efficiency of a standard zetec?

[d.bluefocus21]

I have a question about this statement.....I hear alot of people say inefficient a standard zetec motor is compared to lets say a duratec, svt zetec, honda motors, ect ect..

how efficient are we when use the FR head, Cossy/FS head, or even a ported out stocker? Is it just the overall design of the head regardless if it's ported or a aftermarket? or are our stock ports that closed up? Does it have to do w/. that standard zetecs don't have any type of vvt? or vct? or dsi?

my thought on this, is when they say this they are talking about the flow of the head correct? if not, somebody elaborate a lil bit for me. Why is our motor really inefficient in comparison to alot of other types of motors? What did Ford do wrong lol? at least w/the zetec

what makes us inefficient?

I'm just curious, thanks : )

[focusownerskid]

Inefficient design, can't flow around that.

- Drew

[opus1]

Here’s a quote from arguablely one of the top Zetec engine builders: “With Zetec we have to deal with the hand that is delt us (Zetec = moderatly poor flowing head) Yes you can port it but for that 99.9% 300 to 340 is your goal and a good stock head to an FR head isnt worth but about 15HP , changing cams will net you about 4 to 7HP for a turbo grind from the numbers I have tested so its like beating your head against the wall to get good power with adding mods or porting or cams

Keep dumping the boost to it and it will keep making HP , dumping parts at it will get costly and not make a lot of gains

Saying that, I do believe a ported head is needed when building a stronger engine for many reasons, I dont believe the cams are worth it but if you have the budget they will make a little HP/TQ”.

[guitarseth]

Yeah, from what I understand, the ports aren't ideally shaped and porting them enough to shape them correctly kills the intake velocity, which makes for lousy combustion.

Having no experience with head/intake design, I'm talking from my ass, but I assume with deep enough pockets and enough dedication to a dead engine, you could probably design a completely new head to put on it that flowed better. But the returns are not worth it...

[focusownerskid]

Originally Posted by opus1

Here’s a quote from arguablely one of the top Zetec engine builders: “With Zetec we have to deal with the hand that is delt us (Zetec = moderatly poor flowing head) Yes you can port it but for that 99.9% 300 to 340 is your goal and a good stock head to an FR head isnt worth but about 15HP , changing cams will net you about 4 to 7HP for a turbo grind from the numbers I have tested so its like beating your head against the wall to get good power with adding mods or porting or cams

Keep dumping the boost to it and it will keep making HP , dumping parts at it will get costly and not make a lot of gains

Saying that, I do believe a ported head is needed when building a stronger engine for many reasons, I dont believe the cams are worth it but if you have the budget they will make a little HP/TQ”.

Cams make power.



Tom is correct on all accounts, just underestimating a little is all.

- Drew

[opus1]

A little more info please...Are you saying that you’re making near 50 WHP on cams alone?

[boost4fun]

Is that dyno with a pwsc, header and cams ?

[opus1]

Originally Posted by focusownerskid

Cams make power.

Tom is correct on all accounts, just underestimating a little is all.

- Drew

Also if you re-read the quote—he did said 300-340whp where the Zetec plateaus mechanically, yours still have a little ways to go before that happens.

[a_sesshoumaru]

zetec is worthless, no matter what you buy the only way it gets quicker is with a turbo, but if you face another turbo cars, you will always loose, i dont blame the engine, i blame the gearbox

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

.... wrong.....

ive seen a zetec making over 300whp NA... so the power potential is there... you just gotta know where to find it....

yes, turboing our motors makes for the most power potential... but that is pretty well true w/ all 4cyl motors...

no... the gearbox isnt the problem... if the gearbox is causing a problem... then its the driver not knowing how to drive his own car....

the Zetec is a potent little motor when properly massaged.... just like most 4 bangers... all it takes is brains and cash...

Is tom's drag car running a duratec? either way, its a 700+whp car... running an ATX... (if im not mistaken)

a race is about 25% machine... 70% driver... and 5% luck.... now of coars if you pull up next to a twinturbo supra... in a turbo foci... your chances of beating said supra are slim... but those are two different classes of cars... and if the driver misses a shift... or perhaps the race is on a road coarse, you'll catch up in the turns

-AcId-

[sleeperlove]

the gearbox is geared quite nicely for a turbo car. a little tall for a NA car but its not that terrible. and very few of those other turbo cars can match the chassis and handling of the focus

^^^ beat me to the punch

[2Slik]

My roomate's 2006 dodge neon has header, cai, rt intake mani, vibrant exhaust, running a manual transmission and he's running a 16.3 which when I had the same mods I was running a 15.6 so zetec isn't absolutely garbage.

[zetecwagon]

Originally Posted by opus1

“With Zetec we have to deal with the hand that is delt us (Zetec = moderatly poor flowing head) Yes you can port it but for that 99.9% 300 to 340 is your goal and a good stock head to an FR head isnt worth but about 15HP , changing cams will net you about 4 to 7HP for a turbo grind from the numbers I have tested so its like beating your head against the wall to get good power with adding mods or porting or cams

Keep dumping the boost to it and it will keep making HP , dumping parts at it will get costly and not make a lot of gains

Saying that, I do believe a ported head is needed when building a stronger engine for many reasons, I dont believe the cams are worth it but if you have the budget they will make a little HP/TQ”.

It looks like Tom was quoting numbers for a boosted Zetec not N/A, so how do the same parts respond without boost? Is the FR head good for 15hp N/A?

[opus1]

Originally Posted by zetecwagon

It looks like Tom was quoting numbers for a boosted Zetec not N/A, so how do the same parts respond without boost? Is the FR head good for 15hp N/A?

IMO, N/A is not the best method of making a lot of power for the Zetec—You need all the bolt-ons, cams, FR head & a great tune to make 160-170 whp max for a daily driver, not a good dollar/hp equation; therefore, not very efficient. I think those of us who has gone strickly N/A feel that we should have gone FI to begin with. We love our Foci because of: Styling, low entry level cost, fun to drive, handling & not for engine efficiency.
Dare I say that with the same amount of money to spend on modifications—You can get more efficient power from a Honda.

[cjmartinyzx3]

Originally Posted by opus1

Dare I say that with the same amount of money to spend on modifications—You can get more efficient power from a Honda.

sure you can say it, because its true. they are a better engine. but like you said, we dont buy the focus because of the engine.

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

you also need to consider the price difference between a honda and a foci... 9/10 times... you can get a great looking foci w/ less miles for less then what you'd pay for a honda... especially if they are new... your talkin what... $18,500 msrp for an SVT foci... and for an SI honda... roughly $22,000 msrp... and w/ the extra money you saved on the foci... you could supercharge it.. and eat up that SI

it all really depends on what your looking for out of a car... the civic is a decent car... so is the foci... so what ever you prefer I suppose

-AcId-

[cjmartinyzx3]

also you have to factor in the theift rate.. hondas get stolen way more often then foci .

[2Slik]

Yep all 3 of the last posts are dead on. Zetec may not be great N/A but it being a closed deck iron block makes for a good boosted engine. Ford has the Duratec to fight that battle but refuse to let the focus have the power and give it all to the Mazda line.