Ford Racing to introduce new intake manifold for modular V8s
During the recent Ford Racing Invitational, one of the Mustangs being raced by the journalists on hand featured a newly developed intake manifold on its 4.6-liter V8. The current production manifold works very well with all kinds of engine modifications, but once the revs hit 6,500 rpm, it completely falls flat. The new manifold is designed to support a bump of that redline up to 7,500 rpm. The manifold doesn't really add much power on its own, but it does allow other mods like camshafts, valves and exhaust systems to take advantage of more engine speed.
Ford will be building tooling over the next few months and running production prototypes toward the end of summer. The manifold should be on sale later in the fall. Ford hasn't yet set pricing for the new manifold but it may come in at about $600-700. Mike Sutton from Car and Driver who drove a 2009 GT fitted with the new manifold said the engine easily revved beyond 7,000 rpm, something impossible with a stock modular V8.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Mike 8:34AM (6/17/2009)
It's amazing what a little competition from the Camaro and Challenger has done to push Ford to put together all of these little goodies we're seeing. That should help to keep the Mustang on top and selling the numbers Ford wants. I wonder if the Gremlin x might make a come back.
Keep it coming Ford.
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naggs 3:50PM (6/17/2009)
if your gonna go to all the expense and weight of ohc you mine as well rev it
CB 8:44AM (6/17/2009)
A high-revving Mustang GT with the track pack sounds like a blast!
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jpm100 8:41AM (6/17/2009)
I can understand a certain halo effect for Ford, but re-tuning an intake for racing rates an article?
o.k.
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BoneHeadOtto 10:14AM (6/17/2009)
I hear they also make an after market muffler, and high output alternator. I smell two more riviting articles!!
HotRodzNKustoms 8:56AM (6/17/2009)
The real question is, what do you give up on the low end for this?
Anyways, more high quality aftermarket performance products are always welcomed!
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Lemon 9:09AM (6/17/2009)
Exactly. Long runners make low end power and short runners make high end power. This new intake looks to have shorter runners since they don't criss-cross like the stock manifold.
It would be really cool if they had variable runners (two runners for each cylinder, one short and one long with a valve controlling which one flows air) like the old SHOs (and ferraris and...)
Rick C. 10:19AM (6/17/2009)
When you're on a road course, your RPM's shouldn't drop down to a level that would make that an issue. After all, you only start out from a standing start once, that is, if the organization in question starts its races that way. If you do allow your RPMs to drop to an area under the cam (and flat torque) curve, you need a refresher driving school. It's that simple
Rev Junkie 9:07AM (6/17/2009)
Wow, a big 4.6L V8 that revs like a Honda VTEC engine, sweet. They should make this standard on the new Mustang.
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Jay Evans 9:31AM (6/17/2009)
Why make it standard?
The stock intake is good for 400+HP. The present intake will outflow the the stock heads. This will do nothing unless you've made major revisions to the 3 valve heads.
Allen 9:47AM (6/17/2009)
Jay Evans is right on the money. This intake manifold is pointless unless you have head mods. If you have a set of ported heads and more aggressive cams, this manifold would allow for a significant power bump in the upper RPM range. However, it will do very little for a stock engine. Besides, with the new 5.0L coming to the market next year, making changes to the production 4.6L is pointless anyways.
danielpny 9:35AM (6/17/2009)
I smell a upgrade for my '96 Town Car!
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Dave 10:24AM (6/17/2009)
The plastic intake manifold in my friend's 97 Marquis warped enough that it would no longer seal. He probably would have considered replacing it with this manifold since it appears to be aluminum (not plastic).
arturo 12:51PM (6/17/2009)
If I can fit this in my 2004 mustang GT that would be awesome. It will be a great addition to all the performance parts I am planning to get over the summer. I need to read more about it, to see what are the gains and and benefits over stock one.
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Jeff Johnson 1:17PM (6/17/2009)
I don't see why getting a 4.6L V8 to rev to 7500 is impressive. When for quite a while now we've had 7.0L V7's revving easily to 7000 (LS7).
Kudos to ford for more goodies to play with though.
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Matt 1:25PM (6/17/2009)
Meh...they will still be underpowered boat anchors.
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Matt (that likes ford) 1:54PM (6/17/2009)
Every Ford post, you invade.
TROLL
Matt 2:45PM (6/17/2009)
Well, having the unfortunate experience of owning a "performance improved" modular 4.6, I feel I am more than qualified to make that assessment.
What you blind cheerleaders call "trolling" most people would call the truth...or are you denying that the Modulars have the boat anchor nickname?
Matt (that likes ford) 2:52PM (6/17/2009)
Well, the term "boat anchor" is given to this modular because it has always been referred to as heavy and underpowered, which in earlier cases it was.
NOW it is not a "boat anchor" by any means.
Why do you own this "unfortunate" engine in the first place if you hate Ford so much?
Stop living in the past and accept that Ford knows what they are doing.....
Matt 7:07PM (6/17/2009)
Really??? They are not boat anchors???
Let's see here:
Ford 4.6 - 315 HP
Ford 5.4 - 310 HP
Hyundai 4.6 V8 - 375 HP
GM 3.6 V6 - 304 HP
Plus, we must not forget that Ford's idea of luxury is to make everything outrageously heavy...so, that is why the new F-150 with a CLAIMED 11,000 pound tow rating struggles immensely to tow 6500 pounds up a hill.
But yeah...Ford know what they are doing by launching all of this so-called new product with crap, carryover engines.
That is the best way to turn people off to your product...and it is showing by the dismal sales numbers.