Find out about "2.5 Duratec Modifications"

How to modify and upgrade the Ford 2.5 Duratec

"Comprehensive guide to tuning and performance parts on the Ford 2.5 Duratec engine!"

Our friends at TorqueCars often are getting emails asking about how to improve the 2.5 Duratec from people wanting to know what are the best tips for 2.5 Duratec power upgrades. So let us look into Ford 2.5 Duratec tuning mods and outline the best upgrades on this great engine and point out some common pitfalls along the way.

Our aim here is to examine the options for your 2.5 Duratec tuning and outline the ultimate modifications for your car. Ford 2.5 Duratec make a good tuning project and with the ultimate motorsport upgrades like a remap, turbo kits and camshafts you will dramatically maximise your driving opportunities.

Just because particular parts are appear in lots of 2.5 Duratec projects it doesn't mean you should fit it, we will concentrate on the optimum parts that will give your 2.5 Duratec the biggest power gain return for your cash.

Without us subscribing to the popular mentality of 'if it's shiny and makes more noise it must be good' you seem to get in many tuning magazines and on car forums'.

Improving air intake on the 2.5 Duratec

You need air and fuel for an engine to work. If there is insufficient fuel then it will run lean, if there is little flow of air it runs rich resulting in lost 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 Forcing air and fuel into the 2.5 Duratec engine is the main goal to any performance tuning project.

It is common that there is a limit in the air flow sensor AFM/MAP on the 2.5 Duratec when considerably more air is being fed into the engine.

We note 4 bar air sensors coping with quite large power gains, whereas the OEM air sensor was restricting performance at a much lower level.

Engine intake manifolds transmit the on the suck phase from the filter and allow it to be sucked into the engine cylinders.

Shape and flow rate of the Headers can make a large improvement to fuel delivery on the 2.5 Duratec .

Commonly we find the air intake manifolds are in dire need of a performance upgrade, although some makers provide fairly well optimized air intake manifolds.

Fitting big valve kits, carrying out port matching and head flowing will also improve bhp, and significantly will give you raising the bhp increase on other tuning mods.

2.5 Duratec performance cam tips.

Some 2.5 Duratec engines respond better to mild cam durations so view each engine as unique.

The map and fuelling also have a large bearing on the power gains you'll achieve.

Longer 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 2.5 Duratec cam will make a dramatic difference to the engine power band. Choosing a higher performance cam profile raises the power band accordingly.

NB: Fast road cams tend to push up the torque through the rpm range, you may lose a little low down bhp but your top end will be better.

Competition cams, push up the top end band but as a result the car will not idle smoothly and low end power nearly always suffers.

On a road car you need to match your power band to your preferences.

I'd be gobsmaked if you have found a 2.5 Duratec Race cam is a pleasure to live with when on the daily commute.

Stage 1, 2 and 3 mods for the 2.5 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 2.5 Duratec parts:

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

Stage 2 2.5 Duratec parts:

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

Stage 3 2.5 Duratec parts:

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

A remap will help release the full potential of all the modifications you've done to your 2.5 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 end result may depend much on the modifications you've fitted and the condition of your engine.

Turbo modifications on the 2.5 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 2.5 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 massive power gains.

When the engine has a turbocharger upgrades are going to make more power and we find turbo charged engines are built using more solid components.

However engines will need better parts at higher power limits

See where you'll find these restrictions and upgrade to higher quality crank and pistons to utilize the power.

We've seen drivers spending a loads on turbo upgrades on the 2.5 Duratec only to experience the engine go up in smoke on it's first outing after it's finished.

Large turbos commonly experience low end lag, and low capacity turbos spool up quickly but don't have the high rpm power band gains.

In recent times the market of turbos is always developing and we are seeing variable vane turbos, where the vane angle is altered according to speed to lower lag and increase top end performance.

Twin scroll turbos divert the exhaust gases into a couple of channels and push these at differently designed 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 torque gains, although more difficult to get working. We have this feature on twinchargers if you want to read more.

Tips about fuel supply on the 2.5 Duratec

When you lift the bhp you will need to ramp up to the fuelling.

More bhp needs more fuel. Care modifiers usually say to over specify your injector capacity.

The accepted safe increase is to add 15% to the flow rate when specifying an injector, helps cope with injector deterioration and allows you some spare capacity should the engine require 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 2.5 Duratec performance exhaust upgrades

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

On most factory exhausts you'll find the flow rate is still good 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.

Please dont run with the widest exhaust you can get you'll slow up the exhaust flow rate - the best for power gains are usually between one and a half to two and half inches. Your exhaust design, the bend angles and construction are what have more effect on flow rates than your pipe width to a certain extent. So the exhaust design is a big factor.

Usual exhaust restrictions can be located the catalyst and filters installed, so adding a better flowing race alternative will help avoid this restriction.

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

Faults issues and things to look out for on the 2.5 Duratec

Like most engines an 2.5 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 2.5 Duratec , failure to do this will exacerbate engine wear, on a tuned 2.5 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 2.5 Duratec why not pop over to the forums at TorqueCars where you can chat about 2.5 Duratec tuning options and read about others projects who may be planning to do similar modifications on their 2.5 Duratec .

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