Pop open the lid on the new Ford GT, and amidst all the sleek new bodywork and alien looks, you might spot something surprisingly familiar: a 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 essentially like the one powering the 2015 F-150 EcoBoost. Or the 2015 Explorer EcoBoost. Or myriad other, more pedestrian Ford products.
In fact, as AutoGuide reports, Ford Performance Head Dave Pericak remarked at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show that 70 percent of the content in the mill powering the 2017 Ford GT is unchanged from the first-generation 3.5-liter EcoBoost. “We’ve got a different calibration strategy in there, we’ve got different turbo sizing and stuff like that,” he said, but yes: 70 percent recycled content.
Granted, the new, second-generation 3.5-liter EcoBoost being developed for the new Ford GT will have plenty of meaningful changes, like low-friction finger-follower cams, and both direct- and port-injection. And besides, do the origins of the powerplant really matter? The Ford GT will still put out a heart-stopping 600 horsepower – or more, depending on how far the engineering team takes it. And then there’s the excellent Alfa Romeo 4C, which makes due with a 1.7-liter from a humble passenger car.
Of course, for the recently-announced $400,000 price tag, one might expect a unique cleansheet engine, complete with 12 cylinders, a gold-plated intake plenum, and a certificate of authenticity signed posthumously by Carrol Shelby. But while the new Ford GT might not have an engine as grandiose or eccentric as that of a Ferrari, it should be that much less likely to catch fire.
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