Typhoon/Tornado

[blueroo]

Hello,
Being from America I have basically no knowledge of the Aussie sixes aside from them being more developed than the US sixes.
Anyhow, the turbo/intercooled 4.0L in the Typhoon and Tornado (I believe it's the F6 270 engine) has really caught my attention. I first heard about it around the time the Typhoon came out and was impressed by the roughly 367 hp and very impressed not only with the torque (405 ft lbs I believe) but also with the range it produces that torque.
Is the engine really as it good as I think it is? Also, is there a way to get it as a crate engine (with matching 6 speed) and how much would it cost?

 

[addo]

You probably can get it somehow. There's no official crate motors. Cost would be mega; you'd get a pretty serious eight for the same dollars by the time it landed.

From what I've heard, even the regular turbo sixes are hitting 6+K (Oz) at the salvage auctions with significant damage and a good number of miles already.

Regards, Adam.

 

[gassed250]

These guys should be able to help
They may try and talk you into one of their 1226hp engines
http://www.nizpro.com.au/

 

[MRJLB84D]

i hear blokes are buying the atmo BA engines from wreckers ( i have seen them for under $1500!) and getting a capa supercharger kit fitted, 350kw! most expense is the capa kit as them boys are not cheap!

they do however whack vortecs on anything, wonder if they have a kit for my lawn mower!

 

[xctasy]

The engine is very, very sublime until you stomp on it. Then it becomes all killer, no filler.

The XR6 engine does 15.5 second quarters from 243 hp and 283 lb-ft. The XR6 Turbo engine is rated at 321 hp and 331 lb-ft, but its actually 10 units more in both measures when tested cool. It only gets 6psi of boost at the most and has a huge GT40 ball bearing turbo and a very restrictive intercooler. Seldome sees more than 4 psi when warm.



The F6 variants of this engine are mildly modified, and have really good heavy duty con-rods. The Turbo is excatly the same as the XR6 Turbo, but there is a bigger intercooler, and the engine management is reworked to see almost 9.5 psi if its cool enough. The engine is boost modulated to protect the transmission, but it has a small amount of lag in it at low revs becasue there is so much boost and the turbo is so big.

There is no lag evident at all in the XR6 Turbo. V8 guys who are used to the earlier factory 5.6 and later 5.4 Small block Falcons and 5.7 and 6.0 liter Chevy V8's drive around with there foot down, and then lift off when they don't see the grunt, just before the boost comes in like a prize fighters fist.

The F6 is in fact much, much faster than any 5.4 Quad Cam XR-8 Falcon with 348, about line ball with the GT-P Falcon 389, and only just behind the DJR 320 Falcon with its wild 5.4 Liter normally aspirated 429 hp engine. All the drive reports seam to say you have to have b-a-l-l-s to drive it, sort of like an early 911 Turbo Porsche.

As a day to day drive it has a sweet Tremec 6-speed gear change, nice clutch and is milder and more tame than something that has more torque than a big block. People speek of how the car shrinks around you when you start to hammer it.


One of our guys here, George, had his at the drag strip. Considering it weighs almost 3900 pounds before the driver even gets in it, was not run in, and it dropped a 13.2 second quarter mile at sea level it's pretty good. Drive reports with a stock F6 have shown as high as 14.2 seconds for the quarter mile, 14.6 seconds for the XR6 Turbo, and the previous 15.5 for a stock Falcon.

Sort of a SHO on steriods!!!

 

[blueroo]

So I'm gonna guess that my stock suspension and rear axle need to be changed otherwise I'm guessing it'd destroy my car. About how big is the engine in width, height and length? Due to the turbo I'm also going to guess that I need to go to IFS to get rid of the shock towers.

 

[MRJLB84D]

the turbo motor should fit in ya engine bay, sorry i dont know dimentions

 

[blueroo]

I forgot to ask this one...about how well does the engine do on economy?

 

[xctasy]

The engine is very economical but.....


It can do 25 imperial miles per gallon ( US 20 MPG) in a 3800 pound car at a constant 62 mph. Step on it, and it drinks 362 hp of fuel, no different to the latest Pontiac GTO. Fuel use plummets to 12 US mpg. Varaible valve timed cars behave like turbos. Very economical on small throttle openings, very thirsty when pushed.


You may be aware that every 250 pounds shaved off the total weight gives a 0.5 mpg saving. Putting a 270 Barra engine into a 3000 pound Mustang could give an extra couple of miles per gallon on the open road no matter if its cruised or thrashed.


The engine would be a litle hard to package. No problem with the block height or length, its all quite compact. Its the intake plenumb and sump. The

a)frame braces and
b) the steering drag link and
c) sump

are the key intrusion points. Intercooler and pipes can be made to fit, but there is a lot of work there.

Sump is all structural alloy, and the air plenumb, although it hasn't changed since 1993, gets close to hitting the spring tower braces on early Falcons and Mustangs. You then have to secure the right ECM and body computer, the 2005 Mustang style fly-by-wire accelerator, and then hook it all up.

Reconditioned Turbo engine blocks from Nizpro or Ford Australia are 4500 to 5500 Australian dollars before export costs of over 1500 A $. Then you have to get all the bits to go with it. Wrecked XR6 engines go for about 7500, maybee less. XR6 Turbo's go for far more, and you have no chance of getting a wrecked F6 engine since they will only make 800 or so this year for a tiny 1 million total car sales in Australia this year.

The six speed Tremec T56 gearbox is down right scarce, the common BTR 4-stage auto is not avalible in any US market car except the old Maserati GT 3200 or some Volvo's.


Good fortune!