That's true.
Ford went with small displacement and decided to boost things up when they wanted performance but they stayed N/A with small boring mills for too long.
Looking back, we'll have to thank John Coletti.
This guy was the best thing that happened to Ford since Carroll Shelby.

 

I'm not really biased to one brand or another, but imho Ford is still stuck in that mindset. Could you imagine what the Coyote architecture would perform like with 6.2L displacement in the Mustang? They're currently keeping up with GM's larger engines, but I still believe in the old saying "There is no replacement for displacement". Modified equally I still think the bowtie crowd has the advantage, simply because of the increased displacement.

As far as a drag racing platform goes, I'd take the '02 Mustang over the '02 Camaro any day. So the LS in the '02 Mustang makes perfect sense to me!

 

The problem with big cube is that most folks don't want them, because of gas mileage mostly and it's hard to make them light weight.
Agreed with the no replacement for displacement thing but in the grand scheme of things, a car needs to turn and slow down efficiently so high horse power is not the absolute answer even on the track.
As it is, the current Mustang would be much better off with 400lbs lighter than adding more horses...

 

You won't get any argument from me on the weight. A 400# weight reduction is equal to a 40 HP increase. I think all of the "Muscle Cars" have put on too many pounds in their old age. GM, Chrysler and Ford.

 

Ask and you shall receive.

Ford 6.2

 

The LS motor is lighter and more compact than the 4.6 or the coyote. It would make for an amazing swap in the better Mustang chassis! Ford didn't get it totally wrong. The just let us down in the engine department mainly because their was no reason to up their game with GM killing the Camaro/trans am. We got a lighter body, a better rear end, etc.