Tuning the Ford 1.8 Duratec

"Comprehensive guide to performance parts and tuning the Ford 1.8 Duratec engine!"

We often are getting posts requesting info on the best 1.8 Duratec mods that work. So let us look into Ford 1.8 Duratec mods and outline the best upgrades on this great engine and point out some common pitfalls along the way.

We shall review 1.8 Duratec tuning and point out the greatest modifications. Ford 1.8 Duratec offer good returns when tuned and with carefully chosen uprated modifications like ECU maps, turbo improvements and camshafts you will greatly maximize your driving experience.

The Duratec 1.8 is part of the Mazda Family under the L engine version and was designed by Ford and Mazda in collaboration.

• 1.8 L (110 CID; 1798 cc) 2003–2007 DOHC GDI I4 Ti-VCT
• 1.8 L (110 CID; 1798 cc) 2005–present DOHC I4

Just because particular tuning mods are popular with 1.8 Duratec owners it doesn't mean you should fit it, instead we'll optimum tuning mods that will give your 1.8 Duratec the best value for money to power increase.

Significant gains on the 1.8 Duratec can be made from camshaft upgrades. Altering the camshaft profile alters the intake and exhaust durations on the engine and can dramatically change the power band and power output.

NB: Fast road cams normally increase the bhp and torque throughout the rev range, you could drop a little low end bhp but higher rpm power will be higher.

Competition cams, increase the higher rpm power band but as a result the car will not idle smoothly and low end power nearly always suffers.

A Competition camshaft won't do well if on the daily commute.

You should ideally match your power band to your typical driving style so for a daily driver stick with a shorter duration 1.8 Duratec camshaft

Some 1.8 Duratec engines respond better to mild cam durations check your engine on a rolling road.

The ecu map and fuel pump and injectors also will say much on the torque gains you'll make.

Extending exhaust or intake durations can alter the torque band and on most engines the exhaust and intake durations do not need to match, although most cams and tuners use matched pairs there are some advantages to extending the intake or exhaust durations.

1.8 Duratec Best Tuning Mods & Upgrades

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Tuning Stages

Stage 1 1.8 Duratec modifications: Drilled & smoothed airbox, Sports exhaust manifold, Panel air filters, Fast road camshaft, Remaps/piggy back ECU, Intake headers.

Stage 2 1.8 Duratec modifications: high flow fuel injectors, fuel pump upgrades, Sports catalyst & performance exhaust, induction kit, Fast road cam, Ported and polished head.

Stage 3 1.8 Duratec modifications: Crank and Piston upgrades to alter compression, Engine balancing & blueprinting, Internal engine upgrades (head flowing porting/bigger valves), Twin charging conversions, Competition cam, Adding or Upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger).

ECU flashing should help to release the full potential of all the upgrades you've done to your 1.8 Duratec.

It will usually give around 30% more power on turbocharged vehicles and you can expect to see around 15% on NASP engines, but power output often depend much on the upgrades you've done and the condition of your engine.

It is the whole point to any engine modification job to pull more air into your 1.8 Duratec

Intake manifold take the air during the suck phase from the filter and allow it to be drawn into the engine cylinders.

Structure and rate of flow of the Intake headers can make a big change to fuel atomisation on the 1.8 Duratec.

Most plenum chambers are in desperate need of performance upgrades, although some car makers provide reasonably well designed plenum chambers.

Larger 1.8 Duratec valves, doing some 1.8 Duratec port enlargement and head flowing will also raise bhp and torque, and importantly will give you a greater bhp and torque increase on other tuning mods.

Turbo upgrades for the 1.8 Duratec

NASP engines need quite a lot of work when you add a turbo, so we have a separate guide to help you take into account the pros and cons of going this route on your 1.8 Duratec

The more air you can get into an engine, the more fuel it can burn and uprating the induction with a turbocharger upgrade makes superb power gains.

If the engine has forced induction tuning parts are going to make more power and you will discover turbocharged engines are made using more solid components.

There are weak spots for every engine, with some being extremely strong and some only able to handle stock power

Research these restrictions and fit higher quality components to utilize the power.

There are many tuners spending a lot of money on turbocharger upgrades on the 1.8 Duratec only to have the car catastrophically fail just after it's first rolling road session.

Bigger upgraded turbo units will usually suffer a bottom end lag, and low capacity turbo units spool up much more quickly but won't have the top end engines power gains.

Over the last 20 years the range of turbo units is always improving and we commonly find variable vane turbo units, permitting the vane angle is altered according to speed to lower lag and increase top end bhp and torque.

Twin scroll turbo units divert the exhaust flow into 2 channels and push these at differently profiled vanes in the turbo. They also help the scavenging effect of the engine.

You'll commonly see there's a limitation in the air flow sensor MAF/MAP on the 1.8 Duratec when considerably more air is being drawn into the engine.

You'll see that 4 bar air sensors coping with quite large power gains, whereas the OEM air sensor sapped power at a much lower level.

Adding a supercharger or additional turbo will make large bhp and torque gains, although more complex to get working. We have this in depth look at twinchargers if you want to read more.

Uprating 1.8 Duratec fuel injectors

When you improve the performance you will need to uprate to the fuel delivery.

More performance needs more fuel. We would recommend you to over specify your injector capacity.

The accepted safe increase is to add 20% when specifying an injector, this allows for injector deterioration and allows some spare capacity should the engine need more fuel.

We think this one is common sense, but you'll need to match your fuel injector to the type of fuel your car uses as well.

Best 1.8 Duratec performance exhausts

You may need to improve your exhaust if the existing exhaust is actually causing a restriction in flow.

On most factory exhausts you'll see your flow rate is good even on modest power gains, but when you start pushing up the power levels you will need to get a better flowing exhaust.

Sports exhausts equal out the flow of gases through the engine.

But if the exhaust is too large, ie: it's over 2.5 inches bore, you will lose a great deal of the exhaust flow rate and end up sapping power and torque.

Usual exhaust restrictions are traced to the catalyst installed, so adding a better flowing race alternative will help avoid this restriction.

Problems and issues to look out for on the 1.8 Duratec

The 1.8 Duratec engines, if regularly serviced and maintained, are generally very reliable and have few issues.

Regular oil changes are vital on the 1.8 Duratec, particularly when the engine has been modified and is putting down more power than the manufacturer intended.

For more information on Tuning your 1.8 Duratec engine please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss tuning options in more detail with our 1.8 Duratec owners. It would also be worth reading our unbiased tuning articles to get a full grasp of the benefits and drawbacks of each modification.

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We really like hearing from our readers, and hearing about which upgrades were the most effective for them, it helps us improve our recommendations and articles to reflect current trends in modifications and ensures that our 1.8 Duratec guides and tips are kept up to date.

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This article is flagged for an update, so please pass on specific tips below that I can include. All articles, and content was written by me, Waynne Smith TorqueCars founder. Some outlines are just too general so I appreciate your feedback and suggestions. This entry was filed under Ford. You can leave a response below or join our forum to discuss this article and car modification in detail with our members.

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