RS1800.com - Home of the Zetec 16V

The Zetec engine is strong and reliable in terms of both power and reliability and is almost a perfect engine to turbocharge. There are many variants in converting a Zetec engine to house a turbo set-up, this brief article talks about turbocharging the same on the standard ECU management utilising a re-mappable utility such as the Uni-chip set-up. In this form you can achieve a turbocharged Zetec that should push 180bhp at 10psi with considerable ease.

As for turbocharging any naturally aspirated engine the compression ratio must be lowered to avoid the big "pop" from within the cylinders. When turbocharging the 1.8 Zetec the standard pistons may be machined to achieve a compression ratio of 8:5:1 from 10:3:1. Whereas the 2.0L Zetec pistons cannot be machined to lower their C/R due to the base material they are manufactured in and hence will need to be changed for low-comp items.

Pic's of Zetec Turbo Conversion's

If you would like to feature your RS click here

An exhaust manifold must also be fabricated to propel the turbo whilst expelling the exhaust gases. This can be done through modifying a manifold with the addition of a Zetec adaptor plate to which the turbo bolts onto i.e. S1 RS Turbo manifold + Zetec adaptor plate + Escort RS Turbo T3 turbo. A -31 actuator can also be bolted-on in the conventional way. When using a method of compressing air the engine temperatures begin to rise which is why an uprated intercooler must be used to cool the engine and keep ACT's at their minimum.

Extra air into the engine = the need for more fuel. This can be accomplished by fitting an external fuel driver running a 5th injector in the crossover pipe. The extra air itself needs a fairly strong air flow meter such as one from the Mondeo turbo diesel to stop the standard AFM from bottoming out under boost. The last modification to complete this simple conversion are some quality boost pipes to carry the inlet charge to the throttle body.

- Pritam S.
RS1800.com Webmaster