Ford is going to do something unique in the World Endurance Championship: race a naturally aspirated, 5.4-liter, Coyote-based V8 in the top-level hypercar class. While the Blue Oval manufacturer recently raced (and won) at Le Mans with a twin-turbo, 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6, it’s taking a more traditional route for 2027. And if that’s not enough to get you excited, maybe hearing the engine’s first fire will do the trick.
Seen here without any bodywork, Ford’s WEC hypercar is built around an Oreca chassis. The V8 is paired with a hybrid system that has been standardized across the class, and importantly, it was present during the monumental debut. This is a huge milestone for the team, as Ford Racing WEC Hypercar Program Manager Dan Sayers explained, while the engine was “designed, developed and manufactured at our base in Michigan.”
“Firing the engine at ORECA is more than a symbolic moment – it’s a critical verification step,” Sayers said in a press release. “We’re doing everything from an engine perspective in-house, and we’re doing that because we can react faster, we can learn faster, and we can bring it back to the production side of the business. Hearing the Coyote V8 come to life for the first time within its intended home confirmed that months of integration work between the powertrain and chassis teams has paid off.”
I will not delay your happiness any longer. here is the clip: :
Created by the team. Headed towards the track. Go like hell.
Sounds nice and raunchy, doesn’t it? One steady sound byte isn’t enough to make a full verdict, but this dual overhead cam thumper could give the Cadillac hypercar a run for its money. just hearing that thing Transition from electric to engine power Enough to make most people fans.
driveJerry Perez, deputy editor of Ford, actually spoke to Sayers a while back, and he asked why Ford chose a new, scratch-built V8 instead of another boosted V6 this time. The reaction from those who said it was clear:
“We looked at turbocharged or normally aspirated – and then, with normally aspirated, if you can get the performance parameters, mass or power and torque control, the simplicity of not having a turbo, not having an intercooler makes installation simpler. There are less things to go wrong with endurance racing, and we like to keep things simple. Simple is good for endurance racing.”
Obviously, it’s good for the fans too.
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