Ford Performance Delves Into The New 5.2L ‘Aluminator XS’ Crate Engine

Ford Performance is determined to keep the 5.2-liter, flat-plane-crank Voodoo V8 unique to the Shelby GT350 Mustang, it would seem, but that doesn’t mean non-owners can’t benefit from it.

Say hello to the Ford “Aluminator XS” crate engine – the result of wedding the Voodoo’s block and cylinder heads with a cross-plane crank and different high-lift camshafts. Ford Performance wheeled the new crate motor out to the Woodward Dream Cruise in Detroit last August, and a recent release gives us access to some of the engine’s finer details.

First, the power: the new 5.2-liter Aluminator XS from Ford Performance produces more than 570 horsepower with no turbos or superchargers, thanks to a very high (12:1) compression ratio and high-flow CNC GT350 heads. The camshafts are all-new – and indeed had to be, since those installed on the GT350’s Voodoo engine are suitable only for the firing order of a flat-plane-crank V8 – while the pistons and crankshaft are forged for improved durability in the face of high-performance stress. The connecting rods are of the H-beam variety for the same reason.

Finally, feeding air to Ford Performance’s 5.2-liter Aluminator XS are the tuned intake manifold and dual 65-mm throttle body from the latest Ford Mustang Cobra Jet. The former by itself allows for 20 to 25 extra horsepower at 8,000 rpm, says the automaker, which sheds light on another nifty detail: the new crate motor can rev to at least 8,000 rpm.

“Ford Performance Parts is always developing new crate engines,” says Ford Performance Parts Marketing Manager Matt Monroe. “In this particular case, we leveraged many of the high-performance production parts created for the GT350 production car. FPP engineers made slight modifications to work with the cross-plane crank. As a result, the Aluminator XS is a capable, high-revving aftermarket offering that we think our customers will appreciate.”