[Luke Plaizier]

From what I can see, the Mazda 6 2.5L wasn't all that popular in the US - where a 3.7L V6 Mazda 6 was also sold (!!). It also doesn't seem to have been that popular in the UK.

In the US, however, there are a number of Ford 2.5L variants that are available. However, the Fiesta also doesn't seem to have been sold there. The Ford 2.5L to Mazda swap seems to be the economical choice in US-Miata-land, which is what is giving us such good info on the cross-manufacturer swaps..

Here in Oz, though, I don't think we had any Ford 2.5L I4 models - did we?. 2.3L yes, and 2.5L I5 in the XR5 Focus/Mondeo. Hence we have to look the other way - Mazda 2.5L into Ford, where the US experience should help.

In the UK, I don't think they have many 2.5L Mazda OR Ford variants. It's the UK that seems to have the most activity on Fiesta tuning. So I can see a lot of places doing the 2.3 swap, but not many discussing a 2.5 swap. So I'll spend a bit more time trying to find specifics about the ST150 2.3 Swap, to see if they have any gotcha's re engine mounts and manifold access.


The other topic that will be worth diving into deeper is the brakes. I see that the Focus ST 170 300mm front/270mm rears are a bolt up fit to the ST150 (ST150 already has 278mm fronts I believe? Can anyone correct me?). But the ST170 wasn't big seller in Oz, so I'm not confident of getting cheap parts. The other option is the Mondeo - or even the XR5 Mondeo - where the front calipers look like they bolt up to the Fiesta with a little drilling from M10 to M12, but I'm not sure about the rotors or the rears yet. The ST170 route will have aftermarket sports pads available, but not so sure about the Mondeo.


Lukeyson