310HP/ 320TQ Aluminum 4 cyl Ecoboost swap

[cornel45]

I want to eventually do an engine swap to my FR-S and have been looking into different options and I stumbled across the Ford Ecoboost 2.3 as a very compact, light alternative to the common LS swap. This is the engine found on the new Mustangs and they come with a 6 speed manual transmission. It is an all aluminum inline 4 engine that makes around 300 lb/ft of torque at only 2000 RPM. It propels the 3600lb mustang to 60 in 5.4 seconds and quarter mile in the 13's in stock form. They respond very well to basic intake/exhaust/tune mods and the aftermarket will be very strong for them because of their use in mustangs.
I think this would be a very ideal engine swap for the FRS because of the lightweight aluminum engine, small packaging and huge power gains. Also, fuel economy should not suffer very much if at all, judging by the EPA estimates for the much heavier mustang with the 2.3 engine.
There are going to be tons of these in junk yards pretty soon and I'd imagine they will be cheap compared to the 5.0 coyote engines.
I'd like to hear everyone's input on this engine swap as well as reasons why this would be a bad idea.
Here is a link to the engine I am talking about: http://www.full-race.com/articles/Mu...Drivetrain.php

[Alltezza]

Why dont you just drop a turbo in your FA20 and have the same power if not more than the 4 cylinder mustang?

Or is this just a project that youre interested in?

[Porcupint]

I'm with this guy^ drop a smallish turbo on your FA20 and go to a slightly taller final drive.

[continuecrushing]

so much win.

next thread:
What suspension(or exhaust/wheels/turbo etc) is best for my car? Plz help

[jawn]

Anything is possible if you throw enough money at the problem.

Every engine swap has 3 major hurdles to overcome, once you have enough money:

1. Clearance - is there enough space for the new motor and transmission? An inline 4 obviously isn't as wide as the FA20, but it certainly is a lot taller. Does the new transmission fit the current transmission tunnel?

2. Mounts - once everything is more or less the correct size and shape, you're probably going to need all new engine mounts and transmission mounts.

3. Programming and Wiring - will the Ford ECU play nicely with your gauges, traction control, ABS, sensors, etc...? Will you be retrofitting a Ford gauge cluster?

Obviously, you have other costs like routing exhausts, and sourcing a custom-length driveshaft, but these are easier problems to deal with.

If you don't think you can handle all of these things on your own, you're going to be paying a shop a good chunk of change to figure out all of these things, and you can easily spend into 5 figures getting everything to work.

More often than not, you're going to find that it'll be easier and cheaper to go forced induction on the factory motor. Basically every available turbo kit will get you to or above the 300WHP mark, and they start at $3K.

[cornel45]

Main reason I wanted a swap vs a turbo is because from what I've read on here, the reliability is just not there. I remember reading about a guy that blew his motor at 280whp, which is what the Ford 2.3 is at from the factory. Also, the manual transmissions in these cars don't handle too much power. Lastly, a motor that was designed from the start to be turbo'd with 300+ HP and Torque and with lower compression and stronger internals will be much more reliable than one that isn't.
I guess what I want is a responsive engine that is also reliable and a transmission that is designed to handle the power. Being an aluminum 4 cylinder inline engine, it should also be lighter than the FA20.
Incidentally the transmission that comes with the 2.3 L Ecoboost engine is the same as the one on the 5.0 Coyote, so it can handle more power easily.

Originally Posted by Alltezza

Why dont you just drop a turbo in your FA20 and have the same power if not more than the 4 cylinder mustang?

Or is this just a project that youre interested in?

[fang_gt86]

Originally Posted by cornel45

I want to eventually do an engine swap to my FR-S and have been looking into different options and I stumbled across the Ford Ecoboost 2.3 as a very compact, light alternative to the common LS swap. This is the engine found on the new Mustangs and they come with a 6 speed manual transmission. It is an all aluminum inline 4 engine that makes around 300 lb/ft of torque at only 2000 RPM. It propels the 3600lb mustang to 60 in 5.4 seconds and quarter mile in the 13's in stock form. They respond very well to basic intake/exhaust/tune mods and the aftermarket will be very strong for them because of their use in mustangs.
I think this would be a very ideal engine swap for the FRS because of the lightweight aluminum engine, small packaging and huge power gains. Also, fuel economy should not suffer very much if at all, judging by the EPA estimates for the much heavier mustang with the 2.3 engine.
There are going to be tons of these in junk yards pretty soon and I'd imagine they will be cheap compared to the 5.0 coyote engines.
I'd like to hear everyone's input on this engine swap as well as reasons why this would be a bad idea.
Here is a link to the engine I am talking about: http://www.full-race.com/articles/Mu...Drivetrain.php

