Yep, I'm thinking of leaving the derby world and entering into dirt tracking. I'll be running in the 4 cylinder "hornet" class at a somewhat local track here in Wisconsin. I got all the connections I need to get the cage and race seat set up, all I need now is my car. I'm looking for a ford escort wagon with a manual tranny, preferably a '93 because that's the year I'm told has the 2.3? mazda motor in it. One thing is for sure I will be the fastest wagon out there next year (probably only because I'll be the only wagon out there).
Ummm, if I'm not mistaken, wouldn't a '93 Escort wagon have a 1.9 SOHC in it? My brother had a '96 Escort LX and that's what it had in it.
Moreover, wouldn't you want a RWD car for dirt track racing?
Well, hey, I'm not too much of a real ford guy, so I was just going on what I had heard, so for all I know you could be right. As far as the RWD, yea it'd be nice but theres a guy already running a fox mustang in the class and he just dominates the field, so the way I see it is second place may be the first loser, but at least I'll still be beating everyone else, in a wagon none the less. :D
actually...... fwd could work decently for dirt track and the 2.3 found in fwd cars is a different 2.3 than the rwd 2.3
Yeah, look into swapping a turbo into it.
http://tempotopaz.com/main/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=105&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0
Now if the mekerk and turbo coupe are about the same.......
Well, the 2.3 Duratech or Zetec or whatever that was, wasn't put into any FWD cars until well into the 2000's, so I doubt you're gonna find it in anything you wanna dirt track race.
1.9L SOHC's in Escorts made about 90 hp so those aren't a good choice either.
Merkurs have the same turbo 2.3L as turbo coupes got, but besides that they are completely different. They do have IRS, by the way.
Anyway, you might wanna check the rules before you go buying anything. I highly doubt they allow forced induction. Also, if a guy in a Fox Mustang is dominating, well that's because the ol' 2.3L has been dominating dirt track racing for years! Esslinger Engineering sells more parts for the 2.3 than you'd think, and those dirt track guys build up 8000 rpm, 300 hp carbed 2.3's to run on the track. Course, they drop some pretty good coin on those too.
I did some dirt track racing last year in the hornet class. We built a '90 Plymoth Laser w/2.0T and a 5 speed. Nobody could touch that car (won every race we finished all year). I'm guessing there's probably some rules limiting what you can do to the engine, but I always wanted to find a mustang and drop in a 2.3T. It was an option for a couple of years, making it a legal engine to use according to our rules.
Also- comming from an Escort wagon driver, it's gunna be hard to beat anything out there.
If you actually read the link, someone put a 1.9 i-4 out of escort and put it into a tempo. Used a old escort gt turbo manifold and a turbo couple turbo. So they went from a 2.3 i-4 to a 1.9 i-4. using a mekerk wire harness and sensors.
Yeah, people have put 2.3 turbos into Tempos too...so what? That doesn't make it a factory engine that came in the car, and if you have to have an engine that was available from the factory it's still a no-go.