How well does a modern Coyote respond to basic bolt-ons?

Bolt-Ons Build a 5.0 Liter Chevy Eater

Words And Photos: Richard Holdener

Call us nostalgia freaks, but we love that Ford not only brought back the now-famous 5.0L designation, but applied it to a worthy successor. Sure, some may bemoan its use on the Modular engine family instead of an evolutionary version of the Windsor platform, but that is just nitpicking. We know, the Modular motors suffer from displacement limitations due to the proximity of the bore centers. The argument is that this keeps them from producing (at least) the torque offered by the 6.0L+ competition from Chevy and Dodge, but man does not live on displacement alone. The DOHC four-valve technology offered by Ford is head and shoulders better than the conventional (antiquated?) two-valve stuff used elsewhere. One need only look at the recent results of the Engine Masters Challenge when they allowed four-valve Fords to compete. Toss in the variable cam timing and a reduced curb weight you start to understand how the Mustang more than holds its own against the larger offerings from GM and Dodge.

Though technology has allowed the Coyote to keep pace with the competition, we are less concerned about how it performs in stock trim than how it responds to modifications. After all, thanks to it receptive nature, the original 5.0L all but revolutionized the after market industry. Not long after its introduction, performance products started popping up all over. Manufacturers were offering everything from under-drive pulleys and throttle bodies to aluminum cylinder heads and superchargers. Decent (for its time) in stock trim, the original fuelie 5.0L was amazing once modified. The question now becomes, as good as the new 5.0L Coyote is, does it share this responsiveness with its predecessor? We all know that boost works magic on everything, but just how well does Ford’s 4V wonder motor respond to basic bolt-ons-specifically the usual top-end upgrade consisting of heads, cams and intake?

To find out, we naturally had to wrangle a 5.0L Coyote for use on the dyno. Since they are relatively new to the scene, they are still scarce in wrecking yards. Rather then perform the test with the engine in the car, we decided to go the crate-motor route and selected a 5.0L Coyote crate motor from Ford Racing. The crate motor was essentially a stock, ready to run (pre-2015) 4V production engine. To help with our testing, we also selected a Controls Pack that included everything we needed to allow us to run the motor will full control over both the drive-by-wire throttle body and variable cam timing. Designed for a retrofit application, the Controls Packs included the ECU and wiring harness, MAF and air intake system, factory air box, OBD-II diagnostic port, and a complete calibration. Once installed, our system started on the first push of the button and ran flawlessly during testing. Of course, the modified version required additional tuning, which came courtesy of SCT and Kenne Bell’s Ken Christley. Run in stock trim with a set of long-tube American Racing headers, the otherwise stock 5.0L Coyote produced 463 hp at 6,700 rpm and 411 lb-ft of torque at 4,400 rpm.

To illustrate the potential and receptiveness of the modern Coyote, we decided to run the stock motor then replace the factory heads, cams and intake with CNC-ported heads from JPC/RGR Engines, NSR cam from COMP Cams and a Boss intake and larger throttle body from Ford Racing. The Ported 4V heads from JPC/RGR were said to improve flow by just over 10% (just over 330 cfm). The flow numbers suggested the ported heads would support well over 650 normally aspirated horsepower. Since we planned on running elevated engine speeds, we were happy the ported heads also featured a valve spring upgrade. Retaining the stock retainers and keepers, the new springs offered 80 pounds of seat pressure and 200 pounds of open pressure. The heads were installed using a new set of factory head gaskets and ARP head studs. The heads were teamed with a set of Stage 3 NSR (no spring upgrade required) cams that offered a .492/.453 lift split and a 236/239-degree duration split. To put these numbers into perspective, the stock Coyote cams checked in with a .472/.433 lift split, 211 degrees of duration (both intake and exhaust) and a 131-degree lsa. The Stage 3 cams were used in conjunction with the Phaser limiters from COMP Cams.

Retaining the factory short block, the ported heads and COMP Cams were combined with a Boss intake manifold. Made famous by the Boss 302 (another fabulous blue oval blast from the past) version of the Mustang offered by Ford, the Boss intake offered additional power potential over the factory GT intake. The shorter, high-flow runners were designed to push power production higher in the rev range, which was ideally suited to our cam and head selection. The intake was fed by a 90mm Ford Racing throttle body and matching adapter used to neck down the 90mm throttle body to the 83mm opening in the Boss intake. It is possible to port match the intake opening to the larger throttle body, but we didn’t want to modify the Boss intake. After assembly, the new combination was tuned to perfection by Kenne Bell’s Ken Christley. When all was said and done, the modified Coyote produced peak numbers of 591 hp at 7,700 rpm and 449 lb-ft of torque at 6,700 rpm. Note that both of the peak numbers occurred higher in the rev range than stock, and that the new combo lost out slightly to the stock motor below 4,500 rpm. The exercise shows us that not only is the 4V Coyote worthy of the 5.0L name, but that it shares the original’s ability to get back to basics with bolt-ons.

5.0L 4V Coyote-Stock vs Bolt-Ons

Sources

COMP Cams
compcams.com

Ford Racing
Fordracingparts.com

JPC Racing
jpcracing.com

Kenne Bell
kennebell.net

RGR Engines
rgrengines.com