Modifying and improving: "Duratec Modifications"

How to modify and upgrade the Ford Duratec

"Comprehensive guide to tuning the Ford Duratec engine!"

Hey fellow gearheads, ever wondered how to spice up your driving experience with the Ford Duratec engine? If you need to know more about the best upgrades for your Duratec, this is the article for you. Get ready to rev up that Ford because we're about to unlock the full potential of this versatile powerplant.

The Duratec engine, introduced in the late '90s and still making waves today, is the heartbeat of various Ford models, from the nimble Focus to the spirited Escape.

This inline-four and V6 powerhouse isn't just about commuting; it's about injecting some adrenaline into your daily drive.

Let's talk numbers, my friends, because that's where the magic happens. The Duratec delivers a punchy performance, with power figures reaching up to 300 horsepower, depending on the variant. It's not just about raw power; it's about precision engineering.

Now, why am I, your car club compatriot, getting all hyped about the Duratec? Because we're not just here for a casual chat; we're here to guide you through the labyrinth of modifications and upgrades.

And the best part? We're on a mission to make your Duratec roar without emptying your pockets.

So, grab your wrenches because the next part of our journey is about turning that Ford into a performance masterpiece. It's not just about saving time; it's about making every drive with your Duratec a symphony of power and exhilaration. Stay tuned, and let's elevate that Ford experience together!

Popular tuning sites like TorqueCars are frequently getting messages asking about how to improve the Duratec from people wanting to know what are the premier Duratec mods that work. So let us look into Ford Duratec modifications and outline the best modifications on this great engine and point out some frequent tuning mistakes along the way.

This pages aim is provide a guide to Duratec tuning and show the optimum modifications. Ford Duratec make awesome project engines and with the optimum performance upgrades like remaps, turbo upgrades and camshafts you will positively improve your driving fun.

The ultimate Duratec parts on an engine are usually the ones that give the best power gain for your hard earned cash.

We won't be swayed by popular Duratec parts, they need to be cost effective.

Improving air intake on the Duratec

You need air and fuel for an engine to work. If there is insufficient fuel then it will run lean, if there is not enough air it runs rich sapping power and potentially damaging the engine. We'll pick up on fuelling later in this article but for now we shall look at air supply.

So it's important to any engine modification task to force more air into your Duratec but this has a knock on effect with the air flow sensor.

It is not unusual that there is a restriction in the air flow sensor AFM/MAF on the Duratec when considerably more air is being drawn into the engine.

We see 4 bar air sensors coping with quite large power gains, whereas the OEM air sensor limited power at a much lower level.

The intake plenum transmit the during the engines suck phase from the air filter and allow it to be pulled into the engine and mixed with fuel.

Structure and flow rate of the Plenum can make a big improvement to fuel atomisation and engine efficiency on the Duratec.

It's not uncommon that headers are in desperate need of an upgrade, although a few car makers provide reasonably well designed headers.

Larger Duratec valves, getting port matching and head flowing will also increase power, and as an added benefit will make space for an improved power increase on other tuning mods.

Duratec performance cam tips.

Some Duratec engines respond better to extreme cam durations so view each engine as unique.

The ECU mapping and injectors and fuel pump also will make differences on the power gains you'll get.

Altering valve durations can alter the power band and on most engines the exhaust and intake durations do not need to match, although most cams and tuners use matched pairs there are some advantages to extending the intake or exhaust durations.

Altering your Duratec cam will make a dramatic difference to the engine torque. Choosing a higher performance cam profile raises the torque accordingly.

NB: Fast road camshafts normally raise the torque through the rpm range, you may sacrifice a little low down torque but higher rpm power will be lifted.

Competition camshafts, raise the higher rpm power band but as a result the car will not idle smoothly and low end power nearly always suffers.

For a road car you should ideally to match your torque band to your preferences.

You'll never find a Duratec Motorsport camshaft is a pleasure to live with when on the daily commute.

Stage 1, 2 and 3 mods for the Duratec

Before we break the best tuning upgrades down into stages of tune, let's list the most effective tuning upgrades for you.

1. Suspension Upgrades - always improve your cars handling
2. Brake Upgrades - Even before adding power improve those brakes
3. Intake - make sure the intake is not restricted, use filters and intake upgrades to improve this
4. Exhaust - as with 3 ensure there is not restriction in the exhaust, cats are the usual bottleneck
5. Tunes - remapping, piggyback ECU's and aftermarket ECU's can all make decent gains
6. Fuelling - when you've increased power you'll need to match this with more fuel
7. Turbo upgrades - Improving the intake with a large turbo and better flowing intercooler will be the biggest power gain you'll see (but one of the most complex).

