Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) Looking for a bit more "pep"

But if you go EFI mpg won't be an issue!! well if you use all the extra performance all of the time it might be.

If you can stretch to a Duratec Plus 4 that would be the best engine option, it's reliable, economical and puts out a respectable 143hp.

Mine (Monty) was first registered in early 2012 but was built late 2011, so he must have been one of the first Plus 4s with the excellent Mazda gearbox which is a joy to use, I’d say it’s definitely worth worth hunting down a Mazda box car

But if 143hp is not enough, and as you're "looking for a bit more pep", the Duratec is an easy engine to tune. Here's Monty making 173hp which represents a similar result to buying a late model GDI Plus 4 then having a Morgan dealer fit the ‘Club Sport’ kit to it. But to do that you would be looking at spending at least £45k all in and in reality probably closer to £50k, buying and tuning the earlier port injected Duratec engined Monty was just a far cheaper way to achieve the same result,



Importantly, as you can see I've also retained the excellent spread of torque, I just moved both horsepower and torque outputs up the graph by a meaningful 20%, which you really feel! Monty is now a 200 bhp per tonn classic, to put the performance into perspective that's the same power to weight ratio as a 3.6 litre Porsche Boxster 'S', a car that gets to 60mph in 5.5 seconds.

Monty still delivers 38 mpg on a run and as such he also retains the excellent 400+ mile touring range. I've probably reached the sweet spot by balancing performance, drivability, reliability and fuel economy, so I really should stop here.

Famous last words and all that

I think a Duratec plus 4 will stretch the budget way beyond breaking point. Yes certainly one would be very nice but prices in the mid £30k are beyond my pocket.

I had a zetec 4/4 & then a T16 powered +4 with the librands exhaust & manifold. The difference in pep was clear. I would look for a long door T16 +4 or later +4s if you can stretch that far.

I now have a 3.7l Roadster which is a way different car but if you like the lightness of a 4/4 the +4 is a good compromise to get more pep.