Let The Coyote 5.0 Swaps Begin!

Ford's new 5.0L "Coyote" V8 is a potent motor. My short time behind the wheel of a 2012 Mustang GT left me with surprisingly little negative to say about the Mustang itself, and a mix of shock and admiration for the new 32v quad-cam V8.  It's such a quantum leap forward for Ford's pony car that you're left sort of wondering what planet it came from.

An engine this good does a 3,600lb Mustang wonders.  So there's no doubt shoehorning it into other places will work wonders, too.  How about under the hood of a brand-new Ford Ranger pickup truck?

This 2011 Ranger was brought to Blow-By Racing in Delray, FL for an infusion of a little more power.  Out went the old 4.0L Cologne V6, replaced by a slightly healthier 5.0 32v Coyote V8.  With 412bhp, it already has more than double what the original Ranger V6 makes; as if that's not enough, this truck is being prepped for a KB Supercharger and a Tremec T56 transmission swap.

Is a Ranger not your style?  How about a 1993 Fox-body Mustang?  This swap was done by Kurgan Motorsports, with the engine out of a wrecked low-mileage 2011 GT.  Considering a 5.0 Fox Body is about 700-800lbs lighter than a current Mustang, this one should really haul ass.

The long-tube custom Kook headers are pretty impressive themselves.  Even cooler: this car started out as a 4-cylinder, meaning it had a 100bhp 2.3L.  So now it has more than quadruple the original power output, still from a basically stock motor.

The transmission used in this swap was a five-speed Tremec T45 rather than the newer Getrag 6-speeder used on current Mustangs; maybe for fitment reasons.  While fitment itself wasn't an issue, a lot of fabrication work had to be done to get the motor to sit happily-  engine mounts, A/C bracket, power steering brackets and other miscellaneous items had to be created to make it happen.  All this work won't be for nothing; Kurgan will be offering Coyote Fox swap kits for anyone that wants to junk their 302 Windsor and get some quad-cam loving in their life.  There's a video of this creation running here, surprisingly smooth and quiet I'd say!

What will someone stuff one in next?  A Fiero?  I'm hoping a Fiero.