This video guide to tuning cars is a great starting point to work from in your project.

Stage 1 Duratec parts:

Fast road camshaft, Drilled & smoothed airbox, Remaps/piggy back ECU, Panel air filters, Sports exhaust manifold, Intake headers.

Stage 2 Duratec parts:

fuel pump upgrades, Ported and polished head, high flow fuel injectors, Sports catalyst & performance exhaust, Fast road cam, induction kit.

Stage 3 Duratec parts:

Internal engine upgrades (head flowing porting/bigger valves), Crank and Piston upgrades to alter compression, Competition cam, Twin charging conversions, Adding or Upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Engine balancing & blueprinting.

Mapping allows a tuner to to establish the full potential of all the parts you've done to your Duratec.

You will typically expect to see gains of approximately 20-30% more power on turbocharged vehicles and you can expect to see around 15% on NASP engines, but the outcome may differs on the parts you've fitted and the condition of your engine.

Turbo modifications on the Duratec

To get a turbo working on a NASP engine there is a lot involved, from lowering compression ratio to improved fuel supply and mapping, so we have found a great guide to helpavoid the common pitfalls or end up with an unfinished project because you were not told what you were getting into by doing this on the Duratec.

The more air you can get into an engine, the more fuel it can burn and uprating the induction with a turbocharger upgrade makes significant power gains.

When your motor is fitted with a turbo parts are going to make more power and you will discover turbo engines use more solid components.

However every engines have weakspots

It is important to find these limitations and upgrade to better quality crank and pistons to survive the power.

It's not unheard of car owners spending a lots of money on turbo upgrades on the Duratec only to suffer the indignity of watching the engine go up in smoke just after it's used in anger.

Big turbo chargers tend to experience a bottom end lag, and smaller turbo chargers spool up more quickly but do not have the high rpm engines power gains.

In recent times the choice of turbo chargers is always improving and we commonly find variable vane turbo chargers, where the vane profile is altered according to speed to lower lag and increase top end bhp.

Twin scroll turbo chargers divert the exhaust gases into two channels and flow these at differently angled vanes in the turbo charger. They also increase the scavenging effect of the engine.

Beefing up the air intake by adding a supercharger or additional turbo will help you achieve very large bhp and torque gains, although more complex to setup. We have this in depth look at twinchargers if you want to read more.

Tips about fuel supply on the Duratec

Don't dismiss the need raise the fuelling when you are increasing the bhp - it makes the car more thirsty. It makes sense to over specify your injector capacity.

The rule of thumb is to add another 20% when buying an injector, which takes into account injector deterioration and provides a little spare capacity should the engine need more fuel.

Don't forget that different fuel grades will usually require different settings, a high octane fuel will burn more efficiently than lower octane fuel for example. A car will trim fuel supply to keep within the ideal air fuel mix but at the extreme ends you may need to adjust your injector capacity, or the mapping or you'll get flat spots and potential lean or rich fuel issues..

Recommended Duratec performance exhaust upgrades

You only need to to increase your exhaust system with an upgraded one is if the current exhaust is actually causing a restriction in flow.

On most factory exhausts you'll find your flow rate is ok even on modest power gains, but on a serious tuning project with a big boost in power you will certainly need to get a better flowing exhaust.

Sports exhausts equal out the flow of air through the engine.

But if the exhaust pipe is too big, ie: it's over two and a half inches diameter, you will lose much of the exhaust flow rate and end up sapping power and torque.

Usual exhaust restrictions can be traced to the catalyst and filters installed, so adding a freer flowing high performance alternative will help avoid this restriction.

Decat pipes (NB:catalysts reduce harmful engine emissions) is illegal in most countries and regions.

Faults issues and things to look out for on the Duratec

Like most engines an Duratec, should have few issues if it gets properly serviced and looked after.

We cannot stress enough the need for oil changes with the correct grade of oil on the Duratec, failure to do this will exacerbate engine wear, on a tuned Duratec this is more important than ever and close attention should be paid to your maintenance schedule.

If you are interested in learning more or getting impartial tuning advice for your Duratec why not pop over to the forums at TorqueCars where you can chat about Duratec tuning options and read about others projects who may be planning to do similar modifications on their Duratec.

We need your help to complete and improve this page, so do give us your feedback in the comments box below.

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This entry was posted under Makes and Models. Tags: engine, Ford
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