Well as the story begins, yesterday I began working on a project with our air handling engineering team at Volvo. First off of course, I sat down with the engineer who I will be working with most of the time on this project. Like anybody else that I meet for the first time there, he asked what made me want to become an engineer, where I want to end up, etc. Since I obviously bleed Ford blue, I told him about how I have LOVED cars all my life, have been drawing/designing cars since I was about 6 years old, and I ALWAYS put a Ford badge on them,and always listed all the specs for the car. I pretty much spelled it out to him how much I want to work with Ford, no matter what state they may currently be in. All of this got him smiling a bit, as he worked in Detroit himself (not for Ford though). Then he told me something that made me want create a topic on this forum. As it turns out, the guy who works in the cubicle beside him used to work for Ford himself, so he introduced me!
Lets just say I was already pretty excited, but when I asked him what projects he worked on, I almost choked on my tongue. Turns out that this guy worked with the V-Engine team, specifically the Mustang V-8 engines!! At this point I was basically like a 5 year old in Toys-R-Us. Just briefly he told me about how a lot of his work was with SVT's engine programs!! Low and behold, he worked side by side with good ole John Colletti himself! Since I had alot of stuff to look at with the project I was working on, I had to cut the conversation short, but that wouldn't be the end of it!
Today at about 3:45 I decided to go over to ask him a couple questions about working there, and after loosing track of time, I ended up leaving at about 5. I asked just about everything I could think of from developing the awesome "Terminator" engine, to the the V10 engine that was seen in the Mustang test mule on Youtube, and later put in that Shelby Cobra concept a couple years ago. Remember that badass dual intake sittin on that V10? That was his design work! After he and a couple others from his group developed that engine as sort of a "skunkworks" project, it was later dug up to be used in the Shelby Concept, how cool is that! And yes, he said it was a fun engine to play with. He also said that about the "Boss" Mustang that John Colletti used for that Car and Driver comparison against that Camaro. Actually, he had A LOT of great things to say about that car.
From what he said about the engine going into the next Mustang, it will more than likely be a 5.0 of some sort. He said that they have been working on 5.0s for quite some time now, especially a DOHC 5.0 like the Cammer Crate engine. And if you were wondering about the new "hurricane" engine, he said it is HUGE! He compared its size to one of our 11L diesel engines...which are pretty big. From what I understand about it, it should make some good power with a lot of displacement.
The thing that I couldn't believe though was the whole 1999 Cobra engine fiasco....You wouldn't believe some of the stuff about that engine he told me about. First of all, that engine was never meant to be advertised at 320hp...never...and it never actually made that either in test form.
Well since I have pretty much written the longest post ever, I will stop there. If anyone has any questions I will gladly try to answer them from what he told me, or get an answer. I have to say I am really pumped to learn all of this stuff, and someday I hope to work my dream job just like he did.
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Currently A Co-Op Engineer With The Volvo Powertrain North America Product Development Team
I didn't ask anything about a twin turbo 6 going into the new Mustangs, but something did come up about twin turbos. From what he told me, Colletti's original plan for the "Terminator" Cobras was to have a twin turbo V8 instead of a supercharged version. I can only imagine what that would have been like. And if you wondered about why Colletti left, lets just say he was forced out for a variety of different reasons.
To the person who asked about what the industry is like, for me it's a blast. I've been a car nut all my life, so walking around the Volvo facility here and watching and listening to engines being tested, and getting to work with things that the public never gets to see is quite amazing. I started out at a small company for my first internship, and it was much more hands on dirty work type of stuff, which a lot of people coin as "real engineering." In my opinion though, while working for a big company takes some of the hands on type of work out for engineers, the knowledge that you will gain cannot be beaten. I walk through the big doors with a smile on my face everyday, and some times without warning you may get to talk to someone who has had your dream job at one point, and then it makes everything that much better. Hope that helps you a little bit.
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Currently A Co-Op Engineer With The Volvo Powertrain North America Product Development Team
Hey Ninerfan, did your buddy give any idea of what hp numbers ford is shooting for with the next mustang engine and if they plan to be competitive with dodge and chevy in the hp department??
So that confirms Ford is going to use a new version of the 5.0 for the 2010 GT. Hopefully it will get the 4v heads and 6-speeds trans like other supposed "reliable" sources are saying.
hey ninerfan what school are you cooping through? I'm a coop myself....i wish i was working for a auto manufacturer
West Virginia University...hence the logo in my sig lol. Yea, the auto industry is pretty cool, especially since it has been my dream to work for a company like this since I was a kid.
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Currently A Co-Op Engineer With The Volvo Powertrain North America Product Development Team
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Insider Info!!!! - 
I am jealous.
