WAR ON V8s: WILL THE TAURUS-BASED POLICE INTERCEPTOR "COLLAPSE" FORD'S COP CAR HEGEMONY?

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Truth with Speedzzter isn't the only voice expressing skepticism that the announced V8-less Taurus/Police Interceptor will crater Ford Motor Company's domination of the police car market. John Rosevear at "The Motley Fool" investment website argues in a post entitled "Ford's Looming Market Share Collapse":

GM and Chrysler, like Smith & Wesson (Nasdaq: SWHC), L-1 Identity Solutions (NYSE: ID), TASER International (Nasdaq: TASR), and other companies that sell to the police market, know that many police departments want the tried-and-true. Both are sticking with the traditional formula -- while Chrysler's revised Dodge Charger, due later this year, is expected to address officer complaints about the relatively small trunk and limited visibility in the current model, it will still be a large rear-wheel-drive sedan with (lots of) V8 power available.

Likewise the new fleet-only Chevrolet Caprice, which will be built on an extended version of the same rear-wheel-drive platform that underpins the Camaro. GM has said that the Caprice will be available with a high-horsepower V8 and cop-friendly features like special seats and an oversized trunk.

Of course neither the unibody Charger or the Australian immigrant formerly known as Pontiac G8 have the rock-solid durability and cheap repair costs of the anvil-tough, body-on-frame Panther-based Crown Victoria/Police Interceptor. But both will be closer to "tried-and-true" than the Volvo-derived Taurus Police Interceptor. Thus, many expect the mostly unloved Taurus to lose much of the Panther's loyal following.

WAR ON V8s: VOLVO TO KILL V8 OPTION?

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Jalopnik is reporting that soon to be ex-Ford Volvo is canning all sorts of appealing hardware, including the V8 option for the S80.

For the time being, the Volvo V8 will remain available in the XC90 because a turbo six is not available.

While this move may seem to some as merely consolidation, in the bigger picture, it's a harbinger of what's likely to be a recurring story during the model years leading up to the draconian 35.5 m.p.g. Corporate Average Fuel Economy standard in 2016.

As Truth With Speedzzter wrote on Bangshift.com regarding GM's development of an EcoBoost-fighting 3.0 twin-turbo V6:

But the overwhelming concern is probably future compliance with CAFE standards. These turbo V6s are clearly aimed at V8 territory. And some experts predict that even V6s aren't going to be very common by 2016. http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100322/OEM06/303229994/1186 & http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100322/OEM06/303229992/1186

To be sure, CAFE and the confluence of lazy marketing (the entire basis of the current EcoBoost "economy of a six with the power of a V8" campaign) and rabid beancounting is shaping up to be a "war on V8s." Just the "Cash For Clunkers" giveaway amounted to a war on vintage V8s (and a backdoor attack on hot rodding and other forms of grassroots motorsports), the current pressures against new V8s amounts to a "second front" in the Anti-V8 war.

As Truth With Speedzzter further explained at Bangshift:

If GM obtains about the same horsepower-per-liter as the EcoTec turbo/DI 2.0 (~130 hp/l), the GM 3.0 will produce around 390 h.p.

Of course Ford's initial EcoBoost engine is tuned more for quick response and a flat torque curve than maximum h.p. And reportedly FoMoCo is working on "Project Bobcat" (supplemental direct ethanol injection), which would easily crest 130 hp/l. Former FoMoCo exec Dr. Neil Ressler is involved in Ethanol Boosting Systems, L.L.C., the holder of key patents on the EBS process. http://www.ethanolboost.com/

[UPDATE: "Project Bobcat" has primarily been a government-grant subsidized research project aimed at light truck powerplants. Mike Harrison, FoMoCo's chief engineer on 5.0-liter and 6.2-liter "Boss" truck V8s, who told Autoblog Green "the 5.0-liter Bobcat was actually derived from the old 5.4-liter V8 currently used in the F150 and the Shelby GT500."

Autoblog Green further reported "For Bobcat use, the longer-stroke 5.4 was used in combination with a smaller bore giving thicker cylinder walls needed to withstand the high internal pressures of the boosted 750 pound-foot engine. According to Harrison, the Bobcat was part of a Department of Energy-funded research project and there are no current plans for a production engine based on the technology. Harrison tells us that the extra cost of the dual injection systems and more robust block and heads negates much of the savings from not needing a diesel after-treatment system."

