Editing Ford Modular engine (section)

==Origins==
In the early 1980s, then-Ford Motor Company chief operating officer [[Donald Petersen]] challenged Ford's vice-president of design, [[Jack Telnack]], and his staff to come up with new vehicle designs to replace the boxy styling that had dominated Ford products for years. The result was the adoption of sleeker, more aerodynamic designs like that used for the highly successful [[Ford Taurus]]. In the second half of the 1980s, Petersen, then chief executive officer, sought to update Ford's decades-old V8 architectures, challenging Ford senior engineer Jim Clarke to develop a new V8 engine that would surpass Ford's earlier V8s in every meaningful way, from power and efficiency to emissions performance and smoothness of operation.<ref name="Origins">{{cite magazine |last1=McCosh |first1=Dan |last2=McCraw |first2=Jim |date=October 1990 |title=Detroit Shifts the Balance of Power: This year, the engine technology headlines are made in America |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lQEAAAAAMBAJ&q=Modular+V8&pg=PA82 |magazine=Popular Science |publisher=Times Mirror Magazines, Inc. |pages=82–85 |access-date=2016-12-12}}</ref>

Clarke and his engineers studied engine designs from major European and Japanese automakers and sought to develop a technologically advanced, power-dense, dependable, low maintenance V8, with no major service required before {{cvt|100,000|miles|km}} of use. 

The initial engine design would implement a 90° vee-angle with a bore and a stroke of {{cvt|3.552x3.543|in|mm}}, resulting in a {{cvt|4601|cc|L CID|1}} [[Engine displacement|displacement]] and creating a nearly 1:1 [[Stroke ratio|bore-to-stroke ratio]]. This square configuration was chosen primarily for its positive [[noise, vibration, and harshness]] characteristics. The engine would utilize features such as a chain-driven, [[SOHC|single-overhead camshaft]] valve train with [[Cam follower|roller finger followers]], a deep-skirt cast-iron [[Cylinder block|block]] construction and [[Cross-bolted bearing|cross-bolted main bearings]], all benefiting long-term durability. In the interest of reducing overall engine weight, aluminum-alloy [[Cylinder head|heads]] would be standard and all major engine accessories would be mounted directly to the block, resulting in a more complex block casting but eliminating the need for heavy mounting brackets. All engines in the family shared a common bore spacing of {{cvt|100|mm|in|3|order=flip}}.<ref name="Origins"/>

Tight construction tolerances were used in shaping cylinder bores to accommodate narrow [[piston ring]]s. This improved engine efficiency through reduced friction and oil consumption while also promoting cleaner [[Exhaust gas|emissions]].<ref name="Origins"/>

Various single- or dual-overhead camshaft eight- and ten-cylinder engines could be produced. Six-cylinder derivatives were also explored, though never built. In order to accommodate the wide array of engine configurations possible within this architecture, Ford developed a new modular tooling system for producing different engines quickly and efficiently in the same factory. 

Such an approach allowed for significantly faster changeovers when switching from one engine platform to another among the modular engine family. This also allowed for the existing engine plants, and their supporting offsite production facilities, to handle shorter production runs.

By 1987 Ford was fully committed to producing the new Modular V8,<ref name="Visnic">{{cite magazine |last=Visnic |first=Bill |date=2007-10-29 |title=Ford Determined to Stay on Top With Modular V-8 |url=http://wardsauto.com/news-analysis/ford-determined-stay-top-modular-v-8 |magazine=WardsAuto |publisher=Informa PLC |access-date=2016-12-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220100928/http://wardsauto.com/news-analysis/ford-determined-stay-top-modular-v-8 |archive-date=2016-12-20 |url-status=dead}}</ref> having invested $4 billion (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=4000000000|start_year=1987}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}) in the engine's design in addition to retooling the company's [[List of Ford factories|Romeo, Michigan]] tractor plant to build the engines. Three years later, in the third quarter of 1990, the first Modular engine, a 4.6 L SOHC V8, would be used in the 1991 model year [[Lincoln Town Car]]. In spite of having a smaller displacement, the {{cvt|20|lb|kg|0}} lighter 4.6 L Modular V8 could generate more power than the Town Car's previous [[overhead valve]] [[Ford small block engine|5.0 L V8]] and accelerate to {{cvt|0–60|mph|km/h|0}} 1.5 seconds faster, all while delivering better fuel efficiency.<ref name="Origins"/>

Ford modular engines would go on to become its chief gasoline V8s and V10s.