The staff at intellectual property law firms spend much of their time scouring the database at the US Patent Office for applications that might impact their clients. At Delaware-based Stamoulis & Weinblatt, they have discovered a recently-filed application from Ford for a new V8 engine. Interestingly, the patent describes a pushrod, 4-valve per cylinder unit with inboard exhaust and outboard intakes as well as turbocharging. This isn't the first such manifolding setup; we've seen it recently with BMW's 4.4-liter turbo V8 and the just-canceled GM 4.5-liter diesel, both of which followed this model, only with overhead cams. The law firm's blog speculates this engine could appear in the Mustang in 2010, but this will almost certainly not be the case.
Careful reading of the patent application shows that it focuses on the intake/exhaust layout and valvetrain configuration. The text indicates that the technology could be applied to either gasoline or diesel engines. What we're probably looking at here is the layout of Ford's new Scorpion diesel V-8, which will replace the Navistar engines used in its Super-Duty trucks. Ford is unlikely to put such an engine in its cars anytime soon, instead focusing on smaller EcoBoost four and six-cylinder engines.
