Pardeep

Hi guys

Just a question about engines. Just trying to get knowledge on both.

Which would make a better Turbo engine out of the Duratec and Zetec for a RWD Focus MK1, and why?

Cheers Folks

Dan1281

i'd say the zetec just because they're more available and there are more aftermarket parts available for them, and there seems to be a lot of information about for turboing a zetec, duratecs are still reletively new

OldDan

Duratec purely for weight!

Pardeep

well i plan to learn about driving on track. My mate suggested a WRC CGI Zetec Block. I'm willing to spend the money and i admit it may take a little bit of time to get in order as i will have to prep the Focus exterior and have it resprayed.

To make it Rear wheel drive what would need to be done?

Dan1281

if you're using it for the track then wouldtn an all steel 2.3 duratec on ITB's be the way to go?

Pardeep

Well to be honest, i love the zetec in my Focus at the moment and i can only imagine a turbo one on track will be alot of fun if its RWD.

Dan1281

well it all boils down to budget, i'm no expert but if you have the money then a duratec is the way to go but if not you can get good power out of a zetec for a lot less, the weight difference only makes a big difference if its in someting like a kit car

Pardeep

Yeah i guess the budget will be enough for a Zetec.

Johnny Knoxville

Duratec

Can be taken out to 2.5, Supercharging works well and weight

tabetha

NO contest Duratec all the way.
Depending on how much power you want 300 is a walk in the park for a 2L on tb's.
tabetha

Rick

It is for a an ST170 headed zetec as well.

zetaboostboy522bhp

hi mate zetec turbo the way to go as you can see 500/600bhp with 2bar of boost
and will stay reiable as well. as far as i know ian howell of area six motorsport is the only person to try and turbo the duratec engine and try and get massive power figures and he spent a fortune on the head, turbo, inlet, sump, pistons, rods and in the end it was the block that was the weak point . it made a good 450bhp at 1 bar but split the corner of the block off and i mean split a whole section of metal off the corner. after spending all that money £20,000 he looking into getting a mazda modified thickwalled block from the usa but at a cost of nearly £5000 he gave up and called it a day.
hope this helps mate
cheers paul

It's Czech Mate

not normally aspirated it aint which was the point being made above about the duratec on ITB's....

OldDan

Mazda over here run turbocharged duratecs.

zetaboostboy522bhp

ian wanted a genuine 800bhp and everything was spec for that and it didnt work and i bet that mazda aint running over 350BHP through the duratec, plus ians was a 2.3

alan12112

Duratec FTW!!

Can you guess why i'm biased?

Johnny Knoxville

An amazing bit of engineering

Wasn't the engine machined for liners?

OldDan

Er, Mazda use 2.3T.


Not the point of how much power, these engines will have been pushed to destruction and beyond before they even thought about using it in production cars.

zetaboostboy522bhp

yes it was mate but with the increase in water temps it just split the block. the block wall that he showed me was only about 5/6mm thick compared to the zetec cast iron block which is alot thicker

zetaboostboy522bhp

these engine are designed for production not for racing, so basically what your saying is that ian spent over £20,000 of his own money developing the engine so it would just blow up , come on mate we are talking about one the best zetec tuners in the business who had everything custom built to get bhp figures and he would be the first to admit that its got its flaws , thats why he didnt continue with it and cut his losses.
also can you show me a dyno provern 500+bhp duratec 2.0l or 2.3l i dont think i have ever seen one but correct me if iam wrong
its not about who got the most power ,its about reiablity and the zetec engine has provern its self on more than one ocassion
thats just my opinion mate
cheers paul

Big Will_

Only needed if you're going 500bhp+

Rick

I'm talking N/A, they can shift serious amounts of air.

That's the problem with a lot of engines now - alloy blocks are no good for very high cylinder pressures used in forced induction.

Was this engine that Ian played with the one that was posted in the restoration section? I did wonder what happened, fair play - thats a lot of money to spend developing!

Rick

zetaboostboy522bhp

yeh i know mate he was hoping it would slowly take over from the zetec engine but it just didnt work, he spent vast amounts of money he told me the final figure for the head alone was around the £4500 mark , then there was the dry sump, pistons, rods,the gridle plate etc the list goes on and on , some things work and some dont thats life(£20,000 shorter)
paul

Pardeep

True. But if i remember Ian Howells first Focus, he had a WRC CGI Block running 370bhp. I guess it just adds to peace of mind that there alot more the block can handle.

I'm still working out calculations for this project and if it exceeds 15K i rather buy something thats already quick. If not i'll have to give into Sineads argument and buy a family motor. hmmmm RRS TDV8 lol

zetaboostboy522bhp

i am not 100% sure about the carbon block mate as this engine went into paul johnson fiesta and he is now using it in the focus i think its a zetec silvertop bottom end. ian said not to use the zetec cgi block as i was going to buy one off him as he had 4 for sale as they need alot of modding to them fit a road car , everything has to be custom built and he said its not worth it. my engine did 522bhp on a standard silver top engine and the best bit is i think hes selling the same engine package for £10,500 including pectel t2 ecu so you can take your missus on holiday aswell and he gives 12 months warranty , bargain

Pardeep

10k on a engine for me isn't a bargain lol

Its still a project idea that i'm playing with. Sinead is on my case as she wants to have a child of our own, and she already has 2 of her own. As much as i really want to go through with this project, i think sinead will put a stop to it. + she knows her cars and i don't think she'd appreciate 15k spent on a Ford

alan12112

Not too sure on all the duratec hate in this thread

If you want less than 500bhp i'd go for the duratec if you want over you WILL NEED a zetec mate

But what kind of power are you going for?

alan12112

Don't think it's a walk in the park hun

zetaboostboy522bhp

i dont hate anything mate well done for being different and having the bollocks to do it but the thread was about which engine was best to tune and at the minute i would have to say the zetec as it has a provern track record of big power

alan12112

Nah mate you've got me wrong i'm not having a go at you or anything but thread isn't about whats the best to tune it's about which would be better for this given application, which is why I asked how much bhp he wants

As if it's under the 450-500 bhp mark surely the duratec would be better as it'd same him weight on his track car?

Johnny Knoxville

I think 300bhp is enough in a everyday FWD road car anything more then your out to break records

tabetha

300 is piss easy on a Duratec, which IMO is far superior to zetec.
Having recently witnessed a marathon testing session with different ecu's on the same car/s(there were three cars, all slightly different engine spec), all trying different sized tb's, it was clear to see how easy it was to crack 300bhp with excellent torque as well, but christ were they noisy.
tabetha