Ford has this peculiar habit of underrating their cars. Whether it comes down to fuel efficiency or horsepower, the Blue Oval seems to be shortchanging itself…perhaps to keep the competition guessing. The new Ford 5.0 engine was rated at 412 horsepower at the flywheel, which put it a few ponies behind the competition. Did Ford do this deliberately?
Inside Line recently strapped a pre-production Mustang to a dynometer. The results? 395 horsepower at the wheels. Even citing drivetrain loss, this puts the Mustang’s power well above the 412 mark.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rf3BzvEximI&feature=player_embedded"]YouTube- 2011 Ford Mustang GT Dyno Test #1 Video[/ame]
Now keeping in mind that this is a pre-production model intended for press fleets, it could simply be a factory freak. Stranger things have happened. But citing a 10% drive train loss (which because of the Mustang’s solid rear axle, is less than an IRS), the 5.0 Mustang would be putting out closer to 435-440 horsepower. If that is the case, it would trump both the Camaro and Challenger. The engine doesn’t stop making power until almost the 7,000 rpm redline, just slightly tapering off.
The torque rating is equally impressive, putting out 365 ft-lbs of torque, which is close to the 390 ft-lb rating from the factory. Again citing a 10% drivetrain loss, torque would still likely be over the 400 ft-lb mark. Some reasons Ford might do this is to keep the numbers down from affecting sales of the costlier GT500. It might also confuse the competition into a false sense of security, at least until these cars hit the streets. Another thought; Ford could raise the horsepower rating of the 5.0 in the next few years, without actually changing the motor at all. Or maybe it really is just a factory freak. We’re looking forward to it regardless.
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