That's a very good question, and I'd be interested in knowing the answer myself. My take on this is that any stresses from the higher hp output of the SHO get distributed amongst the parts associated with the two extra cylinders. What was the power rating of the SHO V8 - around 240hp? That's 30hp/cylinder the SHO V8, compared with 33hp/cylinder for the SVT 2.5L and 28 hp/cylinder for the non-SVT 2.5L. So I would guess that the rods and pistons in the SHO V8 are under less stress (individually) compared with the ones in the SVT 2.5L, and I'll speculate that Ford used the same ones.


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