I am aware that the current 145 HP in the Mondeo is a 2.3 Duratec HE. I rented one during my last visit to Germany in June 2001. :rolleyes:
There may not have been a production Zetec in a Modeo/Contour that put out more than 136/130 HP, but there have been at least two and maybe 3 Zetecs in production that put out more than 136 HP.
1/ Back in '98 myself and a coworker were looking to build a pair of Caterham 7's and we wanted to put some kind of a four in the Caterham that would be emissions legal in the US. Briefly we considered the 8 valve turbo 2.3 that was in the XR4Ti/Mustang SVO/Thunderbird turbo coupe, but we wanted a naturally aspirated twincam 16V four.
Another friend who works in our Stadthagen, DE engineering center made connections with Ford at Cologne. We briefley considered buying something called a Zetec-S that was 2.0 liter and rated at 145-150 PS (HP) but the cost wound up being more than DM 5700 so we gave up on that idea. I don't know if these were tuner motors, but had always assumed Ford put them in something. The other friend in the US wound up buying a professionally rebuilt '69 Lotus Elan with a 1.6 Cosworth (not a Lotus twincam) and avoided the emissions problems by buying a 25+ year old classic. I bought the car in item 3.
2/ The friend in Stadthagen has a Puma PS160. He tells me there were only 2000 of these monsters built. The 1.7 Zetec-S in the PS160 is rated at 155-160 HP depending on which literature you believe. I would love to own one of these (not practical) and would import a 125 HP 1.7 Zetec Puma and install a Zetec 2.0 from the S/R (see item 3) if I could.
3/ Eventually in the US I wound up buying a 2000 ZX2 S/R which has a 2.0 VCT Zetec rated at 143 HP (CA emissions) or 146 HP. (federal emissions)
When I dynoed (Dynojet) the (still stock) car at 5000 miles there was a '98 1/2 Contour there with a 2.0 Zetec 5-speed and some bolt-ons that made a pathetic 101-104 WHP at the front wheels. As the shop was setting my car up for the dyno runs, the owner of the 'Tour told me to expect be disappointed, since all the goodies on the S/R were cosmetic. When my runs finished in the 117-119 WHP range he shut up, disappeared and left. Since then I have switched to a S/R PCM with the federal (CWQ3) code, added a UDP, a 57.6 mm throttle body and port matched intake, made various intake runner mods (removed the 38 mm snorkel), changed to a 180F thermostat and and an Accel coil. Two sets of dyno runs since then have been in the 131 +/- 2 WHP range, so my guess is I am near 155 HP at the flywheel, assuming 84% drive train efficiency.
My target is 145 WHP. I still have to install the emissions legal JBA header, a slightly hotter intake cam and adjustable intake timing gear. If I don't hit 145 WHP, then a mild port and polish job on the head will be considered as well as a free flow but fully functional catalyst. Once I hit 145 WHP that's enough. I want an emissions legal and reliable but slightly fast car.
The Duratec HE in 2.3 form seems like a promising engine for projects. Hopefully we will get these in the US in something other than the Ranger.
