Whipple Coyote Vs. Megazilla 2.0: Picking The Best Crate Engine

Whipple Coyote vs. Megazilla 2.0 is not a sequel to a Japanese horror movie but a battle for the future of Ford street and strip domination. Either supercharged Ford Performance crate engine will turn any project into a fire-breathing monster, guaranteed to scare little children and tear down Tokyo.

In one corner you have Ford Performance’s new Whipple supercharged Dark Horse Coyote engine, which in naturally aspirated trim is the pride of the new Mustang. This powerplant has been winning races pretty much since Day One. The new supercharged configuration will produce 800-plus horsepower and 615-plus lb-ft of torque, according to Ford Performance. It comes with five liters of displacement and dual overhead cams, but with that 3-liter blower cramming air through the engine, this Coyote will have you howling at the moon.

Which one of these crate engines would you pick and where would you put it? You have the Whipple supercharged 5-liter Coyote (left) making over 800 horsepower or the 7.3-liter Megazilla 2.0, also supercharged, expected to make over 1,000 ponies.

 

In the other corner is the newest old-school monster from Dearborn. The 7.3-liter Megazilla 2.0 has no fancy overhead cams, but it does come with ported and polished heads, upgraded valve springs, and forged pistons and connecting rods. Topping it is a Gen-6 3-liter Whipple supercharger. Ford projects it will make over 1,000 horsepower.

Ford’s legal types will warn you the Megazilla 2.0 is for competition-use only, but how does one define that? Isn’t blowing your neighbor’s Challenger Red Eye into the weeds en route to Cars & Coffee an act of competition? Just don’t be a cliché and take your Mustang off-roading into a telephone pole or crowd.

So, what would we put engines these in? Oh, the possibilities are almost limitless.

These variations are brand new, so we’ll run down the specifics as we know them. The blown Coyote is street legal and begins life as the 500-horsepower/418 lb-ft engine out of the Mustang Dark Horse. Having 100 hp-per-liter is always a nice starting point, but we know you need more.

It is paired with the 3.0-liter Whipple blower, a reprogrammed powertrain control module, and more, according to Ford. The finished product is expected to put down over 800 ponies and 615 lb-ft of torque.

Ford seems to have no qualms about pairing this monster supercharger with stock internals; it is available with a two-year or 24,000-mile limited warranty. (Any of you old timers remember when 550 horsepower was the point where 8.2 deck height Ford small-blocks split down the middle?)

Megazilla 2.0

Unlike the Dark Horse’s all-aluminum arrangement, Megazilla 2.0 starts with an iron block mated to aluminum cylinder heads. The 7.3-liter Godzilla powerplant is an interesting study because it has never been offered in a performance vehicle. It is a truck motor, but people are drawn to its displacement (445 cubic inches), cam-in-block simplicity, and massive torque.
But the potential is there for a whole lot more. Racers like Brian Wolfe and Paul Svinicki are winning races in sanctioned competition, and the Godzilla is a much easier swap into early Mustangs and Fords than the Coyote— its DOHC cylinder heads are a constant bother when it comes to fitment.

So, what would we put engines these in? Oh, the potential is limitless. I once swapped a supercharged 5.4 Lightning engine in a stripped-down ’86 Mustang. With headers, some rear suspension upgrades, a smaller pulley, and a tune, it went 10.50s at 124 mph. Imagine the Megazilla 2.0 in that car with double the horsepower!

With so many classic Fords available, the places to put one of these crate engines is almost limitless. At left is the author's old 5.4 Lightning powered notch. It ran 10s with a stock engine. Imagine it with more than double that horsepower. Or you could put a Megazilla 2.0 into an old Galaxie and pretend you're Burt Reynolds. An Ember Glo '66 Fairlane GTA would be the perfect place for either engine. (Left and right photos by Jim Campisano)

Swapping the Whipplized Coyote into an early S550 Mustang is a no-brainer. Finding one of these with a tired 3-valve 4.6 isn’t too hard, and they’re trading at reasonable prices. They make fantastic street machines. Of course, any SN95 would be a noble recipient as well.

We’d love one in a ’65-’73 Mustang fastback, but beware of shock tower interference before you begin.

I’m instantly intrigued by putting the Megazilla 2.0 into a classic full-size Ford up to 1972. How about a tribute to Burt Reynolds’ “White Lightning” Galaxie, replete with a Tremec TKX? Or a ’66-67 Fairlane? No, make that a ’56 Crown Vic. Or an early Ford pickup or Bronco. The possibilities are endless.

No pricing has been released on these engines yet, though we guarantee they won’t be inexpensive. Some are predicting $22,000 for the Coyote and at least $32,000 for the Megazilla 2.0 Steep, indeed. But people will buy them, and money aside, choosing between the two would be the hardest decision.

Which Ford Performance crate engine would you pick and where would you drop it?

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About the author

Jim Campisano

Jim's had a wildly varied career, from newspaper, magazine, and Internet writing to TV production and YouTube videos. Now, he's back at his first love: Automotive content creation because words matter.
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