Originally Posted by PF NICK

I'm not going to bother quoting anyone, or reading through the rest of the thread as I simply can't be bothered, I'll instead just answer the mans question.

We've recently built, mapped and dyno'd a Black Top Zetec Turbo engine, and thought you may benefit from some of our findings.

The spec is pretty simple, and gave us some pretty impressive results.
We used a set of Wossner pistons which gave us a compression ratio of 9.2:1, we ran it on standard early (Silver top) Zetec rods, although this is the weak point, if you can afford to, go for some steel ones. We used a stock head, and both standard cams. We also used an RS1800 inlet manifold (The ally one), and a Focus RS turbo manifold and GT25 turbo.

On the engine dyno at just 1.1-bar of boost, we recorded 273bhp at 6000rpm, and 329lb/ft at 3700rpm.

We had to cap the boost there because the torque figure was higher than we'd be advised to take the standard rods, but with them replaced, it will do well over 300bhp.

I hope this helps you make a decision, and before anyone starts, I'm not quoting any internet rubbish, I'm not regurgitating other peoples information. We've actually built and tested this engine on a dyno, and mapped it with two very reputable mappers/tuners.

And for the record, this was all carried out with regular pump fuel...