Taurus, Duratec and the real tuning experience

Since I see most people don't care about modifying tauruses.. at least the new taurus my family got has some potential finally.. the old one just wasn't worth it, with the vulcan.. the 3.0L duratec however is..

What kind of things can be done to the duratec engine?

Tell me...

Injectors?

MAF? K&N? Bigger pipes i dont know?

Headers and Full Exhaust?

Computer?

Better Spark plugs and spark wires?

These kind of minor things give me what can be done and all that.

Then engine-wise it seems more important... 8.5:1 pistons (ross forged pistons and forged rods), this shit is mad expensive 1 grand + 1 grand... if only I knew where to get for cheaper. Bearings are cheap..

Custom turbo setup seems a good thing with proper tuning and the above... what do you think?

Now the other question is... since its the shitty automatic.. and I know how bad they are.. how can the transmission be upgraded? I'm not concerned about transmission NOW.. but later... what can be upgraded on transmission..

the stock injectors are good for awhile. You can use a pro-flow MAF. You can build your own intake out of a K&N filter. There are no headers made for the car, you can have your own full exhaust made. For ECU upgrades the only chip worth its salt is the Diablosport one, have it professionally installed. The stock ignition coil doesn't like aftermarket plugs or wires.

The AX4N is the best FWD transmission ford makes. Transgo makes a shift kit, but its mainly made for towing rather than performance. Any auto transmission performance shop would be able to customize your valve body and torque converter though, it would just cost a pretty penny. Put on a transmission cooler NOW, its really easy and will save your transmission.

Get a contour SVT. It has a 2.5L duratec and a 6 speed manual. And there are headers for the 3.0L; the SVT ones, they will fit.

headers made for a contour will not fit on a taurus. The SVT Contour has a 5-speed, not a 6 speed.

Alright lets say my father and I are the first to do something to a regular taurus heh... since no body seems to care much about taurus performance... we love our black taurus se with the duratec.. so we want it better... in black it certainly does look more bmw then taurus :p grey/silver, etc.. just looks like taurus, in black its just beatiful.. so we wish to make it a bmw.. lol :) Never will be, lets just say we try and make it a better car.

So... lets say draxas performance.. they sell all kinds of things.. lets start with engine mods...

How will the engine run when its running with 89 octane as oppose to 87, we wont go with 91 for now...


one cone air filter:
http://store.draxas.com/browse_products.asp?Cat=3&Sub=13


one new maf sensor (which?):

http://store.draxas.com/browse_products.asp?Cat=3&Sub=15

one bigger throttle body (which?):
http://store.draxas.com/browse_products.asp?Cat=3&Sub=16

Lets say this is just the first thing.. then we'll think about full exhaust (would like dual and dual tip exhaust for looks, sound and performance)

Then custom computer, and tuned, running higher octane (89 'extra' preferably as opposed to 87 and as opposed to 91 which would be too expensive after a while, so we'll go for 89 extra for the time being).

But first how to make new cold air intake, new bigger maf sensors (which), and bigger throttle body (which)

remember that if you're going to go with the draxas filters, you also have to buy their adaptor plate.

None of the throttle bodies you listed will bolt up to a Duratec intake manifold.

For the MAF you have to go with the 70mm one, its the only one that's calibrated to work with the duratec computer.

also, you say "lets say" wayyy too much

the stock injectors are good for awhile. You can use a pro-flow MAF. You can build your own intake out of a K&N filter. There are no headers made for the car, you can have your own full exhaust made. For ECU upgrades the only chip worth its salt is the Diablosport one, have it professionally installed. The stock ignition coil doesn't like aftermarket plugs or wires.

The AX4N is the best FWD transmission ford makes. Transgo makes a shift kit, but its mainly made for towing rather than performance. Any auto transmission performance shop would be able to customize your valve body and torque converter though, it would just cost a pretty penny. Put on a transmission cooler NOW, its really easy and will save your transmission.Well transmission cooler, soon...

We need to replace air filter anyway, so we want to go with K&N, now... on old taurus (although we didnt do it) i remember reading how airflow was restrictive as such i looked into 70mm and 75mm MAF sensors now how does one go about having a whole setup of this... what else...

The chip, does it need dyno time and tuning? Or what? where can it be gotten. What fuel is required, we use 87 (regular), there is also 89 (extra) and 91 (premium) unleaded.

Where do we get/find chip for the duratec taurus?

We're in oakville, ontario, missisauga is close by though.

We're going to get redline synthetic oil (the duratec needs 5w20). The engine is at 48,xxx now soon 49,000.

We are thinking about ross forged racing pistons and rods..

My father's car knowledge is ten years behind, and whilst in Canada whole time we did nothing on car on our own.. as such we need some guidance from you guys here :) Plus things change, parts change, company names change, what's the latest trend, etc... times change :p

Plus my research time has been spent on 240sx information.. unfortunately it's too much insurance for me as a 20 year old for the time being... and all time spent researching the duratec and taurus... has yieled little results and little info :( No one cares about tauruses heh.

Thinking about 80mm maf, so chip is a must right... give more info please :)

go to www.taurusclub.com and look at the archives and the boards.

You aren't the first person to mod a Taurus.

Mike
:smokin: