Ford Performance Vehicles has just launched its 2011 range and it’s the first time in the brands 43-year history that a naturally aspirated vehicle isn’t offered. FPV’s three GT models are all powered by the company’s new ‘Miami’ supercharged V8 and will go on sale from the end of October.

FPV’s high-tech, supercharged 5.0 litre V8 engine produces 335kW of power and 570Nm of torque, and is now standard fitment across the GT, GT-P and GT E models. It is the most powerful GT in the history of the brand.

The new engine is the main drawcard to the 2011 models so aesthetic updates have been kept to some distinctive new body graphics, including a ‘hockey stick’ stripe package and “Boss 335″ identification, reminiscent of the famous 1970 Boss Mustang. The luxury GT E model, however, retains its low-profile demeanour sans stripes.

In terms of standard wheels, the GT gets 19-inch five-spoke alloys with a machined face and Dark Argent accents, the GT-P gets 19in five-spoke alloys with a machined face and Sparkle Silver accents, and the GT E gets 19in 10-spoke alloys finished in Alpine Silver.

“FPV is extremely proud of our new GT range, and very excited about what we have created,” FPV’s General Manager Rod Barrett said. “The new engine is amazing, its all-round performance frankly sets a benchmark for Australian-made cars, and the exciting thing is that it has been developed here, for our cars. FPV’s customers certainly won’t be disappointed by the performance of the new GT range, or in the way the cars drive, and they have real presence with the new graphics package. We’ve created cars that fully deserve to be part of the Falcon GT heritage and, I think, will write an exciting new chapter in the model’s history.”

Developed locally by Prodrive in a $40 million program, the new FPV GT engine is based on the ‘Coyote’ Ford V8 first introduced in the American Ford Mustang earlier this year. It’s an all-aluminium design with double overhead cams and 32 valves configuration, is individually hand-built for each car, fully EuroIV compliant and offers improved fuel efficiency.

The supercharged V8 is also compact in size — 47kg lighter than the outgoing 5.4 litre Boss 315kW engine.

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