Performance Ford Magazine

When Natasha rocked into her local Ford dealer for a replacement ride, a vehicle capable of stowing the family in comfort and with all of the mod cons one expects in the 21st century, she entered the dealership with a list in hand of all the goodies she desired. Yep, here’s a lady not prepared to allow grass to grow under her feet, rather she knows what she wants and is prepared to pay the right money for it.

Following discussions with the salesman, it was realised that the only car capable of meeting her expectations was a Fairmont Ghia. And let’s face it, the Ghia’s standard equipment list is extreme as it includes a premium interior command centre with automatic dual climate control, large colour screen and trip computer, woodgrain trim, outside temperature display, memory power adjustable pedals /seat/ reverse auto adjust mirrors, leather wrap steering wheel, leather trim, 6-way driver power seat with memory mirrors, 6 disc in-dash CD, 17" x 7.5" alloy wheels with 225/50 zr17 tyres, and front side (head and thorax) airbags. Add to this an optional DVD satellite navigation system, and Natasha was staring down the barrel at around 55 large plus on roads.

A final figure agreed upon, Natasha was happy to run with the 182kw 4.0-litre DOHC VCT engine being of the opinion that it delivered more than enough low to mid range punch. Aint’ life funny though. Within a few months of tootling around Melbourne’s streets, Natasha concluded that in such a heavy car, and even though the engine’s power figure appear adequate on paper, it simply wasn’t enough.

“I have always liked fast cars, and I don’t believe there is any reason why the family hack shouldn’t deliver driving thrills,” she explained. “So I started talking to people about whether the engine could be breathed on for more performance. I also performed a lengthy internet search during which I stumbled upon www.xr6-turbo.com.au. So I rang them and spoke to Mario who advised that depending on how much money I had to spend, he could deliver a range of packages delivering up to around 350 kilowatts at the wheels. I have to say, that magical 350KW certainly interested me, so I ticked the box and it went from there.”

For effective reporting, we also contacted Mario to ask him how he went about upgrading not only the car’s performance, but also its appearance and handling characteristics. “As the major Victorian distributor of Nizpro’s range of Cobra BA Turbo upgrade kits, we discussed with Natasha the option of replacing the normally aspirated engine with a complete turbo engine. Realistically, upgrading the non-turbo engine requires a much more intensive program, however by slotting in a complete XR6 turbo engine, several potential problems are solved straight off the bat,” he advised.
 
Financials discussed, Natasha dropped off her Barra Ghia at Mario’s Rowville workshop (03-9763 1195) where the engine was removed and the ‘long’ shipped off to Nizpro for what Simon Gishus describes as the Cobra Stage 3 kit. Simon suggested that whereas some people out there are quite happy to boost the bejeesus out of the XR6T engine without paying any attention to the internals, the Cobra philosophy is one of prevention rather than cure. In other words, replacing the block, rods, pistons et all after an engine blow up typically ends up costing a lot more than if the engine was prepped at the outset.

To this end, Nizpro fully disassemble the engine, the core (block) is sonically checked for core shift, the bores carefully aligned, and all clearances brought to factory specifications (blueprinted). Custom Nizpro H-beam connecting rods and forged pitons replace standard fare, all of which is carefully balanced. Every factory part is also checked including the oil pump, the sump is scoured for manufacturing misgivings, and the cylinder head thoroughly checked prior to machining to accept oversize heavy-duty valve springs.

Following reassembly, the long engine was returned to Mario at Autotechnique (www.xr6-turbo.com.au runs under this banner) where a complete Cobra Stage two kit was fitted. Cobra kits are without doubt the most comprehensive of their type containing a massive array of components kicking off with a number of specially designed cast alloy parts. Their custom plenum chamber is a case in point, the design coming the way of both practical experience and computer aided design, the end result of which is an inlet manifold capable of delivering approximately 22Kw of additional power straight out of the box. Another huge advantage of the Cobra plenum is that by front mounting the factory drive-by-wire throttle body, it assists in removing a massive amount of the factory inlet plumbing.

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