Ford announces Godzilla V8-based Megazilla crate engine

Crate engines are the part of the horsepower iceberg that most motorists never see, but the competition between Ford and Chrysler is just as fierce in the parts department as it is on the sales floor. Proof is that the Blue Oval announced a mysterious V8 named Megazilla that could arrive as its answer to Mopar's Hellephant V8.

"We're also working on a super-secret project known as the Megazilla. It's going to increase the power output from the 430 horsepower that comes from the production crate engine," revealed Ford Performance product manager Mike Goodwin in a video showcasing the Godzilla engine. He added more details will be released soon.

While that's a rather thin crust of information to dig through, it's reasonable to assume the Megazilla will be an evolution of the Godzilla V8, which started life in the Super Duty pickup truck and joined Ford's growing catalog of crate engines in summer 2020. Goodwin didn't say how much more power engineers can knead out of the eight-cylinder, but it's reasonable to assume they'll favor forced induction over more displacement. Godzilla is a naturally-aspirated, 7.3-liter eight-cylinder with push rods and an iron block that produces 430 horsepower and 475 pound-feet of torque in its standard configuration. There's plenty of room to increase — and possibly even double — those figures by simply topping it with a supercharger.

Keep in mind the aftermarket tuners working with the 5.0-liter Coyote V8 are starting with less power and less displacement and crossing the 800-horsepower threshold by making relatively minor modifications. Hennessey's Venom 800 offers 805 horsepower and 727 pound-feet of torque courtesy of a 3.0-liter supercharger, for example.