How A 40-Year-Old Italian V8 Still Manages To Kick Muscle Car Butt

In 2024, one of the most cost-effective ways of getting your hands on a powerful car is purchasing a muscle car, such as the Ford Mustang GT. A brand-new example, which comes with a 5.0-liter Coyote V8 under the hood that brings a potent 486 hp and 418 lb-ft of torque to the party, can be had for a shade over $45,000.

While certainly an impressive cost given the grunt, the GT, and rivals like the Chevy Camaro, don't perform quite so well in terms of power-per-litre, otherwise known as power density or specific output. This is illustrated when they are compared to a turbocharged V8 designed by the legendary Ferrari during the 1980s.

The F40 Was Designed To Show What Could Be Achieved With A Turbocharger

Ferrari F40 Specs

The world as a whole was going through a radical evolution during the latter stages of the 20th century. Every nation had woken up to the specter of global warming, a phenomenon that was being egged on by the emission-kicking machinery used around the globe. This ranged from the generators that ran buildings, to engines featured in road-going vehicles.

As a result, stricter emissions regulations started to do the rounds in order to try and reduce the world's carbon footprint to reduce greenhouse gases. This was bad news for large-engine cars, as these were some of the biggest offenders. The muscle car era was killed almost overnight, while even supercars started to use smaller engines.

Saab revolutionized the performance car sector in the late 1970s though, as it introduced turbocharging for its 900 model, which allowed vehicles with smaller vehicles to produce the same power as those with bigger ones, while remaining more efficient and clear for the environment. With the Italian government jumping on the bandwagon and cracking down on gas-guzzling performance cars, Ferrari needed to find a solution.

It had tended to focus on utilizing high-capacity V12 engines, though it experimented with turbocharging with the 208 GTB. The Italian government inflicted big tax hits on cars with engines over two liters in size, so Ferrari developed a 2.0-liter turbo version of the 208 to get around them. Feeling it could take advantage of the black magic of forced induction with its halo models, it later used it with the iconic 288 GTO.

Before too long, and with company founder Enzo Ferrari aware his time was running out, the company wanted to push its turbo tech to the limit with its latest creation, the F40.

The F40 Used An Enhanced Version Of The Engine Used In The 288 GTO

The 2.9-liter Dino V8 can be traced back to the desirable 308, the 208's bigger brother. Having used a twin-turbo development of the engine for the Group B-designed 288, which kicked out 395 hp, Ferrari felt more was possible for the unit utilized in its upcoming F40 supercar. To keep weight as low as possible, the powerplant, called the F120A, was primarily constructed from aluminum.

This included the block and cylinder heads, while the cam cover was made from magnesium. Like the 288, the F40s V8 contained a pair of rabid turbos, though boost had been increased significantly. Looking to extract even more grunt, Ferrari's engineers decided to increase its compression ratio to 7.7:1.

To ensure the engine was as efficient as possible, a Weber-Marelli fuel injection system was used. All of Ferrari's hard work is illustrated by the commanding power figures that resulted from the enhancements, with 478 hp and 426 lb-ft of torque being channeled to the rear wheels. As was traditional at the time, the F40, which is worth a pretty penny these days, got a trusty five-speed manual gearbox.

While 478 hp doesn't sound anything special today, it must be remembered that the F40 weighed only 2,775 pounds. This meant it could rocket to 60 mph in only 3.8 seconds, while a top speed of 200 mph was possible with a long enough stretch.

The F40s twin-turbo V8 is notable in that it was the last time Ferrari used a turbocharged engine until the California T debuted in 2014. This was primarily because engines were developed to be naturally more efficient, meaning they could return to using more traditional naturally-aspirated V8 and V12s during the 1990s and beyond.

The F40s V8 Provides Huge Power Given Its Compact Size

Ferrari F40 V8 vs Modern Muscle Cars

While most modern muscle cars produce considerably more grunt than the old F40, they utilize a significantly larger engine to do so. This means that in terms of power density, very few muscle cars can get the better of the mighty Fezza. Take a 500-hp Ford Mustang Dark Horse, for example, which makes 100 hp per liter, or perhaps the 650-hp Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 that fares slightly better at 105 hp per liter.

These figures pale in comparison to the F40, which blows them out of the water at 164 hp per liter. Dodge's Challenger Hellcat Redeye makes 797 hp out of a meaty 6.2-liter Hemi V8, but even this translates to a comparatively limp-wristed 128 hp.

To find a rival for the F40, you need to make a trip to the Premier League of muscle car grunt. The upcoming 2025 Ford Mustang GTD is the most powerful production Mustang ever, with its 5.2-liter V8 pumping out 815 hp. With a power-per-liter figure of 157 hp though, even it comes up short of eclipsing the F40.

In terms of production muscle, the only one to exceed it is the Dodge Challenger Demon 170. The drag beast possesses 1,025 hp courtesy of its supercharged 6.2-liter V8, allowing it a barely stronger 165 hp per liter. This goes to illustrate just how impressive the F40s V8 is given its tiny size.

While it may seem unfair to compare an exotic supercar against these fairly simple machines, it's worth remembering that what Ferrari proved with the F40 eventually filtered down to production cars. Even a humble hot hatch like the Honda Civic Type R produces 157.5 horsepower per liter, which is on par with the $300,000 Mustang GTD. It just goes to show how inefficient large capacity supercharged V8s have become, and why the automotive world has been forced to move in other directions.

Modern Ferrari's Have Built Upon The F120A's Legacy

Ferrari F40 V8 Vs. Modern Ferrari Models

With emissions becoming a key focus point over the past decade, Ferrari has delved into the world of turbocharging once more to continue offering the most performative road cars. In a development that most will find unsurprising given Ferrari's reputation for pushing the limits of performance, their modern-day turbo V8s are even more impressive. They are even working on an advancement to help eradicate turbo lag.

While the 3.8-liter unit that debuted in 2014 with the California T only had a power-per-liter figure of 145 hp, Ferrari has built upon the F154 V8 over the past decade. Remaining at around four liters in capacity in a range of models, such as the Portofino and 488 GTB, the engine is at its most potent in the SF90.

The engine on its own makes 769 hp in the hybrid supercar, which translates into 192 hp per liter. This puts it nearly 30 hp per liter clear of its ancestor, a huge sign of progress from the Italian marque. It's even pulling the same trick with turbocharged V6 engines, like the 3.0-liter unit featured in the 296 GTB.

The engine produces a formidable 654 hp on its own, translating into a blazing 216 hp-per-liter figure. The F40's F120A V8 still stands up today when compared to large-capacity muscle cars, though its modern-day successors illustrate just what is possible with the black magic of forced induction in 2024.

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