Quote:
Originally posted by RACER X #99
Sizzler,
I was with you right up till you mentioned bring back the FE. While the FE was a decent engine 30 years ago and a proper engine for some replica Cobras, it certainly does not belong in any future factory built automobiles.
Cranky
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What I'd posted was:
Quote:
Originally posted by Sizzler
But then, I think Ford wasted billions on developing the modular engine family when for 10% of the cost it could have just refined the FE, so what do I know.
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That means not that they should resurrect the FE, but that, when it was decided, after way too long a liquid lunch, that Ford needed a whole new engine family, that that might not have been the best idea Ford has ever had. Especially based on the results.
GM didn't reinvent the SBC, it refined it. Mopar is still building variants of the 318 V8 (and I think the V10 may even be based on it). Only Ford decided to splurge $10 billion to end up with an engine that is wider, more complex, and less powerful than what it had to begin with. Spend $1 Billion and refine the Windsor, or spend the money to clean up the FE, and Ford's savings would have allowed it to build new GT's, Cobra's, Pantera's, EXP's even, if they wanted to, long ago. At this point, they've sunk the capital, wound up with some sort of asset. They need to get as much return on it as possible before hybrids and electrics make it obsolete as well. I don't think they should be throwing more money down the pit with V10's and such when a 4.6l V8 is almost the perfect engine for a 3,000 pound roadster.
And, while I don't think Ford should bring back the FE, I think Shelby, Genesis, and even Dove, have shown with real products and real investment, that the FE is still viable today. Iron or aluminum.