Upgrade to 300 bhp +

[cake eater]

Looking for a little advice on getting more than 300 bhp from a 2.0l tr 250 bph duratec. I have recently had an extensive rebuild of my S3 Caterham but nothing was done to the engine, it's basically r500 spec with a tracsport type 9 gearbox and diff.

I have a few options.
Sell my engine, exhaust and gear box, install a 2.5 and sadev
My main concern with this is how this will fit with the current bonnet cutouts etc
Supercharge https://www.tts-performance.co.uk/single-post/2017...
Caterham already has a proven solution to this
SBD 290 kit https://www.sbdmotorsport.co.uk/index.php/products...
Just how long will an engine of this spec last

Suggestions and advice appreciated. Thanks.

Pictures below of how the car looks now

[DCL]

You won't get 300 bhp out of a 2L unless it is supercharged, but that comes with quite a high weight penalty (and all in the wrong place) which will compromise the handling of the car. That's not to say it will be bad, just that it can be much better - adding lightness is fundamentally what a Caterham is about.

You can get 300 BHP out of a normally aspirated 2.5L relatively easily, and it will fit in the Caterham with very little change. I decided to just swap the short engine (ie reused the 2L head oil pump sump, exhaust etc.). That gave an increase of 13mm height which is workable in the bonnet and exhaust cut-outs with a little fettling.

[cake eater]

Thanks, I read your page on FB "engines and gearboxes in detail" and have watched your 2.5 build and aero development with interest.

I will definitely give the 2.5 more consideration now.

Thanks,
Robert

[upsidedownmark]

dig into the "duratec in detail" blog/website - IIRC there's a ton of info there. Or ecoboost (personally loathe the idea, but..)

Or, as much as I hate to say it, accept that there are probably better answers than a caterham for straight line punch?

p.s. That's DCL, isn't it.. so maybe you found that already!

Edited by upsidedownmark on Sunday 16th August 23:12

[Mitch911]

From racing in Mag 7s, I would say avoid the supercharger route at all costs, and be wary of any 2.0 or 2.3 making 300+, reliably.

I would definitely go with the 2.5 route, and aim for a torque monster with c.300bhp but don't bother going chasing the last bhp and don't rev the nuts off it. That spec should actually work and do so without needing 10-20 hour rebuild cycles.

[Olivera]

If money is no object, fit a Millington Diamond? Anyone ever done this on a Caterham?

[cake eater]

Money is definitely a factor.

Have decided to go with the 2.5 but keep the same gearbox to keep costs down. Still not going to be a cheap engine swap.

As said 300 bhp seems a good target with 245 ftlbs which according to Duratec in detail should equate to 7500 revs (from the graphs on his website)
Now have to see who builds the engine and the best way to get it in an S3

[cake eater]

Then the question, who to build it?

[Tazio77]

DCL??

[Lefty]

SBD claim to get >300bhp from a 2.0, must be revving to 9k+ i would imagine!

2.4 might be a good shout.

[cake eater]

SBD have a great product.

I've decided to go with Raceline and Ultimate Performance 2.5 head with UP rods and pistons.

Thanks for all the help and advice, especially from David and Simon.

Robert

[Lefty]

Fantastic, that’s going to be a beast in something as light as a Caterham! I’ve got a 2.0 Duratec in my mk2 escort, around 200bhp and quite fancy a bit more.

[cake eater]

Looking at specs, 290-300bhp should be achievable but really it was the torque that I was looking for and this should be around 230-240ft.lbs

This would be 40bhp increase and more a impressive 70ft.lbs which should also suit the longer gearing in my tracsport type9.

Obviously the car is already fast but it should now be effortlessly fast and not run out of puff at 120!

😎

[Olivera]

cake eater said:

Looking at specs, 290-300bhp should be achievable but really it was the torque that I was looking for and this should be around 230-240ft.lbs

This would be 40bhp increase and more a impressive 70ft.lbs which should also suit the longer gearing in my tracsport type9.

Obviously the car is already fast but it should now be effortlessly fast and not run out of puff at 120!

??

What kind of money does it take to build a Duratec to that power/torque?

[cake eater]

Full price list available from Raceline on their website, link below

https://www.raceline.co.uk/products/index-duratec-...

Specifically for 2.5
https://www.raceline.co.uk/pdf/DURATEC_2500cc_2018...

For SBD 2.4
https://www.sbdmotorsport.co.uk/index.php/products...

There's a large range of price and build specs

[Lefty]

Serious money but what an engine!

At that money would a Millington be of interest? Alloy blocked YB, reliable, tested, huge power and torque

[cake eater]

I had a look and the 2.5 seems to be a similar power/torque to the duratec. Not sure about weight comparison but main concern would be width and height to get into a Caterham, mounting points etc.

https://www.millingtonengines.co.uk/new-engines/

For me the duratec 2.5 is a known commodity in a Caterham, even in an S3 chassis. With a range of products and knowledge available. I could turn up at any Caterham garage and get support.

The millington engine would be unique but bring unique problems and solutions.

[bdev]

I'm sure it will be awesome, but please consider adding a full cage too ? - I'm not one to get nervous but just thinking about 300bhp Caterham on track without a full cage makes me cringe a bit!

[cake eater]

Will have to be an SLR cage. If you look carefully you can see the cage is already snapped