The first decent shot of the 2015 front fascia. I like it. The side mirrors have been moved from the A pillar.
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If the rumors are to be believed (over a foot shorter, lighter by several hundred pounds, Ecoboost power and the flat plane crank GT350), this car will be epic. Can't wait to see one in the flesh. If it has a telescoping steering wheel I might just pass out.
Ron, I wondered the same thing. Does Mark have a blue driving suit?I wonder if Mark is driving it?
From Wikipedia (on V8s):
The flat-plane or single-plane crankshaft has crank pins at 180°. They are imperfectly balanced and thus produce vibrations unless balance shafts are used, with a counter rotating pair flanking the crankshaft to counter second order vibration transverse to the crankshaft centerline. As it does not require counterweights, the crankshaft has less mass and thus inertia, allowing higher rpm and quicker acceleration, in addition to the firing being LRLRLRLR or RLRLRLRL with regular overall and per-bank pulse spacings. The design was popularized in modern racing by the Coventry Climax FWMV 1.5 L (92 cu in) V8 that evolved from a cross-plane to a flat-plane configuration. Flat-plane V8s on road cars come from Ferrari (every V8 model they have ever made, from the 1973 308 GT4, to the new 458), Lotus (the Esprit V8), TVR (the Speed Eight), Porsche 918 Spyder and McLaren (the MP4-12C). This design is popular in racing engines, the most famous example being the Cosworth DFV.[17]
One of the major advantages of the flat plane crank is that it is easier to design a well flowing exhaust system without the bundle of snakes design, due to the LRLRLR... bank firing of the cylinders. This is most advantageous in normally aspirated cars running high RPMs.As I stated the engine designer's at Ford are very good, so there must be some other advantage to trying this type of design....
It's for those Fcar owners that add cat delete and Tubi exhaust systems. That's about the only mods Fcar owners do. :lolClinton, I would agree, and exhaust scavenging can offer volumetric efficiency inprovements in a normally asperated IC engine. But I still remain unconvinced how this application might have merit in a production based daily driver with a catalic converter, muffler and long tailpipe all of which provides exhaust backpressure and inhibits scavenging.
I will do some more research on this after I get my car ready for transport out to our Rally!
Alot of the late rumors don't even pass the laugh test. The dimensions being quoted by some "automotive news" rags are amusing in that they are pretty much identical in length to a current 4 door Fiesta, while also managing to be narrower than said Fiesta. :lol
It could be purely for marketing reasons. Engines with flat plane cranks have a unique sound.