Today

Boreham Motorworks details 330hp TEN-K engine

Boreham's Mk1 Escort RS project gets more exciting still - guess what TEN-K refers to... 

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There was an awful lot to like about Boreham Motorworks Ford Escort Mk1 RS ‘Continumod’. It looked fantastic, all bubble arched, racing striped attitude, and it appeared to be beautifully put together. It was everything you’d hope to find from a continuation of an iconic car officially sanctioned by the original maker. 

It was surely the underbonnet possibilities, however, that were most exciting about the RS. Boreham revealed last year that there would be two engine choices for the 150 lucky so-and-sos getting a Mk1: a modified version of the original 1.8 Twin Cam, or a 2.1-litre, 10,000rpm screamer. It was hard not to be hugely excited about the prospect of the latter, with so much power in so little car. 

Now we know more about it, and the additional information has only heightened the enthusiasm further. Known as TEN-K (of course), the new 16-valve four-cylinder will be capable of 330hp at 10,000 rpm - or 10 per cent up on initial estimates. It means a specific output of 157hp per litre, which even the lairiest Type R Hondas and naturally aspirated supercars of days gone by can’t match. But then they didn’t rev to 10…  

The TEN-K (or BD10-330 to give the engine its internal development name, so it’s still kind of a BD engine) achieves this through employing a whole host of lightweight parts. The crank and conrods are billet, while the block was created using 3D printing, so as it sits here the engine weighs just 85kg. Watch the dyno vid for how quickly revs rise and fall, complete with individual throttle bodies for a proper ‘Now! That’s What I Call Rallying’ soundtrack. 

TEN-K has been on the dyno for six months now, refining calibration and exceeding those initial targets. Ian Muir, CEO of DRVN Automotive (the group that Boreham is part of), said: “The Boreham TEN-K is the result of relentless effort from our engine development team – a demonstration of what can be achieved when passion and precision come together. With the engine being currently installed in the car and mated to the bespoke, all-new, ultra-light weight fully floating rear axle, I can't wait to see it fired up for its first test run.” You and us both, Ian.  

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• The ‘new’ Ford Escort Mk1 RS is here
  
• Ford Escort Alan Mann 68 Edition | PH Review

[Ray_Aber]

Sounds fantastic! Love projects like this.

[Master Bean]

I assume this is a race engine similar to a Millington Diamond so service intervals are measured in hours. How does this compare to the GMA V12 which also revs to the moon?

[CH80]

Doesn't get much better than this. Great work.

[TheJimi]

Ooft! Cracking engine. I'd like to hear / experience that in the flesh.

I had tweaked B16a VTEC engine back in the day, and that went to just shy of 9k. Bloody thing was epic.

[Fetchez la vache]

Crikey what a thing.

[MinusOne]

Oh! I would love to have that engine in an S1 Elise.

[georgeyboy12345]

Hell yes! And people say 4-pots are boring!

[BricktopST205]

Super touring era BTCC engine numbers in a road car. Crazy. They made 320-330 at 8k rpm iirc.

[TerryFarquit]

Pah.
They need to turn it up to 11!

[nismo48]

Absolutely awesome

[Maccmike8]

Wow.

[MG-Steve]

I wouldn't believe anything this bunch say, it wont happen. See the Evolution E Types they were making a couple of years back... Nope because there isn't any!

[leglessAlex]

MG-Steve said:

I wouldn't believe anything this bunch say, it wont happen. See the Evolution E Types they were making a couple of years back... Nope because there isn't any!

That might turn out to be true, but that doesn't mean the engine isn't really damn cool!

Just one small bit of beef with this article:

The Article said:

...which even the lairiest Type R Hondas and naturally aspirated supercars of days gone by can’t match...

But this is an aftermarket engine, and lots of tuner engines make silly power. If you want to talk about Honda, I'm fairly sure 4 Piston Racing have made some properly insane NA K24s, I think their record might even be above 200bhp/litre (although I'll admit, I don't think this engine was suitable for the street).

[GTRene]

what can I say, wow, make a lot more of those

[fttm]

MG-Steve said:

I wouldn't believe anything this bunch say, it wont happen. See the Evolution E Types they were making a couple of years back... Nope because there isn't any!

It does seem rather suspect , the production costs for the expected 150ish units must be astronomical