I want a more powerful Mustang as much as anybody, but I fail to see how a truck engine design will really help. A truck has plenty of room for tall engines, and increasing frontal area and gaining a hundred pounds or so as a trade-off for more towing power is not a bad trade. In a sports car, increasing weight and frontal area is a bad, bad trade.
The heads on our cars are already quite bulky. I like the high-revving nature of my SOHC V8, and want more of it. But what my engine needs more than stroke is bore. And more bore means bigger heads just to cover the piston. And bigger heads, needing to fit cams over valves, will only add more weight on top, which isn't really where it ought to be to improve handling.
I certainly don't want a big-ass truck engine in my car if that means a taller hood and wider body. That just adds frontal area, which kills acceleration as speeds climb, not to mention decreasing cornering speeds. I'd be happier if physical size didn't change dramaticaly but returned more power. As demonstrated for years in the Cammer 5.0 crate engine.
I sure as hell don't want a lower-revving truck design simply for big numbers. I'd rather sacrifice torque on the lower end for more torque on the upper end, making more power as a result. Give me peak torque of 300 ft-lbs. at 6000 rpms and a redline near 7500, and I'll see more power, pull harder for longer, and be faster over any course. Keep the stroke short so the rotating mass is smaller and revs are easier on the engine, and I could really give a damn about displacement. We already know Ford can get 300 ft-lbs. out of 4.6 liters. *Just* improve the flow, increase bore if neccessary, and don't increase the height of the engine. (I realize that's a tall order.) Get those 300 ft-lbs. at a higher rpm. Carry it longer if possible. If stroke needs to decrease to keep the width of the engine within a reasonable width, great. If bore increases but displacement decreases, while power improves, I'll call that a win all around. Powerband rules, displacement is for people who "don't race." :/ (Put up or shut up.)
Assuming one can decrease stroke, increase bore, keep the width at the top of the heads the same, and not lose torque or power or increase engine weight, one has laid the groundwork for improving power. It doesn't matter if displacement has changed if performance hasn't degraded. If one can only add power by increasing weight, height, and width, you lose real-world performance, since the car has to increase frontal area to accomodate the engine, and weight never helps performance. I'd rather lose objective power numbers than objective performance.
It seems to me the key strength of the OHC design lies in high rpm operation. A short stroke is beneficial to high rpm operation. We already know Ford has figured out how to get twin-cam perfomance out of a single cam. They can match the old N/A DOHC Cobra numbers with a SOHC design. Can they then decrease stroke, lighten the engine (and car as a whole) and match those numbers? Because if the answer is yes, they can improve the performance of the car.
The key strength of the OHV design is a compact engine, which results in a lighter car with a lower frontal area without sacrificing power. Ford already parted ways with Chevy, going with OHC designs over OHV. Chevy has demonstrated
with authority that the OHV design is not a dead end. Can Ford make the same statement with the OHC design? I know they
can, but without a flagship like the Corvette, is there money to be made with such a statement?
I'd say it's high time a car bearing Mustang heritage stepped up to to the Corvette plate. Drop the Cammer 5.0 in a smaller, more aerodynamic Mustang, call it a Boss, design it to weigh less than 3200 lbs., and feel free to offer it for $40-50K. Use the same platform to house a less powerful or heavier powerplant in the same chassis as a Cobra Jet. Interchange the designations to suit taste, if you will.
Offer a V6, and a base V8 with a GT mechanical and trim package similar to what separates the V6 and GT other than engine today. Keep the Boss and Cobra/Cobra Jet versions distinct by materials/weight and cost. Use thinner glass in the top versions, or more composite panels, or whatever. You can make a more expensive car by dropping weight without having to add power, if real-world performance is superior. 200 pounds wins races, and we all know people who spend thousands just to win by a fender.
Hell, just add the price of a loud free-flowing titanium exhaust and ultra-light alloy wheels, and you'd get many people signing on just to swap in heavier stainless versions, a la Corvette. Move the front axle as far forward under the engine as possible, and the handling will improve without a longer hood, even if it adds 25-50 lbs. to the weight. I can't help but think moving a mass of weight like the steering assembly and front wheels forward wouldn't improve safety as well. (I'm a living believer in the safety of the 99-04 chassis, BTW.) And what corporate board member can rationally argue against "safety imrpovements"

.
Give me a Mercury version, preferably called the "Cougar," to trade on brand recognition, allowing me to buy a Mustang that rides nicer, quieter, more "grown up," without having to sacrifice performance. It ought to cost more than a GT, close to a Boss/Cobra/Cobra Jet, so the people buying the Cougar can spend their money without feeling like they are getting a raw deal on resale. And a very real consideration - so the people seeing a Cougar on the street know the owner has the resources to buy one, and passed on the cheaper Mustang for a reason. It's not about being shallow, it's about the very real fact that money takes work and dedication. Nobody wants to spend their hard-earned money and have everyone assume they make minimum wage. Add value to the brand by making it speak for the owner. MAKE people choose between a Cobra\Boss\Cobra Jet and a Mercury Cougar.
Don't make the Cougar a V6 with leather. Don't offer a Cougar without a V8 - it's not cost effective, and dilutes the brand. Don't remove the incentive to buy the Cougar, even if it seems sales would jump immediately if a cheap optipon existed. It's all about preservation of the brand's value. Keep the brand value intact, cash in on it without risking devalueing it, and you have a cash cow good for decades. The more cash you harvest, the more you
have to spend to sell the car. The recent V6 FWD Cougar has plenty of fans, since the car had long been gone as a GT luxury powerhouse. But offer it with a 300 hp V8 and nav, leather interior, radically different gauge package than the current Mustang, perhaps auto-leveling shocks or Corvette-like driver-selectable shock modes - sport, touring, luxury, so the buyer is definitely getting something they don't get from a Mustang. You don't have to worry that you are competing against your own brand. Make sure the passenger doesn't have to be told they
aren't in a Mustang. You are selling a car nobody else is - a V8 RWD GT coupe for under $50K. Lincoln sells family cars, Mercury doesn't have to.
Of course, all this costs money. Ford has many priorities competing for attention right now. I'm not thinking quality is really a problem, and I drive a four-year old car. I can see how a board member sees ever-more powerful limited edition Mustangs as sapping resources that could otherwise be used to improve the profitability of a bigger-selling car. The Focus was recently the best selling car in the world. I can certainly understand the man or woman who wants to regain that title, even if it comes at the expense of another Ford model. I just hope the crew running the show in Detroit remember why we buy their cars and wish we had their job. Projects they greenlight today sell cars ten and twenty years from now.