When I think of it, buyers of Ford F 150 trucks have I think a choice of a 3.7 liter V6, 2.7 liter turbo V6, 3.5 liter turbo V6 and the 5 liter V8.
We all know the turbo v6 engines have a lot of punch for displacement, and so does the Ford 5 liter non turbo V8... for a small, non turbo V8.The Ford 5 liter V8, I believe has the least amount of cubic inches of any current V8 on the market....302 cubes...that's relatively tiny.
GM has the 5.3 ( 323.3 cubes +\-) and the 6.2 liters (378.2 or so), Dodge has the 5.7 (347.7) and 6.4 ( 390.4)...Toyota offers the 5.7 liter V8 (347.7 cubes), Nissan the 5.6 liter (341.6 cubic inches)... all figured out by my phone calculator, assuming one liter is 61 cubic inches.
I'm no math whiz, so I think my figures are close enough, if not exact.
In the end, although the Ford 5 liter V8 is a bit on the measly size...displacement wise...compared to what the competitors from the other full size, half ton trucks manufacturers offer.
Ford does well hp/torque wise ...with this engine, but falls down on the cubic inches criteria...significantly compared to the rest.
Now in Ford tradition a V8 of 5 liters...the old OHV 302 and the new DOHC Coyote V8...is an important part of their engine lore. But maybe only if you are a Ford fan and particularly if you're a Mustang fan....but not necessarily if you're a Ford truck fan. Maybe in the eyes of a pickup consumer, 5 liters is not enough for a V8 and so it's passed over on the order sheet by buyers. At least with the smaller displacement turbo 3.5 liter V6, you can get monster torque...if not a V8.
I dunno know. But I do know, no other manufacturer offers a turbocharged V6. Why I wonder ? If Ford eventually drops the 5 liter V8 and becomes an all V6 engined F 150 truck line will this have any effect on sales? Maybe not as Ford does very well sales wise with the turbo V6 engines.
I do know that Ford will be starting production on the new, larger 7.3 liter V8 this summer, but not for the F 150, just for the larger HD pickups. I do wonder if they brought out a turbo 7.3 liter V8...for the F 150...as an option to the 5 liter V8, if this would crank up orders for V8's in the F 150 . I wonder if the 5 liter V8 was offered as a turbo 5 liter V8...if the 3.5 liter turbo V6...would lose sales ?
Just speculating.
