Duratec - Ford's new-school engine can be as wild as you like on the road - with the right combination of parts, naturally.
This engine really represents the new order of thinking. According to specialists SBD Motorsport, you can almost go as wild as you like because their induction and engine management kits virtually smooth the engine out to the point where it's almost a pussycat to live with. SBD's Steve Broughton even reckons that applies to their 300bhp kit!
A completely standard Duratec will easily see 200bhp with merely an induction change - in this case that's almost exclusively throttle bodies. Steve reckons these can be massive and still retain excellent throttle response. They regularly fit 52mm bodies - although they favour their own taper design, helping no-end with response and driveability. With the right exhaust, the basic level of SBD tune is 203bhp and it moves on from there with a set of CM-DUR01 cams, raising the bar up to 215bhp, then beyond to 250-260 with CM-DUR02s. Steve reports that the standard cams are extremely mild to achieve the very low levels of emissions this engine is reowned for - therefore the margin for improvement is huge since this is a naturally excellent breathing engine.
Huge power comes with a CNC-ported head and steel components above 245bhp - and you can go to this with the proper combination of parts and mapping/engine management. Perhaps this then is our cut-off point because revs are needed beyond to get the most amount of power. So with this engine then it seems., it's not so much of what's a pig to live with, rather than how big's your wallet because apparently, virtually any level of tune can be tolerated. |