One of the most famous traffic light assassins currently in Australia is
Ford’s awesome 240kW BA XR6 Turbo. With generous rear-end traction and
effortless torque, the big XR Turbs has no problems shooting down most
green-light jockeys. It's with good reason the BA XR6T is a car that many Ford
fans aspire to.
But not Brendan Mock of Jim Mock Motorsport!
Brendan’s fairly unassuming looking EF XR6 gives the XR6 Turbo the one conrod
salute as it blusters past with tyres smokin’ and blower howlin’. There’s no
comparison - 400hp at the wheels and 1500kg canes the BA Turbo’s 230hp at the
wheels and 1800 kilos every time!
Brendan lives and breathes tough Ford 6s - just check out
Promise Delivered and
Unlocking Falcon Performance
to see some of Brendan’s handiwork. So there’s no surprise
that he likes nothing more than to go overboard with his own ride.
Brendan purchased this 4.0-litre EF XR6 at a damaged car auction for a song.
The front-end had been stoved in and, as Brendan found out, there was some
hassles when it came to colour matching. The previous owner’s decision to go for
a custom white pearl – without leaving record of the exact brew - meant a lot of
time had to be spent paint mixing. Still, you’d never pick the front-end has
been painted separately to the rest of the body – it’s a great repair.
While the body damage was being tended to, Brendan was in full flight
getting stuck into the mechanicals.
Not one to settle for anything less than massive grunt, Brendan decided to go
the supercharger route. The blower unit is a Powerdyne product, which is a rare
version containing gear-driven internals rather than a belt drive. Installation
was easy as Brendan already had the mounting bracket and pulley sitting around
following another project.
Air forced from the compressor makes its way through a giant front-mount
bar-and-plate intercooler, which is available off-the-shelf. The plumbing to and
from the ‘cooler is custom 3-inch done by Brendan – of course. Purely by chance,
Brendan realised the factory Ford induction elbow was perfect to join the blower
to the custom plumbing – "it works a treat and there’s virtually no restriction
though it," he says.
Note that a single GFB blow-off valve was fitted at the time of our photo
shoot, but an additional blow-off valve has since been added. "The two blow-off
valves are needed to flow the huge amount of air that runs through the system,"
explains Brendan.
Boosted induction air arrives at the standard throttle body, though the EF
dual-stage intake manifold has been "modified to suit the application." Brendan
isn’t too keen to give much away in this department. The rest of the engine is
surprisingly stock given the amount of power on tap. "It's not necessarily the
parts you use but it’s how you put it together that makes it last," says
Brendan.
As you would expect, the compression ratio has been dropped to a forced
induction friendly 8.0-ish to one using custom pistons. Up top, the
2-valve-per-cylinder alloy head has received JMM’s port and polish treatment
plus one-piece JMM Race Series stainless valves together with a DEV 6
Supercharged camshaft profile. This requires the use of custom valve springs.
The only other significant engine mod is the use of a high-volume oil pump.
Induction air is filtered by a huge pod-type filter with a 100mm mouth while,
on the exhaust side of things, Brendan uses their in-house Race Series headers
in conjunction with a custom 3-inch exhaust. Anything less than 3-inch would be
madness given the engine output.
The factory engine management system was completely discarded to make space
for a Wolf 3D Version 4 programmable ECU. Brendan has converted it to a hall-effect
pick-up and runs an external 2 Bar MAP sensor load input. The fuel system is
suitably upgraded with 550cc injectors, a K-Jetronic fuel pump and a Malpassi
rising rate regulator. Premium unleaded fuel is used at all times. The standard
single-coil ignition configuration remains up to the task – no CDI required.
In the current tune, Brendan’s supercharged EF runs just 7 psi of boost – and
don’t think that’s not enough! On a Dyno Dynamics chassis dyno, the car has
slogged out a very impressive 397hp at the wheels and taken out the 6-cylinder
class at the recent Spring Nats. And that top-end power comes with typically
strong 4.0-litre torque all the way through the rev range; this makes the car
ready to haul butt at all times.
The supercharged – and relatively standard inside – Ford six has proven
remarkably reliable, despite countless hours on the dyno and ‘the occasional’
on-road blast. The only trauma has been in the area of the flywheel. "I’ve been
using a Daikin supplied 5 finger clutch and it’s incredible – it grabs and just
refuses to slip. The thing is, with the engine making so much torque, we’ve had
problems with the flywheel coming lose and the OE flywheel bolts shearing," says
Brendan. A secret modification has licked the problem.
The rest of the driveline has coped very well. The factory T5 5-speed ‘box
has given no problems with street tyres and the diff is standard XR 3.45:1 with
an in-house modification to tighten up the LSD mechanism. The tailshaft has also
been replaced with a balanced steel unit.
Brendan makes the point that the gearbox has survived thanks to tyre slip
using street tyres and a sympathetic driving style.
Underneath, the XR6’s show is kept on the road thanks to super low King
springs working in conjunction with JMM short-stroke Gabriel dampers. Nolothane
bushes can be found throughout the nose, and Brendan tells us a noticeable
handling improvement came from seam welding the repaired front-end.
The standard XR four-wheel-disc brakes bring this Falc back down to speed, but Brendan says a joint development with Cebco will change this
situation. A change very much for the better if you ask us!
Visually, Brendan’s EF is enhanced by 17-inch Prowler CSA rims, currently
wearing 235/45 Falken Ziex rubber – soon to be replaced by Michelin Pilot SXs.
Some sporty lines are also created by the Venom body kit, which Brendan says is
a real top-notch bit of gear – well made and a perfect fit. The lowered ride
height also brings out some more aggression.
At the time of writing the car had not yet made a trip down the quarter mile
but – with traction permitting – Brendan can’t see any reason why the car won’t
run an 11-second pass. (It’s strange that, in today’s context, we look at the EF
Falcon weighing ‘just 1500 kilograms’.) And just when you thought enough was
enough, Brendan reveals he’s currently revising the supercharger pulley system
to increase boost from 7 psi to about 15 psi...
Oooo, there’s gonna be some black eyes in the BA XR6 Turbo camp!
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Contact/Thanks:
Brendan would like to thank his father (Jim Mock) and Luke Letson for their hours of assistance.
Jim Mock Motorsport +61 3 9399 4401
http://www.jimmockmotorsport.com/
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