Has anyone heard of Ford's Flat Plane crank being introduced in the 2016 GT350?

[super-bee_ski]

Copied from SAE International 18 november 2014

Flat Plane Crank:
"So named because its four connecting-rod journals are spaced 180° apart, the shaft appears “flat” in a single plane when viewed head-on. The arrangement generally does away with the large counterweights used in the typical 90° "cross plane" layout which helps reduce crankshaft mass and enables the engine to rev more freely. The new Ford spins to a heady 8000 rpm before fuel cut-off, according to Nair, and has another 250 rpm of safe headroom. This from mildly oversquare 94 x 92.7-mm bore and stroke"

Natural aspirated 750 HP

Rumored to be available in the 2015 Shelby GT 350 R

 

[Meep-Meep]

Flat plane cranks have been around for a long time but haven't heard of this. Pretty cool!

 

[aldal]

I read about it I think it was in "Street Legal TV newsletter" did not know what they were talking about so I Googled it....pretty interesting.

 

[43tutor]

Here is some information about the flat plane crank.

http://jalopnik.com/what-is-a-flat-plane-crank-and-why-is-it-so-loud-an-ex-1659688239

 

[Gonzo_V]

I read somewhere That Shelby/Ford was offering a " Flat Plain " crank in there 2015 GT 350 cars.

 

[OldFolksMopar]

Yep, read about it in my Hot Rod Mag.

 

[lewtot184]

none of you young'ins remember the 180 degree race hemi? chrysler tried to race on something similar. chrysler's "thing" was a hemi with a 180 degree firing order. shook itself to pieces. maybe technology has improved?

 

[super-bee_ski]

Flat plane cranks have been around for a long time but haven't heard of this. Pretty cool!

Meep-Meep is correct....
The first "FLAT PLANE CRANKSHAT" engine/car was introduced by Cadillac in 1914!

Meep has earned "Cred" points!

Anyway, it seems the firing order is different than conventional engine design.
-I think...the left side cylinder fires and then the right side cylinder fires, Left, Right, Left, Right through out the firing order...
-The crank...when looking Center Line...the journals are 180 degree out of phase from each other.
-Conventional cranks are 90 degree in phase...0 degrees, 90 degrees- 270 degrees and then 360 degrees...

This engine will perform at 8,000 RPM
It is also "Naturally aspirated", Non-turbo...

Anyway, I watched the video of these "mule cars" at Germanys' Nurenburg race track...Impressive...

 

[Budnicks]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AzrOPPZFzs
Google,
Explanations for Ford using a Flat Plane {commonly single plane} Crankshaft V8
it was in Torquenews .com IIRC
about the 2015? or 2016 Shelby/Ford Mustang GT 350 {or GT350R}
sorry didn't save the link

I actually read in the 500-550+hp range NA/EFI 5.2 ltr {317.2ci}

Porsche & Ferrari also have used them too

yep some of these Flat Plane/Single Plane crankshaft designs have been around for quite while,
in different types of engines/makes & abandoned for some reason or other...

Interesting for sure, much better forging/casting materials &
much heavy metal balancing materials {like Mallory, very expensive thou}
& much better machining equipment today {CNC etc.},
to help make them work better, live longer, balance better,
without shaking the engine to pieces from vibrations {like in the past},
along with computerized electronics management, to handle ignition & fuel,
make them far more useable/user friendly...

It could be very interesting, to see how they end-up working out...

another cool crankshaft video for shits & giggles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvpFcSPtDV0