If you’ve noticed the trend of everything getting more expensive lately, you won’t be surprised by a report from Ford Authority that Ford has increased the price of its supercharged 5.2-liter Predator V8 crate engine. Ford Performance put the mill up for sale just a month ago for $25,995 including shipping. If you haven’t ordered the bike yet, you will now pay about 5% more, the new decal will cost $27,295.
However, this has an asterisk, because the control package is still not available. That bundle of electronics and components normally includes the powertrain control module, an armada of sensors, the wiring harnesses needed to make all these parts talk to each other, and an OBDII port to diagnose the inevitable codes that pop up during a custom build. Buying that pack will add a few bucks to the cost, but it makes a homebrew motor swap so much easier. A control package for a 5.0-liter Coyote V8 for the standard Mustang costs between $2,180 and $2,560, depending on the year of the engine and transmission.
More importantly, it’s not clear how long home mechanics will have to wait. When Ford-Trucks asked Ford Performance about the package’s availability, the site said Ford Performance’s response was “it won’t be available for a while.” The closest Ford-Trucks to a release date was “probably next year.”
That’s still not too shabby for an aluminum-block V8 with forged internals that can produce 760 horsepower and 720 pound-feet of torque on premium pump gas, the same as the Mustang Shelby GT500. The bike is also fully clothed, so it comes with accessories such as the starter, alternator, belts to drive the supercharger, alternator and water pump, 92mm throttle body, exhaust manifolds and air conditioning compressor. Plus, the included warranty runs for two years or 24,000 miles as long as the long block isn’t modified. But every builder should know what he’s getting into.
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