Filed under: Aftermarket, Tuners, Ford
Romeo 605 blown 5.4L crate engine appears in Ford Racing catalog
Ford Racing has added a new toy to the catalog, the Romeo 605 crate engine. As the name implies this one is built at Ford's Romeo MI engine plant alongside the the other 5.4L supercharged V8s used in the Mustang GT500. This fully dressed crate engine forms the basis of the Shelby Super Snake and the upcoming limited run Cobra Jet drag car. In its current form the engine puts out 605hp thanks to the installation of a new supercharger. The supercharger is an Eaton 2.3L unit for four lobe rotors. The rotors have 160 degrees of twist. If those specs sound vaguely familiar, that because it matches the unit GM is installing on the LS9 engine for the ZR1 Corvette. This one is of course not street legal and is intended for off-road use. At 605hp and 550lb-ft, Ford claims this is the most powerful off the shelf modular motor yet. At a list price of $18,150 it may also be the most expensive running almost the same price as a base V6 Mustang. Thanks to Paul for the tip!
[Source: Ford Racing]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Carlos 3:50PM (6/24/2008)
This makes me wonder what it would be like if you bought a GT500 rolling chassis with an engine delete and swap this baby in there...
Reply
Brian 3:54PM (6/24/2008)
It'd probably be about like a GT500 with 100 more horsepowerz.
BigMcLargeHuge 4:02PM (6/24/2008)
More tire smoke.
RJ 4:51PM (6/24/2008)
Or you can simply get a Kenne Bell twin screw and get 800+ hp.
Carlos 5:31PM (6/24/2008)
I'm also looking at the fact that this is an aluminum block vs. the GT500 cast iron.
Sam Abuelsamid 5:58PM (6/24/2008)
Actually I believe the Romeo 605 uses the same iron block as the GT500 so no weight savings here
MachinaDC5 3:57PM (6/24/2008)
1. Is it street legal?
2. I don't care if it isn't, I'd swap it in...
Reply
Johnny 3:57PM (6/24/2008)
I dont get the market and specially the cost of crate engines.
About 2 years ago we wanted to make a big dune buggy. Rather then spen 10 grand on a crate engine like a 4.7 dodge engine, 4.0 mustang engine, 4.6 Ford engine, we simply went to the local wreck yard and had over 400 engines to choose from.
We found a brand new Chrysler 300 hit from behind. It had the 3.5 250hp V6 in it. We asked and got the engine for 900 bucks. The car showed 1300miles on it and the engine was very easy to take and ran beautifuly.
If you're looking for a big V8 for some hotrod go to the salvage yard and get a chevy or ford hit from behind and grab the 5.3 or 5.4 engine. You can still put a supercharger and come out way ahead than this thing.
Reply
Steve 4:07PM (6/24/2008)
Actually we did something similar. We went to a junkyard and took a very clean nearly new Navigator engine for 1100 bucks. You cant get a 5.4 DOHC 300hp engine for that price. Were talking about the DOHC 32 Valve 5.4, not the 2 valve or 3 valve sohc ones. This thing revs and puts out power like hell.
Chris 4:01PM (6/24/2008)
18 grand??? yeeeaaaaaaa good luck with that lol
monster of a motor...don't get me wrong...but that price is just a tad bit steep
Reply
montoym 6:08PM (6/24/2008)
You've apparently never priced crate engines before.
Chris 8:10AM (6/25/2008)
and you say that because??
how do you know what I've done? 18grand for a motor is a very LARGE sum of money. Hell i could pick up a ZZ572 crate motor for around 13grand and its making 650 horse...NA i might ad. so please...spare me your assumptions
s13hybrid 4:04PM (6/24/2008)
Is $18k worth it, or could you build a better motor for less yourself? I don't know much of anything about fords, but that seems like a waste of money.
Reply
Chris 4:19PM (6/24/2008)
Well to give you an idea, i found an LS7 Crate motor for 12,999.00 from crateenginedepot.com. so this is 5 grand more than that.....this was just an example of what crate motors are going for
you could definitely build a serious motor for less then 18 grand
Freestyle4x4f150 4:21PM (6/24/2008)
this thing is cheap compared to the 500 + hp crate motor out of the Ford GT witch cost closer to $30,000 for some stupid reason.
RJ 4:53PM (6/24/2008)
The beauty of the LS7 is under 500lbs engine weight, and 650 hp easy naturally aspirated.
Jay Evans 5:00PM (6/24/2008)
Uhhh, The Ford GT engine is an Aluminum Block.
Carlos 5:33PM (6/24/2008)
Just because its aluminum doesn't mean its the same weight. DOHC motor usually weigh more than a push rod counter part because of three other camshafts and their attributed running gear.
jcar302 4:18PM (6/24/2008)
Ya, 18k is alot, just keep in mind, building a modular engine with forged internals is very expensive.
So pulling anything out of any other car other than an 03/04 cobra or a new shelby, will require building the shortblock, then re-assembly gaskets and arp bolts are heavy priced too, and of course labor.
Then add a $6000 supercharger into the mix.
So it's not quite as simple as just grabbing the 5.4 out of a navigator.
I'm hoping this like other ford crate engines has a 12,000 mile warranty.
Would i buy if for 18k? No, but i do understand where the pricing comes from.
Reply
B 4:21PM (6/24/2008)
darn, and here i was hoping its was 605 CID for a drag car
lame.
Reply