4.6L-nicely redone
Because performance freaks focus their attention more on the "go" than on the "show" aspect of a car, the FR500's real beauty is underhood. There you'll find a Cobra 4.6-liter 4V all-aluminum block whose displacement has been increased to 5.0 liters by the use of new "spray bore" technology.
On engines like the 4.6 that cannot be bored out because of the limited casting thickness of the cylinder walls, displacement is increased by removing the steel cylinder sleeves from the cast aluminum block and spraying the bores with a ceramic-like coating that serves as hardened cylinder walls. While Ford has yet to employ this new technology in production, its use could help squeeze more power from engines without retooling them.
New, high-flow four-valve heads with more radical cam geometry are added, along with an all-new variable geometry magnesium intake manifold, dual 80mm mass-air sensors, dual 70mm throttle bodies, and stainless-steel tubular headers. This massaged Cobra engine makes a reported 415 horsepower at 6,800 rpm (redline is 7,000 revs), and 365 foot-pounds of torque at 4200 rpm. But wait—there's more.
Putting all that power to the ground is a Tremec T56 six-speed manual transmission with a dual-disc Valeo clutch. A MetalMatrix composite driveshaft spins a Torsen TR2 limited-slip differential with 4.10:1 ring-and-pinion axle set. Ford claims the setup is good for a zero-to-60 launch of a tick over four and a half seconds—-and a quarter-mile sprint of 12.7 seconds at 114 mph. Top speed has been estimated at 175 mph. Forget Camaro and Firebird here—these numbers go beyond even the 2000 SVT Cobra R, and put the FR500 right up into the rarefied performance air of Corvettes and Vipers.
