We have good news, we have expensive news, and we have more good news. First, the Ford Performance 7.3 Megazilla V8 crate engine has a price and will soon be available to order. Ford announced the motor three years ago, a hiccup called Covid preventing the automaker from taking the engine on tour until last last December’s Performance Racing Industry trade show. Megazilla’s official specs are 615 horsepower at 5,750 rpm, 638 pound-feet of torque at 4,650 rpm (two fewer torques than initially announced at 860 more rpm), 500 lb-ft available from 2,500 to 6,000 rpm when drinking premium gasoline. Ford hasn’t listed a weight yet; Godzilla crushes the scales with 580 pounds. You can’t order Megazilla at the time of writing, either, but if you sign up for an account at the site, you can add the engine to your wish list and Ford will let you know when your request will be granted.
The expensive news: Megazilla costs $22,995. That gets the engine, oil pan, and wiring harness. A control pack to run the engine with a manual transmission costs $2,650, a pack for an automatic transmission is $100 more. You’re going to want a starter, too — that’s $265. And since you’re in the accessories bin, the drive bits like an alternator and bracket, power steering pump, idler pulley, and belt cost are bundled in a front accessory drive kit that asks $765.
Megazilla is the bigger brother of Godzilla, the 7.3-liter V8 that debuted in the 2020 Ford Super Duty pickup. Godzilla tops out at 430 hp and 475 lb-ft of torque. Megazilla keeps the cast iron heart and aluminum heads, shading the former’s output numbers with the help of upgrades like Mahle forged pistons on Callies forged Ultra H-beam connecting rods, CNC-ported cylinder heads, and a low-profile intake manifold breathing through the 92-millimeter throttle body pulled from the Mustang Shelby GT500‘s Predator V8 that replaces Godzilla’s 80-mm throttle body.
Ford spokespeople said the engine was designed “to be easier to drop into car applications rather than just trucks.” It’s narrower than the 5.0-liter Coyote V8 in the Mustang and comes with the specially designed intake that won’t interrupt the lines of a Mustang hood. As for how high Megazilla’s numbers can go, stock output figures for both engines represent Ford’s modesty. Brian Wolfe took an atmospheric Godzilla with similar internal upgrades, a 90-mm throttle body, and a 12.5:1 compression ratio to 789 hp and 558 lb-ft, an addition of 349 hp and 83 lb-ft. Merkel Racing Engines created a custom twin-snail setup for Godzilla with twin intercoolers and bigger injectors, leading to a dyno graph showing 1,114 hp and 1,037 lb-ft. And Willis Performance Enterprises bolted up Whipple’s 3.0-liter supercharger plus some supplemental parts like new heads, cam and lifters, hitting 1,450 hp and 1,030 pound-feet. One would think Megazilla will be prepared for even more.
So what about that even more good news? When Ford took Megazilla to the Indy trade show last year, little brother Godzilla cost $9,175. Despite the economy, Godzilla now costs $8,500. It doesn’t come with the car-friendly low-profile intake, that adds another $1,125. But if you don’t need the svelte form and don’t want to go Mega, you can buy a Godzilla right now, and $14,500 can pay for a whole lot of power.