First of all, why do you want this build? Race car/track? DD or just simply because of "Look, I got a very unique FR-S"? My wild guesstimate is that it won't be cheap. That means $10k if you do half of the work yourself, $20k if someone else do it. Anything can be done with a lot of $$$.

Why not just do a fully build Fa20 + a high quality kit for the same amount of HP and reliability for the same amount of $?

[Chad11491]

You make a lot of good points, but one blown motor does not = unreliable. Check out 86atlanta on Facebook. Our local tuner Doug at DBW has done a very large % of the FI twins in Ga, and runs a 3800 installed, tuned, out the door price on the sbd turbo kit. It will put you right around the 300hp mark. I can't recommend him enough.

[cornel45]

I want this build because I enjoy driving a more powerful car. Maybe I'm just used to more power, some of my previous cars were NA1 and NA2 S2000's, '04 CTS-V, '02 Lexus IS300 with LS3/T56 swap, 93 Supra TT 6 speed, and 92 Acura NSX 5 speed. I appreciate the way the FR-S feels probably more than any other car I've driven, but would like about 100hp more. I think it would be a perfect car at that point. I've had 500hp cars and that's not what I want. I think 300-350 crank hp is plenty for this car, I just want it to be reliable.
I know it won't be cheap. That's OK with me. I will be doing much of the work myself and 10k would be doable.
As far as a quality turbo build for the FA20, that won't be cheap either. At the end of the day I would still have an engine that wasn't designed for boost mated to a transmission that is a ticking timebomb. I could probably sell my low mileage engine and transmission for $3000 to offset the price of the swap and be at about the same price as building the FA20.

Originally Posted by fang_gt86

First of all, why do you want this build? Race car/track? DD or just simply because of "Look, I got a very unique FR-S"? My wild guesstimate is that it won't be cheap. That means $10k if you do half of the work yourself, $20k if someone else do it. Anything can be done with a lot of $$$.

Why not just do a fully build Fa20 + a high quality kit for the same amount of HP and reliability for the same amount of $?

[cornel45]

Originally Posted by Chad11491

You make a lot of good points, but one blown motor does not = unreliable. Check out 86atlanta on Facebook. Our local tuner Doug at DBW has done a very large % of the FI twins in Ga, and runs a 3800 installed, tuned, out the door price on the sbd turbo kit. It will put you right around the 300hp mark. I can't recommend him enough.

I did not know that.
Thank you. I'll definately check it out on Facebook.

[GotBRZ1691]

I wouldn't spend the time or the money for a 2.3L Ecoboost.

Turbo on a FA20 is all about the quality of the tune and managing the heat. Like mentioned above turbos can be had for ~$4,000 for the power range you are looking to get to.

If you want to do a budget swap, this is the route I would go:

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=94724

[raven1231]

Originally Posted by cornel45

I did not know that.
Thank you. I'll definately check it out on Facebook.

Holy hell that's a good deal!

[industrial]

Or you could just get a supercharger. Don't know why you need or want a turbo with so many good supercharger options for this car that'll get you to 220-380whp rather easily.

If you are really considering a motor swap for the reasons you stated, you'd be looking into a fa20dit not this ford thing.

[GotBRZ1691]

Originally Posted by industrial

Or you could just get a supercharger. Don't know why you need or want a turbo with so many good supercharger options for this car that'll get you to 220-380whp rather easily.

If you are really considering a motor swap for the reasons you stated, you'd be looking into a fa20dit not this ford thing.

Valid point.

OP if your only looking for another ~100 -~150 HPs then supercharge it. Too many options to remember them all.

Jackson Racing
Innovate / Sprintex
Kraftwerks
Harrop
EdleBrock
HKS
Vortech


to name a few...