It would appear that the Modular's FWD-oriented narrow bore centers may have scuttled another promising development. Moreover, Ford may have decided to focus more on turbo-diesels, which will not pay as many "trickle-down" dividends to hot rodders and grassroots motorsports enthusiasts as a "full-throttle" development of a "Bobcat" EBS system would]

It's unlikely that the current regime at Ford is going to get beat in a horsepower war. For example, a recent chassis dyno test of the Coyote-Powered 2011 Mustang GT yielded the following:


Quote:
"Inside Line's tester reliably belted out 395 horsepower at 6,600 RPM and 365 pound-feet of torque at 4,350 rpm. That's at the wheel, natch, and since IL estimates the 'Stang sees only an 11% to 13% driveline loss thanks to its stick axle, the car is likely making somewhere between 438 and 446 horsepower at the crank -- far more than the advertised 412.

This should come as no surprise to anyone, especially Inside Line. After all, last year they did the same thing with a 2010 GT500 only to learn that - surprise! - it was underrated. (Their tester put down 511 horsepower at the wheel. The guys figured the number at the crank to be around 570 horses, not the 540 advertised)."

IS THE COYOTE V8 THE LAST HURRAH FOR MASS-MARKET V8 POWER?

Regardless of how incredible the new DOHC Coyote V8 is (or could be in supercharged, EcoBoost or Twincharged form), the pressure of CAFE will force engine downsizing.

Uwe Grebe, General Motors executive director for global advanced engineering, told Automotive News that meeting CAFE will be costly because "everyone is done picking the low-hanging fruit." He suggests the improvements to conventional engines and drivelines will "include turbocharging, gasoline direct injection, variable valve timing, cylinder deactivation and dual-clutch transmissions. Grebe estimates that 15 to 20 percent more fuel economy can be squeezed out of conventional gasoline powertrains."

Cutting the number of cylinders will be a quick and lazy method to reduce cubic inches.

Certainly, smaller V8s that are scaled-down to equivalent cubic-inch displacement of current sixes and even fours could produce striking fuel economy along with the sounds, driving feel, and aesthetics of traditional V8. But the marketers are simply too lazy to make the sales case for up-to-date "right-sized" DOHC turbo V8s and the green-eye-shade gang is probably too cheap to fund them.

Sadly, V8s are increasingly likely to become an endangered species. They will be sacrificed for no legitimate reason on the altars of uninformed public opinion, cost cutting, and regulatory compliance.

Volvo's decision is just an early warning of this.

SPEEDZZTER AT BANGSHIFT: SPEEDY SAYS: WHY I HATE SWAP MEETS

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On March 23,2010, Truth With Speedzzter was honored with another "front page" column at Bangshift.com, entitled "Speedy Says: Why I Hate Swap Meets."

Be sure to check it out!

MUSTANGER DR. DONALD FREY: DEAD AT 86

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Legendary former Ford Motor Company Senior Product Planner Dr. Donald Frey passed away earlier this month. Frey was a key leader in the team that developed the "sporty Falcon" which became Ford's Mustang.

"A few of us at Ford were sitting around one day in the early 1960s and thought it would be a good idea to produce a small, sporty car that would appeal to a mass market," [D]r. Frey once told a reporter. "We were a bunch of young guys in our 30s and early 40s then."


[D]r. Frey and his cohorts had a hard time selling Henry Ford II on the idea. "The company was just getting over the Edsel flop and really didn't want to gamble on another new model," [D]r. Frey said. So development funds for the Mustang were taken from excess money buried in the budget.

Dr. Frey also had a highly-distinguished career after his time at FoMoCo in business, leading Bell & Howell and in leading technological developments important to the development of the ubiquitous compact disc, as well as in academia.

Here's a sampling of the tribute articles on the Dr. Frey:

http://www.insideline.com/ford/mustang-godfather-don-frey-86-dies.html

http://www.thestate.com/2010/03/23/1214042/ford-mustang-designer-donald-frey.html

http://www.autoweek.com/article/20100323/CARNEWS/100329958

http://www.mccormick.northwestern.edu/news/articles/664

http://www.michigandaily.com/content/alum-and-auto-legend-donald-frey-dies-age-87

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/obituaries/ct-met-0324-frey-obit-20100323,0,1648660.story

http://www.mustangworld.com/Forums/showthread.php?t=638545

Condolences to Dr. Frey's family and friends.

