Ford presents 6.7-litre V8 monster to SAE World Congress

In a time where engine down-sizing is fast becoming a trend to meet ever tightening emission regs, introducing a big bad V8 might seem politcally incorrect. But here we have it, the folks at Ford are presenting a new 6.7-litre turbodiesel V8 to replace an outgoing 6.4-litre unit.

Ford’s naming of its engine, Power Stroke, might inspire a few chuckles, but figures of 400hp and 800 lb-ft (1,085Nm!!!) are unlikely to amuse the green brigade. Nevertheless, it would hope that a 20% improvement in economy from the older 6.4 Power Stroke ought to placate them.

The engine’s developmental process forms the subject of one of 38 papers being lined up by Ford engineers in this week’s SAE World Congress in Detroit. Other papers to be presented in the congress will include subjects such as engine design, fuel economy, safety, lighting and aerodynamics.

Designed for heavy use with Ford’s Super Duty pick-up trucks, the engine’s design brief initially placed emphasis on horsepower and torque, with fuel consumption considerations being secondary, but engineer Joshua Styron had other ideas. He said, “We believed we could deliver a good combination of both — 400 horsepower along with fuel economy that was not only significantly better than the old 6.4, but higher than our competitors’ engines, too.”

In his quest to achieve his lofty goals, Styron got in touch with his counterparts from Ford’s Dunton Technical Center in Great Britain and the Ford Research Lab in Aachen, Germany for consultation. Extensive computer prototyping was also used, and two single-cylinder prototype engines were built to undergo comprehensive test plans.

The finalized design features a chamfered re-entrant bowl, fine-tuned injector targeting and optimum air swirl that is matched to a super-efficient spray pattern. In fact, initial prototypes of the 6.7-liter Power Stroke even featured the exact same combustion chamber design that of the chosen single-cylinder test engine.

KON