I have been following the MTW Garage 56 thread with interest and the improvement in torque and power looks impressive which prompted me to think, doesn't happen very often.
The GDI has a very convoluted intake and although the intake starts just above the radiator it then snakes over the exhaust manifold turns 90 degrees right into the air filter, across the back of the engine bay and then turns again before eventually feeding into the engine.
The exhaust manifold appears to be a mass production low quality cast item, looks horrible, then almost immediately feeds into a close coupled cat of unknown, but probably dubious, efficiency.
A well engineered intake kit, exhaust manifold and less restrictive cat should release a similar percentage increase in torque and hp and my experience with the Blacktop Zetec supports that. This could increase the peak hp from 154 to around 180 with a corresponding increase in torque and hp across a wide Rev range.
I would love to know if anyone is working on such an upgrade or even if one already exists as it appears to offer a cost effective upgrade path. Any comments?
