New engine said to have flat-plane crankshaft despite technical limitations

The folks at Motor Trend seem to have the inside scoop on the next Shelby Mustang and what’s under the hood.

According to MT, the GT350 (which replaces the GT500) will not use the old supercharged 5.8-litre V8 from the outgoing Shelby. Instead, the engineers are conjuring up something completely different in the form of a 5.2-litre V8 with a flat-plane crankshaft.

Flat-plane cranks have their limitations, says MT, and one of them is balance and vibration when used in engines with larger displacements. However, according to sources, SVT engineers seem to have found their way around this issue by adding a vibration damper to the end of the crankshaft.

Even with this newer engine, power is expected to go down in the next Shelby. Output should float around 600 hp and 430 lb-ft of torque for the new 5.2-litre V8.