With the Roush name prominently displayed on a number of Ford’s performance-oriented vehicles Roush Mustangs When it comes to Super Duty trucks, it’s clear that the Roush name is synonymous with high performance. Jack Roush, the driving force behind Roush Performance and the company-supplied crate engines, served as an engine development engineer for Ford Motor Company before establishing Roush Performance Engineering in 1976. Under Jack’s leadership, engines, Roush Performance’s cars and racing teams have enjoyed success in several forms of motorsports, a list that includes NHRA Pro Stock Drag Racing, SCCA and IMSA Road Racing, and NASCAR, to name a few.

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Crate motors are available in a variety of sizes, with uses ranging from direct replacement of an existing engine to engine swaps and inclusion in completely custom hot rod builds. While Ford and Roush both make powerful crate engines based on Ford small-block and big-block platforms, only Ford’s crate engines are built to factory specifications with factory tooling by factory-trained technicians.

With Roush’s racing pedigree, it’s no surprise that its crate engines are primarily legal only for use in applications where emissions do not need to be controlled. On the other hand, the fuel injected 7.3L Ford Godzilla Crate Engine is street legal, as it is the same engine Ford provides in the 2020 F-250 Super Duty pickup trucks.

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Both companies build high-performance engines. However, reliability and maximum permitted generated power depend on the components of each individual engine.

Ford’s Affordable 7.3L Godzilla V8 Crate Engine features a cast iron engine block, aluminum cylinder heads and a solid forged steel crankshaft. However, its cast aluminum pistons are a weak point inside the engine that limits it to 430 horsepower and 475 pound-feet of torque.

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The Roush 427 SRX crate engine, for comparison, also uses a cast iron engine block, aluminum cylinder heads, and a steel crankshaft. However, it includes upgraded components such as sturdy H-beam connecting rods and forged aluminum pistons designed to withstand the 480 horsepower and 500 lb-ft of torque it generates.

Another comparison, however, puts Ford in the lead. Ford Performance offers a 572 cubic inch crate engine rated at 655 horsepower, built on the Big Block 385 platform with 710 lb-ft of torque. The 572 crate engine features a forged steel Scat crankshaft, forged aluminum Diamond Racing pistons and forged steel H-beam connecting rods. The comparable Roush 588 cubic-inch big block, meanwhile, has similar internals but only produces 630 horsepower and 690 lb-ft of torque.

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