1000 LAPS AT BRISTOL IN A 2011 V6 MUSTANG?

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One of the few nuggets among the FoMoCo rubble of last weekend’s NASCAR debacle at Bristol was Ford’s successful promotion of the “Mustang 1000-Lap Challenge.” On June 23, 2010, a select group of FoMoCo insiders and celebrities will attempt to drive a 2011 Mustang V6 at least 1000 times around the high-banked half mile Bristol Motor Speedway on a single 16-gallon tank of unleaded gasoline. Ford lovers who are eager to win a new 2011 Mustang can guess how many laps the E.P.A.-rated 31 m.p.g. Mustang will actually make at www.Mustang1000lapChallenge.com.

Here’s part of Ford’s press release about the Mustang 1000-Lap Challenge:

One year after the Ford Fusion Hybrid, America’s most fuel-efficient mid-sized sedan, successfully eclipsed 1,000 miles on a single tank of gas, Ford will put its new 2011 Mustang V-6 on a similar quest as it attempts to run 1,000 laps on a single tank of gas at Bristol Motor Speedway on June 23 . . . .

A team of Ford engineers and celebrities will attempt to prove Mustang’s ranking as the most fuel-efficient pony car to date by circling the half-mile NASCAR bullring at least 1,000 times – more than 500 miles – and highlight the 3.7L V-6 model’s best-in-class 31 mpg.

“We all know how much fun it is to drive Mustang, but in today’s market it’s also about fuel economy,” said Jamie Allison, director, Ford North America Motorsports. “By going 1,000 laps or more on one of NASCAR’s most popular tracks, we expect to show that when it comes to Mustang, you can be mean and green.”

The Mustang 1,000-Lap Challenge will begin the morning of Wednesday, June 23 with a team of Ford test drivers continuously circling the track billed as “the world’s fastest half-mile” until the vehicle runs out of fuel with a goal of surpassing 1,000-lap mark.

“To go at least 1,000 laps at Bristol means we’ll be going twice as far as the NASCAR drivers do during their races, and we’ll be doing it without a pit stop," said Fritz Wilke, Mustang Brand Manager.

The V-6 Mustang will be no stranger to Bristol by then, having been selected to serve as pace car for this weekend’s Food City 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event.

This event is a follow-up to last year’s challenge in which Ford NASCAR driver Carl Edwards participated in driving the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid a total of 1,445 miles (an average of 81.5 mpg) on a single tank of gas around Washington, D.C.

1000 LAP MATH:

1000 laps (500 miles) at 31 m.p.g. will consume 16.12903226 gallons of fuel. Of course, given Bristol’s configuration and the embarrassment that would result in running fewer than 1000 laps, expect the actual m.p.g. and lap count to be considerably higher.

The E.P.A. highway fuel economy test lasts 765 seconds, with an average speed of 48.3 m.p.h. and an top speed of approximately 60 m.p.h. The E.P.A. highway cycle features more than a half-dozen speed changes that are partial or full acceleration events. The E.P.A. Highway test is also supplemented with an abbreviated "high speed" test of 596 seconds with an average speed of 48.37 m.p.h. and a top speed of 80 m.p.h.

While no reports yet suggest how fast the 1000 Lap Challenge Mustang will circulate Bristol, expect it to be at a steady pace of less than 50 m.p.h. in order to limit aerodynamic effects and fuel waste on acceleration. Moreover, the engineers might dig into the bag of driving tricks from the fuel economy runs of the 1950s and 1960s, or the “hypermilers” of today, by devising a plan for coasting on Bristol’s steep banking. Most likely, the engineers will specify a speed that keeps the car just barely in sixth gear for most of the Challenge.

Given that Ford extracted almost double the E.P.A. estimates for the hybrid Fusion in the last Challenge, do not be surprised if the Challenge Mustang makes in excess of 1200 circuits around Bristol (37.5 m.p.g.).

Although Truth With Speedzzter could get a lot more excited about a variable displacement DOHC V8 in the sub-4.0 liter size range instead of a “buzzin’” six, given the sales volumes necessary to sustain production of the RWD Mustang, it is important for the “economy ‘Stang” to be successful. The 1000 Lap Challenge ought to help get that message out.

However, the 1000 Lap Challenge should be seen as nothing more than publicity for an interim step. Meeting the 35.5 m.p.g. Corporate Average Fuel Economy standard in 2016 will likely require even more gas-sipping wizardry from Mustang’s engineers, such as start-stop or electric hybrid assist, further engine downsizing (hopefully with a traditional eight cylinders), and high-boost turbocharging combined with Ethanol Boosting Systems direct Ethanol injection system (Code Name: Bobcat).