HUNDREDS & THOUSANDS
1114HP ON A STOCK LONG MOTOR!
YES, you read that correctly. Scott Merkel from Merkel Race Engines (MRE) in Hauppauge, New York set the internet ablaze when he made more than 1100hp on an engine dyno with a basically stock Godzilla.
The performance engine shop strapped a pair of VS Racing 7875 turbos and Frozen Boost water-to-air intercoolers onto the 7.3L Ford, plumbed a set of ID1050X injectors into the heads and tapped a 15psi tune into the OBR Euro-8 ECU. That’s it, right down to the OE valve springs!
“I’ve been aware of this engine and its development for roughly four years, as my brother Todd is a Ford engineer and has been on the development team designing and testing the Godzilla,” says Scott. “We already knew this thing is a beast and worth the effort in creating multiple performance versions.”
MRE did preliminary tests on aspirated combos running pump 93MON fuel (which is slightly spicier than our 98RON premium unleaded), before hooking the boosty boy up with Sunoco 112 race gas. It all forms part of a plan MRE has to plumb the depths to find Godzilla’s weak spots.
“We need to figure out what breaks before we can fix it, but so far we have been unsuccessful in our attempt to tear this thing up!” Scott laughs. “I believe we lacked sufficient valve spring tension to increase boost beyond 15psi. The immediate plans are to increase valve spring tension and run more boost on the otherwise bone-stock engine. Then we can complete the task of finding the strength limits, and subsequently upgrading the failed parts.”
While we’re used to seeing four-digit power figures these days, it is still impressive to even an experienced crew like MRE to draw such power out of what is essentially a box-fresh engine.
“I was impressed by the ease with which we were able to make over 1100hp,” Scott says. “The turbo project was built in the dyno room in one day on a bone-stock engine. A day later, this thing spat out 1114hp!”
THE TURBO PROJECT WAS BUILT IN THE DYNO ROOM IN ONE DAY ON A BONE-STOCK ENGINE. A DAY LATER, THIS THING SPAT OUT 1114HP!
Scott points to the engine’s size and ability to breathe as reasons for fellow boost fans to get excited about this new offering from Ford; there's no substitute for cubic inches, as the saying goes.
“This engine has a real good induction system, is not short on volume, and is rugged enough in stock form to make some impressive figures,” he says. “I believe the Mod motor will have a following for years to come, but I’ll attempt to push the aftermarket envelope to make Godzilla transplants cost-effective and sensible in just about any vehicle.”
Interested Aussies can get their hands on some of this MRE action from Scott and crew at merkelracing.com.
“Complete plug-and-play solutions are available right now,” he says. “We are currently developing many naturally aspirated versions, including a very reliable plug-and-play 600hp engine. We will also have staged engine kits, with cams, springs, retainers, pistons, connecting rods and the like available.”