i don't fear the death of the V8. take a look at the development they've done in V6 engines, and look how far they're pushing them from horsepower and mileage. I don't think V8's have seen the end of their development days yet.
Moving to a lighter platform is great news to me, i'm dying to know what the "6th gen" is going to look like though, how much smaller will it visually appear, if any. and i fear the explosion that will occur in the photoshops thread when the first photos of it are released....