Ford hasn’t officially shown us what’s under the hood of the 2018 Mustang GT, but a new photo leak gives us a good idea what’s been hiding.
There is little official information available regarding the third-generation, dual-fuel Coyote engine that will power the 2018 Mustang GT. This forthcoming engine is as intriguing as it is mysterious, which is why people are curious to get a glimpse of it. Recently, a leaked photo making the social rounds gave us the best look yet at this powerplant — or what you can see of it.
As you can see in the spy shot, the basic layout of the Mustang GT engine compartment remains the same. However, the dual-fuel Coyote features an expansive engine cover that is undoubtedly meant to hide the rat’s nest of wires and plumbing needed to run and feed the combination of port fuel injectors and direct injectors.
Of course, Ford has been coy about the full array of upgrades to this new engine. Likewise, the company has yet to reveal its official output, but we hope that it will approach the 455 horsepower and 455 lb-ft of torque produced by its Bow Tie rival’s direct-injection, 6.2-liter V8 engine.
While Ford designers put a lot of effort into accenting the first-gen Coyote engine, the new dual-fuel version is completely shrouded by a monolithic engine cover.
“Ford’s legendary 5.0-liter V8 engine has been thoroughly reworked,” Ford said when the car was revealed. “It is more powerful and revs higher than any Mustang GT before. This power increase was achieved with the first application for Mustang of Ford’s new dual-fuel, high-pressure direct injection and low-pressure port fuel injection on a V8 engine — delivering robust low-end torque, high-rpm power, and improved fuel efficiency.”
As we know from discussing the 2018 Mustang GT convertible with Ford reps at the Barrett-Jackson auction in Palm Beach, Ford is looking to squeeze every last bit of efficiency and performance out of its V8 engine by utilizing the more finite control of the combustion process, which is enabled by this system.
We look forward to learning more about the dual-fuel technology, but for now we’ll just have to ponder what’s lurking under that flying saucer engine cover and how it might complicate intake swaps and supercharger installations in the future…