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Old 02-05-2019, 05:18 PM   #1
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The 2020 Ford Super Duty Gets a Giant 7.3-Liter Gasoline V8

https://www.roadandtrack.com/new-car...v8-specs-info/ The motor uses a new cam-in-block, overhead valve architecture with cast iron block and forged steel crankshaft, as well as oil jets cooling the pistons under heavy loads. Unfortunately no specs yet. New for 2020 is also a 10-speed TorqShift automatic gearbox with a wider gear ratio span than the previous 6-speed auto. The gearbox has a compact design that fits in the same space as the 6-speed auto and is just 3.5 pounds (1.58 kilograms) heavier. It features five drive modes - normal, tow/haul, eco, slippery, and deep sand and snow.
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Old 02-05-2019, 06:07 PM   #2
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Nice to see they went back to putting the cam (single) in the block. Their OHC engines were a bi*** to work on. Maybe they can keep these spark plugs from blowing out of the heads or breaking off in the block. New cars and trucks have gotten too hard to work on yourself. At least this engine looks like it wouldn’t be too hard to change a head gasket.
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Old 02-05-2019, 09:29 PM   #3
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I would question R&T's choice of "giant": while larger than any very recent engine, 7.3 litres isn't all that large by historical standards. GM's "big block" for trucks was a 454 cubic inch V8 - not unusual for the large engines of the time when it appeared - which was 7.4 litres, and grew to 8.1 litres for its last version (ending in 2009); it is still sold as a 8.0 L "crate" engine. Chrysler's big truck engine for a while was an 8.0 litre V10, which was better known and longer-lived in its aluminum version in the Dodge Viper.

When Ford's last big V8 - the "385" family's 460 cubic inch (7.4 L) - wasn't being used in enough models to be worth continuing, it was replaced with a 6.8 litre V10 variant of Ford's big engine family of the day. That was 1998. Two decades later the 6.8 is still in production - and still the only gas engine in the largest Ford chassis - and apparently it's time for something new, and more powerful.
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Old 02-05-2019, 10:24 PM   #4
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It's interesting that this article, and the others that I found with a search about the new engine, don't mention that the 10-speed transmission is expected to be a heavy-duty version of the Ford/GM 10-speed found in the F-150, Mustang, GM light trucks, Camaro, and who knows what else. Maybe they assume that everyone already knows that, since it hit the news a year and a half ago.

It will be called the 10R140: the ‘10’ stands for ten forward gears/speeds, the ‘R’ stands for rear-wheel-drive application (and implies longitudinal orientation), and ‘140’ stands for 1,400 N-m (1,032 lb-ft) maximum input torque capacity. That capacity matches the current 6R140 SuperDuty transmission, and is a big step up from the current 10R80 in the F-150. Extra capacity may mean more case length (ZP's 8HP family of transmissions gets longer in the higher-capacity versions due to wider gears and bigger clutch packs), but it won't be much bigger overall than the current 6-speed.

GM's version is the 10L90 found in the Camaro, and 10L80 found in GM light-duty pickups and related SUVs. At GM, the naming is similar: in 10L90, the ‘10’ stands for ten forward gears/speeds, the ‘L’ stands for longitudinal orientation, and ‘90’ stands for 900 lb-ft (1,220 N-m) maximum input torque capacity. As far as I know, GM hasn't using it in heavy pickups yet, but in a press release says the 2020 Silverado HD will have an "all-new, Allison 10-speed transmission"; this is reported to be the GM-made Ford/GM 10-speed with Allison branding (for "HD cred", I guess).
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Old 02-06-2019, 09:35 AM   #5
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Old 02-07-2019, 08:38 AM   #6
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Wonder how they get VCT with a single cam in the block?
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Old 02-07-2019, 11:30 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rotorbudd View Post
Wonder how they get VCT with a single cam in the block?
Probably with a DouCam by Mechadyne. This type of cam was used in the Dodge Viper.
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Old 02-07-2019, 12:55 PM   #8
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Wonder how they get VCT with a single cam in the block?
The GM small block has had Variable Valve Timing (VVT) in a single cam-in-block pushrod engine since the Gen IV of 2005. In this system, according to GM,
Quote:
A vane-type phaser is installed on the cam sprocket to turn the camshaft relative to the sprocket, thereby adjusting the timing of both intake and exhaust valve operation.
There are many valve control mechanisms; this is one of the simplest.

Quote:
Originally Posted by AKCamper View Post
Probably with a DouCam by Mechadyne. This type of cam was used in the Dodge Viper.
DuoCam is interesting - thanks Eric. This controls only phase (of intake, or exhaust, or both together), not lift or duration, but even being able to vary one set of valves and not the other (thus varying overlap) is pretty good within a single cam. Chrysler apparently called it CamInCam.

