sunnysmith Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 (edited) Hi Everyone, I have been lurking for a while and just bought a 2010 Transit Connect. The interior has been through a conversion and it has some limo features. I got hooked on and and If they have these in Europe, why not here? The problem is, as everyone has said, the van has no power. So, as others have suggested, turbo charge it. I tracked down this company FSWERKS that makes turbos for the 2.0 Duratec in the Focus. The Transit transmission is worrisome (as others have stated) so the target is only 200hp (not sure on the torque). Has anyone measured/monitored the operating temp of the automatic transmission? Maybe a cooler would help? Redline transmission fluid? Keeping the cost of these modifications in mind, it looks like a new transmission is about $800, so that would not be the end of the world. The labor to install it might be though. Seems pretty straight forward for them, but we ran into a little hiccup. The programmer they use is made by SCT Performance and they have not done a Transit before. As best we can tell, the ECU in the Transit is not the same as the Focus. My Transit is marked APU4 and their appears to be one other variant DKT2. Probably different mapping since it is a van vs. car. Anyway, the ECU will have to be mapped and licensed before we can get going. We plan to do the Turbo with Methanol injection (50/50) and a J&S Knock Controller (should be bulletproof). I will keep you all in the loop as to the progress. Here is the craziness.... the Turbo is $4k, but a new engine is only $1,500! If anyone knows of a company that has already done the mapping on the Transit (APU4), please let me know. It would be much appreciated! I have a ton of other mods/upgrades planned as well, but the turbo, intake, exhaust have to come first! If I can't get the Turbo done, I'll probably scrap the concept and sell the van. Thanks in advance for any advice! -Sunny ps. If you are interested in checking out the Van the way it is right now (stock), here is a link to the eBay listing from the dealer. Edited February 16, 2011 by sunnysmith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zepper Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 Oh yeah I posted up a link to that LIMO Transit awhile back. Congrats on it. Liked the leather! I agree, you'll probably be shredding through transmissions. Not sure that there is much that can be done about that. I was wondering if you could order a rebuilt trans from one of the Euro RS focus that could maybe handle the additional power. But the trouble might ultimately be in the weight of the transit not really the power. Not sure if that would bolt up. Good luck and do keep everyone posted. B) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hal Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 If anybody can put a turbo kit together, Randy and the guys at FSWerks would be the ones. I started using their products back in 2001 when it was called Focus Sport. Still have several of their products on my Focus including the header. I just helped a friend of mine put one of their turbo kits on his 2007 Focus ST. Very nice installation. The transmission will be the weak spot and will need all the help (cooler, etc) you can give it. Don't know if they still are but at one time LenTech was making built-up auto trannys for the Focus. One of the cars that had one was pushing ~300HP and it seemed to be holding up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azdamay Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 That's righteous. I'm on FF.com, I used to have an SVT Focus. I was wondering how long before someone put 2+2 together and realized the engine in the current Focus and the Transit Connect are the same (meaning there are some aftermarket parts out there). I was thinking about a supercharger myself... if this van actually belonged to me, and I had the spare money. Keep us updated on what happens. The European market version has a 5-speed manual, what about swapping out the ATX for a manual? Too costly? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnysmith Posted February 17, 2011 Author Share Posted February 17, 2011 Wow, thanks guys! That is all very helpful. We still stuck on the ECU right now. FSWERKS has to convince SCT to do the mapping and SCT is going to want the ECU. I see a long road ahead, so I am going to buy another ECU to send to them so we can keep working on the other projects and actually have a running van while we are doing it. The good news is that when we are done everyone should be able to reprogram their Transit Connect with SCT's programmer. Transmission info is very helpful. We'll put a cooler on it right away and, if it goes, the LenTech looks like a great option (rated for 300hp as you said). I'll keep you guys posted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnysmith Posted February 18, 2011 Author Share Posted February 18, 2011 Good news!!!! FSWERKS says that the ECU is go; SCT has all that they need. There are 2 primary differences between the Focus ECU and the Transit Connect. The maximum values for Vacuum and MAF are different. that is it. We are shooting for the first week in March for completion of this step (turbo). We are trying for a VERY conservative tune, but FSWERKS says that it will still be 200hp at the WHEELS (maybe 247hp at the crank)! It will be very interesting to see if/how long the transmission holds up! Vroom! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnysmith Posted February 24, 2011 Author Share Posted February 24, 2011 Hi All, I wanted to let you know that I will be selling off all the pieces/parts that I take off when we start the transformation next week. I'll post links then, but I will be selling the front seats (leather) w/Airbags, the second row seats (leather), and the wheels and tires (2000 miles). The stock radio 6000cd and speakers are being replaced. Let me know if you have any interest in these parts. Thanks! -Sunny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rward325 Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 Sunnysmith, I am local to FSWerks in Anaheim, CA and did note that the engines appeared to be the same. Let us know what you do with the transmission as this seems to be the weakest link other than the rear end. The guy in the UK that did a turbo swap did use a LS diff in the car so heads up there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
