We now have some numbers to attach to Ford’s impressively large 7.3-L V8 engine. Although, not as many numbers as we would have liked.
Big V8s are all the rage these days. Ford fired the first salvo by announcing their 7.3-L gas V8 for the F-Series Super Duty pickup, which caused GM to fire back by making their own 8.0-L V8. For the longest time, we didn’t have performance stats on either engine, but now Ford has revealed power figures for their biggest V8 yet.
Power is rated at 430 horses at 5,500 rpm. Torque is 475 lb-ft at 4,000 rpm. Ford claims that to be the best in its class, and if you’re comparing against other large displacement gas V8 engines, they’re right. The Ram HD’s 6.4-L HEMI produces 410 hp and 429 lb-ft, while the Silverado and Sierra HD have a 6.6-L V8 with 401 hp and 464 lb-ft.
Ford is the clear winner on the big gasoline V8 front in terms of power, but that’s all we got. Payload and towing numbers weren’t provided and neither was fuel consumption figures. Those will be coming later, although Ford says to assume that mileage will be better on the new 7.3-L than the old gas V8 thanks to the new 10-speed automatic transmission it comes attached to.
“The 7.3-liter is designed for maximum durability in the harshest environments given that our customers live and work in these conditions every day,” said Joel Beltramo, Ford manager for gas V8 engines. “This engine has the largest displacement in its class and is designed to provide benefits in key areas like power, durability, ease of maintenance and total operating costs.”
While being an available option for the Super Duty, the 7.3-L engine will be standard on the F-550 to F-750 range of commercial trucks as well as the F-59 and F-53 stripped chassis trucks. In those applications, the engine will produce 350 hp and 468 lb-ft at 3,900 rpm.
We’re still waiting on when this engine will be available, but we’re hoping the answer is “soon.”