Photo: Ford
Rewind back to November 2015, and that’s when Ford and the UAW made a tentative agreement in regard to U.S. production. Among the list of newities, the Romeo Engine Plant would continue production of the 5.2-liter V8 “with upgrade.” Concerning the two words in quotation marks, the Voodoo V8 in the GT350 and GT350R will be joined by the Predator V8 in the GT500.
After numerous leaks and CAD diagrams of the engine, the Ford Motor Company decided to share the first-ever official photograph of the Predator on Facebook in anticipation of the grand reveal on January 14th at the 2019 Detroit Auto Show. The Dearborn-based automaker has “500 reasons why you should love the GT500,” and we expect one of them to be an output in the ballpark of 700 horsepower.
The previous teaser for the range-topping Mustang for the S550 generation suggested “over 650 horsepower,” which sounds alright if you take the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 as the yardstick. But Dodge has something even better than that in the guise of the Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye, which pumps out no fewer than 797 horsepower from a supercharged HEMI V8.
As for the Predator, the engineers at Ford Performance are sticking to the recipe of the previous GT500. A thumpin’ great Eaton TVS will be bolted onto the engine, displacing 2.65 liters and expected to run 12 psi of boost. The transmission is more of a mystery than the Predator, expected to feature a dual-clutch configuration and seven gears.
At the bottom left of the picture, Ford confirmed the Shelby GT500 would arrive in showrooms for the 2020 model year in the fall of 2019. It remains to be seen how greedy the dealers will be with the markups, which used to range from $20,000 to $40,000 when the GT350 and GT350R were in their first year of production.
On the other hand, don’t forget the S550 GT500 is the most powerful Ford ever made, trumping the GT supercar by at least three horsepower. But then again, don’t forget the Shelby is made for going fast in a straight line while the GT is much obliged to tackle every corner you throw at it.
The previous teaser for the range-topping Mustang for the S550 generation suggested “over 650 horsepower,” which sounds alright if you take the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 as the yardstick. But Dodge has something even better than that in the guise of the Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye, which pumps out no fewer than 797 horsepower from a supercharged HEMI V8.
As for the Predator, the engineers at Ford Performance are sticking to the recipe of the previous GT500. A thumpin’ great Eaton TVS will be bolted onto the engine, displacing 2.65 liters and expected to run 12 psi of boost. The transmission is more of a mystery than the Predator, expected to feature a dual-clutch configuration and seven gears.
At the bottom left of the picture, Ford confirmed the Shelby GT500 would arrive in showrooms for the 2020 model year in the fall of 2019. It remains to be seen how greedy the dealers will be with the markups, which used to range from $20,000 to $40,000 when the GT350 and GT350R were in their first year of production.
On the other hand, don’t forget the S550 GT500 is the most powerful Ford ever made, trumping the GT supercar by at least three horsepower. But then again, don’t forget the Shelby is made for going fast in a straight line while the GT is much obliged to tackle every corner you throw at it.
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