Photo: Ford
The UAW tentative agreement with the Ford Motor Company reveals a few details we enthusiasts have been waiting for a long while now. First and foremost, three all-new transmissions are in development, and secondly, a more powerful 5.2-liter V8 is going to become reality.
Skip to Page 8 (Product Commitment) of the tentative agreement. There you'll find a lengthy list of engine, transmission, and driveline operations. Taken together, all these constitute the $9 billion investment the Blue Oval will make in its American plants, all within the next four years.
$150 million of those $9 billion will go to the Romeo Engine Plant in Michigan. But the detail that caught our attention is that the 5.2L Voodoo V8 of the track-focused Shelby GT350 Mustang will be upgraded. What upgrade? We sure want to find that out, but nothing sound is known about the subject right now. Still, we're very happy that the Voodoo will live beyond the 2016 model year GT350 Mustang, with probably more than 526 HP.
$1.8 billion will be invested in the Livonia Transmission Plant in Michigan. You've heard that right - one point eight billion dollars are to be poured into the facility. From the UAW-Ford tentative agreement, we found out that the 6R80 6-speed auto is going to soldier on. But then again, the most interesting part is the one that reads the plant will "add three new transmissions." We're keeping our fingers crossed one of those new transmissions will be the long-awaited 10-speed automatic Ford is co-developing with General Motors. If we're lucky, chances are we'll see the new cog-swapper in the mid-cycle refresh of the S550 Mustang.
Mind you, it goes without saying that the Ford Motor Company hasn't confirmed the presented information at this early stage. Only time will tell if the agreement will see the Blue Oval kick it up a notch or two.
$150 million of those $9 billion will go to the Romeo Engine Plant in Michigan. But the detail that caught our attention is that the 5.2L Voodoo V8 of the track-focused Shelby GT350 Mustang will be upgraded. What upgrade? We sure want to find that out, but nothing sound is known about the subject right now. Still, we're very happy that the Voodoo will live beyond the 2016 model year GT350 Mustang, with probably more than 526 HP.
$1.8 billion will be invested in the Livonia Transmission Plant in Michigan. You've heard that right - one point eight billion dollars are to be poured into the facility. From the UAW-Ford tentative agreement, we found out that the 6R80 6-speed auto is going to soldier on. But then again, the most interesting part is the one that reads the plant will "add three new transmissions." We're keeping our fingers crossed one of those new transmissions will be the long-awaited 10-speed automatic Ford is co-developing with General Motors. If we're lucky, chances are we'll see the new cog-swapper in the mid-cycle refresh of the S550 Mustang.
Mind you, it goes without saying that the Ford Motor Company hasn't confirmed the presented information at this early stage. Only time will tell if the agreement will see the Blue Oval kick it up a notch or two.
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