. I also wonder: MORGAN has allways engines from
big selling RWD cars. So why now they transform an exotic FWD?
René, this is not true for all engines Morgan has used. In the Ford Mondeo ST, the engine of the Roadster series 1 was installed transversely for FWD. Likewise, the Sigma engine of my 4/4 was transverse in the Fiesta, Modeo and Cmax FWD. In contrast, the Mazda engine of the P4SS in the MX5 NC was installed longitudinally, RWD. So was the 3.7 liter of the Ford Mustang. There were always both, even earlier the Zetec engines were transverse in many Ford models etc.
About your 2.0 GDI engine. It is not so easy to find its origin (but is succeed with the help of the forum) because at the time when the Plus 4 got this engine most Fords were already converted to Ecoboost. So this Mazda L engine without turbo (but already with direct injection) had a niche existence.
I may be wrong but I have read that the origin of the 4 cyl Duratec engines were at Mazda and Ford had taken them over at that time and called them Duratec...not the other way around.
As everyone knows the Achilles heel of the GDI 2.0 is its direct injection when it comes to tuning, against that the old Duratec 2.0 from the Plus 4 until 2012 or so was a warhorse and let almost anything happen to it. The engine of the P4SS actually had the good of both worlds, on the one hand from the old Duratec the conventional intake manifold injection which provides for cleaner valves, simpler engine control and more tuning possibilities (e.g. change to larger injectors, etc.) and on the other hand the variable intake cam, which I experienced in the Plus4SS as noticeably good for the torque curve. But as the old Duratec was, even without variable camshaft tuning was "easier" as seen at Omex, but the result related only to a small rev range.
If you disregard for a moment the TÜV and the cost should remain affordable would perhaps be the 2.0 MX NC engine a nice alternative?...bought from the car recycler in standard form 160 hp and with single throttles it makes 205 hp.