelvemonth, the GT's EcoBoost engine made 647 horsepower and 550 pound feet of torque. Updates for the 2020 model year have pushed things a littler higher to 660 horsepower thank you to new, cooled pistons and an upgraded ignition system.
While at that place was naturally some thwarting the new Ford GT wouldn't have that V8 sound, at that place's no doubting the performance of the car. More than that, information technology provided a potent tie betwixt the mainstream Ford pickup and exotic GT.
When compared to a bespoke supercar maker like Ferrari or McLaren, the Ford GT is a halo car for a mainstream brand and the fact that both generations have used engines derived from all-time selling F-series pickup only feels appropriate.
Now with an electric F-150 on the horizon and Ford making a strong pivot to EVs, one can only wonder if a next generation of the Ford GT may ditch its internal combustion altogether...
Want to learn more than about the same 2000 Mustang Cobra R, which also used plenty of truck DNA in its engine? Check out the story here.
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Source: https://www.drivingline.com/articles/blue-oval-heroes-the-shared-dna-of-the-ford-f-150-ford-gt/
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