Good point but C.A.F.E. regulations are based on average sales or offering I think. To be honest I am not sure what the regulation says. The tree huggers and greenfreaks will purchase enough fuel efficient Focus, Flex, and hybrid vehicles to keep the large displacement motors available.

I seriously doubt that the analysts in Fords think tank said, "Lets release a 5.0 and 6.2 in 2011 that we will discontinue in 5-10 years." You have to take into consideration that all manufacturers pay people a lot of money to look at current market trends also looking at current and pending laws.

If there was a viable concern Ford wouldn't have released the 5.0 and most certainly not the 6.2 in 2011. It would just not be good business strategy.

I bought a 6.2 because it came with the trim package I wanted. Looking back I am fortunate I got the 6.2 with it. Yes, big iron blocks might go away for some manufactureres, but when/if they do it will leave the sales door wide open for who keeps them. The after market will pick up and the analysts will scream for them back. After market is what they look at to see what we want. We use it to make the factory offerings what we want.

Speed and power combined with testosterone will keep the V8 a revenue generating product for whoever supplies it.

 

Notice the battle in Horsepower the last several years? Every model year Ford and Chevy come out with more and more horsepower in their mustang/camaro. This streamlines production into the trucks. IF you were to start seeing all of the sports cars losing V8's and the power options going away....then I'd start to worry. Until they are able to get vehicles easily under the treehuggers standards and with a 4 or 6 banger.....V8's will thrive.
I'm very pleased with 18 mpg and just rolling 3000 miles out of my 5.0L. Given, I'm coming out of a 97 F350 CC DRW with a 7.3L diesel I'll miss that truck though!

 

I was watching driving television today (dont know if it airs in the states) and they were actually say this excate thing. That v8s will be a thing of the past for luxury sedans and other cars. I dont know if that would be the same for trucks.

 

I wonder how advances in new materials utilizing nano technology and innovative molecular manipulation will change engine design? It seems that improving thermodynamic would increase efficiency from each drop of fuel (lean burn). But, that's science fiction. With the government breathing down their necks the manufacturers are pressed to make innovative use of any existing technology. Thus diesel tech is transferred to gassers and sophisticated computer programs monitor the systems to maximize efficiency.

So the V8 may not be on its way out; just reinvented.

 

Yeah I think the V8's in sedans will die a lot sooner then in trucks. Muscle cars will have them just as long as trucks I'd say, but there's really no reason that you need something like that under the hood of a family car IMO.

 

V8s are in the product plan for the 2015 model year per a discussion yesterday with my Ford contacts. Beyond that, expect a continual evolution of all powertrain variations. Economic factors, government regulation, etc. will all play a role. No one can truly predict the long-term future with any degree of certainty.

 

So I figured with all the speculation going on about the 2015 F150 moving away from the traditional V8, might be a good idea to bump this thread up and see if it sparks any new conversation....

 

I don't believe the V8 will be going anywhere anytime soon.

When we get closer to the really strict CAFE standards in 2025 then you might have something. But V8s are just a configuration of engine no reason we couldn't go to smaller 3-4L V8s for better fuel economy.

 

Only CAFE standards can cause the demise of the V8 imo. Yes I have an Eco but still like the larger block V8's for their sound and over all power. They do just fine without turbo's and SC's therefore eliminating a lot of parts that yes…… can fail! If I didn't have a warranty I probably wouldn't have bought an Eco 3.5 because boosted engines on average do last as long! At least not without some significant maintenance and expense involved.

Had Ford offered a turbo V8 in my F150 that's what I'd be driving! I tow a fair amount and the Eco fits my needs from a torque standpoint…. so that's why I chose it. A friend of mine has a 2013 5.0 with the same dump trailer I have… we bought them in PA at the same time. With equal loads I can walk away from him on the big hills around here… it's not even a contest. TORQUE is your friend…. Other then the towing capability his 5.0 is equal to mine in every way possible with better growl. He bought what he wanted same as me.

Bottom line unless BIG BROTHER screws things up (very possible with the morons in DC) the V8 will probably outlive everyone posting on this forum right now………..

 

V8's sell. Ford is a (largely) rational entity. Products/power plants are dropped when it is not economically feasible to produce the product. Cafe standards are a ways off. V8's might live on if economy can be found through technical advancement.