speed 3 into focus?????

[SALEEN_N2O]

everyone says that the mazda 3 is a 2.3 dura, Right??? so will i be able to just do a swap from a speed 3 to the focus, i have the 2.3 dura so it should bolt right up, right?????


if its possible what i will need?????

[Sponsor]

[LastRites]

I don't think it is doable, but here is good reading on the engines in any case:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda_MZR_engine

[mpsii]

Just boost your 2.3... save the expense and hassle of the swap. You probably have the BEST engine for a focus to begin with.

[NikiterZTS]

i heard those Mazda3 speed engines go for like 7 geeeeez yooo

[DarkFire1986]

ECU wouldn't hook up. Gauges wouldn't work. Mazda Speed3 uses a six speed transmission, so it probably won't bolt up to your transmission.

[killer ZETEC]

yeah its easir to call focus sport and say turbo me, you'll end up wiht twice the car for half the cash easy.

[SALEEN_N2O]

i was just wondering........wold have been a good project for this summer

[FocusApex]

no..ull probally have more problams with the car...just turbo it and boost it...it will be better and save u lots of money

[honhon]

honestly. i could see it being worth it. just looking quickly at the specs of the speed 3 motor. it has slightly less compression that the focus 2.3, so you can probably run alittle more boost.

and sinse its a factory boosted engine, it'll more than likely have stronger internals.

the ignition and timing system is more advanced.

and the block and head are stronger pieces, the focus has cast alluminum, and the speed has alluminum alloy. and also one small thing,

the speed engine will be alot quieter, sinse it has a better "lifter" system for the valve train. not like our noisey mechanical buckets.

so just thinking about it, i would say...

you need the engine, tranny, shifter linkages, and possibly shifter out of a speed 3. then the entire engine harness and the PCM, which you can probably get those 3 things together(engine, harness and PCM) from a junkyard.

and i would say start from there, the axles may have to be one offs but maybe not. a drive shaft shop should be able to take the speed 3 axles and shorten or lengthen them to work with the focus spindals/track width.

so im sure with maybe a weeks worth of work, if nothing has to be fabricated from scratch, such as engine mounts, then i could honestly say its do-able.

because you cannot beat the specs.

if you get a turbo kit from focussport, and put it on a 2.3 in a focus, you can only get roughly 240whp without built internals, the speed 3 already has a leg up at that point with 263hp 14% driveline loss, puts you at about 223 whp with the speed engine. but then you've got a great platform, and could very very easily get the whp up on the speed 3 engine alot quicker, and probably very well without opening the block.

oh and sinse im sure the downpipe wont work properly, maybe... but you can then fab a 3inch down pipe to a 3inch exhaust, and that'll give your speed engine a bit of breathing room.

[mjmallon]

I agree with honhon in that it'd be a great swap to try, and I've thought about it a lot, came close to buying the parts once too, but upon closer inspection, for the focus we'd also likely need to replace the hood with a one-off hood, since the speed 3 uses a top-mount intercooler, as opposed to the front mount on the focus turbo kits.

You can see an ultra high-res rendering of the speed 3 engine here:

http://michaelmallon.net/fordfocus/MAZDA3_engine_HR.jpg

The other thing I've thought about is just the 6-speed transmission swap, but I've yet to find any decent pictures of the lower mount to see if it'd be close to bolting straight into the focus subframe without modification. Realistically, Assuming the mount fits, custom axles would be the only real issue with making it work.

Anyway, if I ever attempt any of this I'll be sure to post a thread, but don't count on it in the near future by any means.

cheers,

-- michael