DUR! We know this. We did not say it sounded weak, we said it sounded slow...

 

It's named "Hurricane" because it will be the most powerful truck engine available in it's class!!

 

So in other words, you have no conviction? Wishy washy people like this bug me, sorry SRT. But pick something, anything.

Will Ford's Hurricane engine be a Hemi fighter? It would if it was on the market now, but by the time it is ready, the next Gen Hemi will probably be putting out more power. Plus, the current F150 is heavy, so I'm not sure a more powerful engine (in an extended or crew cab form) is going to make it much faster than a Hemi. The F150 isn't built for speed - I think Ford gave up on that with the new truck design and discontinuing of SVT. They are focusing on selling trucks that are big, heavy, and are meant to tow. Thats fine and dandy, but people buy trucks for different reasons. Some people tow, others offroad, others race, others haul kids.

Personally, I'd be more worried about the 07 Silverado on the GMT900 platform than I would about this Ford engine in "development." Chevy engines, in my opinion, are more responsive than Ford Tritons. Plus, GM (being that it is losing money) has a lot of motivation to make a bad a$$ truck that sells - so they can try to get profitable again. Ford can sit back and rely on their core base of truck buyers, and shell out work truck models to fleets all day long.

 

And because it will shortly die, like a hurricane.

A hurricane also moves very slow...

 

Hurricane huh, back in 1987 I had a Honda Hurricane CBR600H, it was the first year of the 600cc and 1000cc CBR's but even Honda dropped the name Hurricane afer a couple years.

 

Nice one But I still love Ford, if the 5.4 get more then 330hp it going to be a seriouse ooponent to the Hemi Ram .. I THINK

But ford are too gay to put a lot of money in big V8 for their cars/truck

Dodge put a V8 in anything, 300C,magnum,charger,ram,dakota and ...
Ford put a V8 in like 2 vehiculs, F-series and Mustang

They are the compagny for poor people .. when I saw poor I mean economic car

Ah well it would be nice to see a F-150 with 330hp, going to be fun for the Hemi owners who want to have some fun with their truck

 

Ford could put a 345 hp engine in the F150 and it would still be slower than a Hemi Ram. Why? Because the F150 is HEAVY! Weight kills speed.

 

Weight does kill speed, but the F-150 isn't much heavier than the Ram. Barely 200 lbs heavier. What dogs the Ford out is that lackluster 4 speed automatic.

The 5 speed in the Ram isn't much better, needs better ratios to work with MDS to improve mileage. Chrylser should step out of the box and flatten them all: 5.7L standard, 6.1 optional, 6 speed automatic with gated floor shifter with the ability to hold a gear via autostick. Options should include rear parking assist, trailer tow package with integrated trailer brake controller and a trans temp gauge....how annoying especially if you want to see everything going on by the time the idiot light comes on it's too late. Fit and finish should be first rate, if suppliers aren't meeting expectations then dump em.

Honestly, Toyota and GM seem to be the ones to look out for. They've got the oldest platforms out currently and you damn well know that the ones in the works are going to be class leading. Toyota expecially for mileage and quality.

 

Yeah, I would agree the 4 speed in the F150 holds it back. But it is also the design of the engine. It hits 90% of its torque before 2000 rpm's, so once you get past that - its gutless. I know, I had a 2004 F150 5.4 and off the line it was good, but bogged down after that.

I would love to see all the things you mentioned in the next Ram. And if Dodge does them all, expect the price to jump considerably. Any manufacturer - Toyota, Dodge, GM, Ford, doesn't matter, can cram all they want into a truck. The question is, will people perceive it as valuable? Would I pay $40,000 for a Hemi Ram with all the things you mentioned? Nope. The vast majority of people wouldn't. So what the manufacturers do is compromise and add some things and delete others to keep the pricing reasonable. The hard part is for them to match the things we want, in a truck that is somewhat affordable.

Personally, I don't worry about Toyota. Quality and mileage aside, the new Tundra is hideous, and looks play a part in how well something sells. Plus, Toyota established itself in the truck market as a niche product - i.e. something that was bigger than a midsive, had a V8, but still got good mileage. Their new Tundra, with the 5.7 goes against their previous success. GM is the bigger worry - with their new truck platform, higher output engines, and brand loyalty. GM is hanging their hopes - and future - on the success of the new Tahoes and 2007 Silverados. Their quality may suck, but I'd bet their new trucks can out tow and accelerate a current Hemi Ram. Not because their engineering is better, but because they've had 4 years to develop something to beat Dodge. It's just one big cycle. Dodge will improve their trucks, Ford will follow suit, and one of the imports will attempt to top all of them.

 

I agree the Ford gear box needs to be replaced badly. The 545RFE was a huge improvement over the old 46RE, but it needs work. They wasted an extra gear ratio on having a second, second gear ratio (yeah we really need a 1.67 for upshifts, and 1.50 for downshifts, or is it vice versa). The ratios are for the 545RFE in comparison to the Mercedes A580

545RFE

1st 3.00

2nd 1.67 up/ 1.50

3rd 1.00

4th .75

5th .67

Mercedes A580

1st 3.59

2nd 2.19

3rd 1.41

4th 1.00

5th .83

Notice how the ratio have such huge jumps in the 545RFE between the 3.00 and 1.67, this cuts out on acceleration potiental. The Mercedes tranny has starts off shorter and raises gradually. The ratios they have chosen would be good except they need a taller overdrive. If they modify the 545RFE to have similar ratios to the Mercedes A580 and add the .67 or a taller ratio as a sixth gear. They would have one excellent transmission.