I know that I've heard someone else propose this idea on here, but it's worth mentioning again. If the horsepower and or fuel economy numbers are considerably better for the '09 vs the '08, then it makes perfect sense for Ford to not release the numbers. They've still got quite a lot of '08s left to sell, and it's not too much longer before the '09s go on sale. If everyone gets too excited about potential performance gains, they might have to eat a lot of 08s. Especially the higher end 08s, which are their bread and butter. I noticed today that Ford is all of the sudden offering a $5,000 rebate on the 08 Supercrews. That tells me that maybe they are trying to get as many of them out the door as they can before folks find out the true specs on the 09. Maybe I'm wrong but that sounds like a reasonable possibility. You know, coming from a mainly Mustang background, I have a lot of respect for the Modular V8s. I believe that Ford hasn't even scratched the surface of what the 5.4 is capable of. I'm expecting much higher numbers than have been speculated. Lets hope I'm not proven wrong.

 

VERY good point. In sales you always want to sell what you have right now, not what you might have sometime later. Every company wants their sales to be good and their stock to go up now, not bank on possible future transactions.

Let's hope that's true and they don't want to hurt future sales. Much better thought than to keep thinking they are just embarassed to reveal them.

What worries me is that all of a sudden all these posters who worked on the truck or at Ford have not said a peep one way or the other, which doesn't inspire hope. You'd think they'd get tired of it and be like, "Hey, just wait, you won't be dissapointed." or something along those lines. But no, very quiet. Too quiet.

 

I think Ford is up to something here. They put too much effort into this deal to just ignore the one area where they trailed the competition. There is just no way. What everyone has to keep in mind is that the six speed transmission really allows you to get a lot more aggressive with the engine tuning. You don't have to have such a wide power band and flat torque curve, because the transmission takes care of that. Heck, the 4.6 in the explorer makes about 292hp by itself. Now apply that same type of engine tuning to the 5.4 and you get something a little more respectable. All they really need is maybe a new intake and throttle body combination, and maybe a little freer exhaust to really wake the 5.4 up. I'm telling you, the 5.4 is bad ***, it just needs to be tuned properly. 400hp would not be a problem if they really wanted to do it, with the six speed. I am expecting at least 350-360, bottom line, with 380-400 easily obtainable after that for those of us willing to do minor bolt ons (CAI, etc...) and custom programs. The competitions' engines just aren't that much bigger, and honestly I believe that the Modulars are better than any of them. Just look at what the Mustang guys are doing with them. The transmission is the key, mark my words.

 

Well... not to "pop" any one's bubble... however, Ford's increase might be from the 6 speed auto.

So don't bank on higher HP ratings. I've seen more talk about that 6 speed than anything on the engines, besides the 3v 4.6l.

Actually... I should just ****, and just wait.

 

actually i want to see them do with the modulars what they are doing with the ls1's.

 

agreed.

 

I have NFC as to what the HP/torque numbers will be but, to be a player in a highly competitive class, they have to raise both figures.... somewhat significantly.

Time'll tell...

 

My thoughts excatly.

Maybe we're both reading too much into it... ???

Dunno...

 

A post from January 14th.

 

If ford would just put 4V heads on the 5.4 the power numbers would jump 50-70 . But you know they wont do it.... so guess you guys have to wait on the next big thing

 

You absolutely do not need 4V heads to make 360-380hp from a 5.4. I do believe that the Boss engine will come out with 425hp at some point, but I equally believe that the new truck can and will be introduced with a 5.4 with at least 350hp.

 

I know we dont "need" a 4V set up but it would be a simple quick hp fix... I'm looking to get a set of 4V for mine I'm sure they would be good for 80-90 in a blown truck

 

I think who cares. Be patient.

 

what is TTDI, twin turbo diesel?

 

He might have meant Twin Turbo Direct Injection.