A Crate Version Of The Ford Mustang GT500's 'Predator' V8 Is On The Way

We’ve all been impressed with how much power can be extracted from Ford’s 7.3-litre ‘Godzilla’ V8, but if you’d rather have some big numbers straight out of the box, the Blue Oval has a crate option that should be more to your liking.

The company is busy preparing a crate version of the Mustang Shelby GT500’s 5.2-litre ‘Predator’ V8, promising big power and torque figures plus some epic tuning potential. We can’t be sure of the exact specs of the unit Ford will sell, but in the GT500, it develops 750bhp and 625lb ft of torque.

Speaking to Ford Authority at the online SEMA360 show, Ford Performance’s engine product manager Mike Goodwin spilt the beans. “We’re in early control pack development right now to be able to run the engine,” he said, adding, “It’s a little simpler setup because it’s not full DI [direct injection] like the Gen 3 Coyote is”. He gave no clue as to when it’ll be released, nor how much it’ll cost, but it’s reasonable to assume a price that dwarfs the $8300 charged for the Mustang GT’s Coyote V8.

Unlike the similarly-sized, naturally-aspirated ‘Voodoo’ V8 in the GT350 with its flat-plane crankshaft, the Predator uses a more conventional cross-plane arrangement and packs a 2.65-litre supercharger. In the GT500 it’s hooked up to a Tremec-supplied dual-clutch gearbox exclusively , making for a 0-60mph time around 3.5 seconds and a 0-100-0mph sprint that’s over in just 10.6sec.

It’s the most powerful engine Ford has ever put in a road-legal car, and will soon be (assuming those power figures don’t drop too much) its pokiest crate motor. At present, that honour belongs to the 646bhp 572 pushrod V8 - a $17,795 engine recommended only for competition use.

Ford also sells a $22,599 motorsport V8 derived from the Voodoo unit, although it switches the flat-plane crank for a cross-plane arrangement.