The GM and DuoCam systems appear to use a similar mechanism (the vane-type phaser) to adjust the camshaft phase.

I haven't seen any indication of which system Ford is using with this new engine.
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Old 02-07-2019, 12:58 PM   #9
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Probably with a DouCam by Mechadyne. This type of cam was used in the Dodge Viper.
Nice! didn't know anything about them. Although I've had Ducatis for about 40 years, so I'm verrrrry familiar with desmo cams.
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Old 02-07-2019, 04:30 PM   #10
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Wow...that is bigger than two eco boosts.
The only Escape related need for this engine is if you were hauling 2 or 3 trailers on a flat deck for delivery.
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Old 10-10-2019, 05:32 PM   #11
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Specs are now out, although only press releases, not product information on the Ford website:
430 hp at 5,500 rpm and 475 lb-ft at 4,000 rpm

2020 Ford Super Duty and Commercial Truck Powertrains: Filling in the Details
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Old 11-18-2019, 04:41 PM   #12
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Those numbers look like diesel numbers, good to see the big blocks are coming back at Ford, seems odd that they are going big block motors as well as an electric Mustang.....
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Old 11-18-2019, 05:41 PM   #13
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Those numbers look like diesel numbers, good to see the big blocks are coming back at Ford, seems odd that they are going big block motors as well as an electric Mustang.....
I assume that "diesel numbers" means large - gasoline engines produce more power and usually more torque than the same size of diesel, unless the diesel has a turbocharger and the gas engine doesn't.

I don't know that this is really a comeback in engine size, since Ford has sold a 6.8 L since they retired the old 460 (7.5 L)... 6.8 L is not much smaller. The big difference is that the 6.8 L (which will eventually be replaced by this new 7.3 L V8) is a V10.

I don't see anything surprising about movement in both battery-electric vehicles and large gasoline engines, because they serve different markets and Ford sells in most automotive market segments (just not heavy trucks, and they are pulling out of most types of passenger cars other than wagons - called "SUVs" and "crossovers" - and sports cars). The market segment that uses engines like this big gas V8 isn't going electric in the next decade, so updated engines are needed.
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Old 11-18-2019, 09:45 PM   #14
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Specs are now out, although only press releases, not product information on the Ford website:
430 hp at 5,500 rpm and 475 lb-ft at 4,000 rpm

2020 Ford Super Duty and Commercial Truck Powertrains: Filling in the Details
Doesn't sound that impressive when compared to 3.5 EcoBoost which is 375 hp @5000 and 475 lb.ft @ 3500 rpm. What is missing here besides two turbos?
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Old 11-18-2019, 11:06 PM   #15
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Used to have a 460 in a F350, constant 5-8 mpg. Tough to feed something like that unless you really need it.
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Old 11-19-2019, 12:30 AM   #16
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Doesn't sound that impressive when compared to 3.5 EcoBoost which is 375 hp @5000 and 475 lb.ft @ 3500 rpm. What is missing here besides two turbos?
Compared to the EcoBoost 3.5, the new 7.3 is missing those turbochargers... and two valves per cylinder, and dual camshafts per bank, and overhead cams. The turbos are the most important.

What you may be missing is that the 7.3 is intended as a heavy-duty engine, expected to work hard much of the time, while the EcoBoost engines are all light-duty, expected to run at full power for no more than a few seconds of acceleration at a time and to work at even half power only for a few minutes at a time occasionally. The 7.3 is Ford's equivalent to the GM 6.6, which puts out less peak power than the light-duty 6.2 from the same GM "small block" V family, but is for heavier commercial vehicles.
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Old 11-19-2019, 07:20 AM   #17
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Looks like a real truck engine and not a car engine pretending to be a truck engine .
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Old 11-19-2019, 07:29 AM   #18
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Yes, something you can pass on to your children, known as a generation motor....
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Old 11-19-2019, 07:33 AM   #19
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Having owned For Super Duties for 25 years, and other big diesel pickups before, I can say with no doubt they certainly are not needed for Escape trailers, but it is always great to see any manufacturer improving things in one way or another.

Ford goofed with the second generation TurboStroke, but the first and now last ones are great engines, especially for their time. Even more improvement is better.

That said, I just pulled 9,000 lbs to the dump the other day with my 3.5L EcoBoost.
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Old 11-19-2019, 12:21 PM   #20
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For those interested, here's additional insight into why Ford designed their new 7.3 gas-burner. https://jalopnik.com/why-the-ford-su...0-h-1836880836
Seems their focus was on customers who tow heavy loads day-in/day-out (durability) and who would benefit from high torque over a wide range of RPMs from 1500 up. At least that's my take from the article.
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