I missed that comment you have quoted! I'd like to see a YB do this kind of power / torque on a standard engine and make it to the bottom of the road.

The 2.5 has had, shall we say, a chequered history. My previous SPEC C was converted to a Cosworth 2.5 and achieved over 600bhp on Q16 race fuel, utilising a standard position bolt on turbo. Up until only recently it was the highest powered 2.5 on a drop in turbo. My old SPEC C was blindingly quick and was seriously cleaning up on the Scooby Sprint Circuit scene in 2009. Even beating the likes of Andy Forrest (in his SPEC C) and the Lateral Banana "Race Car".... it was a seriously good package. The major downsides of the 2.5 is the liner integrity and major headgasket issues. Now my block never failed me, but it blew the HG's at about 9k miles..... although my car did have the arse knocked out of it during it's very hard life. Recent times have seen companies using block inserts which seem to be working, so perhaps the 2.5 can gain some reliability again. However, I wouldn't ever touch a standard one as they are prone to HG failure. It's a shame and a backwards step for the marque in many ways in my opinion.

The current trend appears to be moving to a 2.1 set-up. Using the 2ltr block you keep the increased strength and thickness of the 2ltr liners and just change the stroke.