103west43rd Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 Hi All, I wanted to let you know that I will be selling off all the pieces/parts that I take off when we start the transformation next week. I'll post links then, but I will be selling the front seats (leather) w/Airbags, the second row seats (leather), and the wheels and tires (2000 miles). The stock radio 6000cd and speakers are being replaced. Let me know if you have any interest in these parts. Thanks! -Sunny I have an interest in the radio. I will look for your listing next week. Good luck with your project! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zepper Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 (edited) Sunnysmith, I am local to FSWerks in Anaheim, CA and did note that the engines appeared to be the same. Let us know what you do with the transmission as this seems to be the weakest link other than the rear end. The guy in the UK that did a turbo swap did use a LS diff in the car so heads up there. Hmmmmm.....since the Transit is front wheel drive and doesn't have any sort of rear diff, I would have to agree with you in that the rear diff IS the weakest point because it doesn't exist. Edited February 28, 2011 by zepper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FSWerksVP Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 Wow, thanks guys! That is all very helpful. We still stuck on the ECU right now. FSWERKS has to convince SCT to do the mapping and SCT is going to want the ECU. I see a long road ahead, so I am going to buy another ECU to send to them so we can keep working on the other projects and actually have a running van while we are doing it. The good news is that when we are done everyone should be able to reprogram their Transit Connect with SCT's programmer. Transmission info is very helpful. We'll put a cooler on it right away and, if it goes, the LenTech looks like a great option (rated for 300hp as you said). I'll keep you guys posted. Hey there everyone, nice site you've got here. Just to clarify, SCT doesn't do the mapping. I don't normally use the term mapping as it can be confusing, but what SCT does is create a stock data base that can be altered by companies like FSWerks. I actually do all of our programming (aka mapping) here. There's no current wait to program any Transit up to 2010. If there is demand, I can do it, turbocharged or NA, doesn't matter. For 2011, that might be a different story since it does take time for all of the data bases to be created. Best Regards, Randy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnysmith Posted March 1, 2011 Author Share Posted March 1, 2011 Ok, first item(s) came off yesterday. I will post here before I try eBay. I have the two running boards for sale w/brackets. They came off cleanly. Here is a link for the type that they are: eBay Link I would like $150 + Packaging/Shipping Any takers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnysmith Posted March 2, 2011 Author Share Posted March 2, 2011 I took a picture of the running boards. You can find it Here We saved all of the bolts. The big bolts use existing mounting points, but the little ones need to be drilled. They included self-tapping bolts so you could just drill them in. Ok, first item(s) came off yesterday. I will post here before I try eBay. I have the two running boards for sale w/brackets. They came off cleanly. Here is a link for the type that they are: eBay Link I would like $150 + Packaging/Shipping Any takers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zepper Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 Hey Sunny, What do you have planned for your transit? Are you making a super RS like the Transit Connect Xpress the SVT team built in Europe? Just wondering why you are pulling off all the goodies? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnysmith Posted March 2, 2011 Author Share Posted March 2, 2011 Hey Sunny, What do you have planned for your transit? Are you making a super RS like the Transit Connect Xpress the SVT team built in Europe? Just wondering why you are pulling off all the goodies? Ok, I will let you know where I am going and how I got here. My last project was/is (still own it) an '06 V10 M5. It is for sale, you can check it out here at Autobahn Power.. It has ALOT of power. ALOT. And is very fun to drive, but just driving around town it pretty boring. Too refined. The engine sound is incredible, but you can cruise all day at 120mph and feel like you are doing 70 in a normal car. Whereas say an old Alfa, if you were doing 85, you would feel like you were really out on the edge. I saw an episode of Top Gear with Guy Ritchie. He spent 100,000 pounds to outfit a Mercedes Van. That van is too tall and won't fit in the garage at home. Then I saw an episode of Top Gear where they put a Jag engine in a regular Transit Van. I thought that was pretty neat, so I started doing some searches and realized that they had brought the Transit Connect to the US (I hadn't seen one or maybe just not paying attention). Then, of course, I stumble on the two projects that you outlined and I was very interested. I found the Transit Connect 'Limo' on eBay at Valley Ford in Ohio, so I bought it. Bob Harris at Autobahn Power here in Wichita, KS is an accomplished driver/super mechanic. A real genius that puts things together in such a way that they are reliable. I known him for 20 years and if you see a car he has wrenched on you can tell that it is just done 'right'. He is really fun to work with and he likes doing new things too. So, here we go with this project. There is a big difference in expense though! Much cheaper. The BMW was really expensive, $1,200 per Fikse wheel, $3,000 for Dinan Diff, $400 per tire, $900 to change spark plugs, etc. etc (on and on). I hope to wrap this project up for under $6,000 net (after selling off the stuff I pull off) and end up with a very unique and fun daily driver. -Sunny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zepper Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 Hi Sunny, Plan sounds good, I like the affordability of the transit too. You can do a lot for a little comparatively. I don't know if this will help you at all but H&R are the only company on this side of the moat that have lowered a transit as far as I can tell. I don't know that they will do it for a customer but might be worth a call: http://www.hrsprings.com/projects/detail/hr_transit_connect_project/ I kinda like the blue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnysmith Posted March 4, 2011 Author Share Posted March 4, 2011 (edited) We'll contact H&R and see what they say about the front springs. Then would just reform the rear leaf springs. Some new developments today. The FSWERKS Turbo Kit came in today. All of the parts/pieces are very high quality. Also, Bob finished mounting the new tires on the new wheels. He has not put them on the van yet, but you can see a pic of the wheels and the turbo kit in the gallery. Click here to see the new pics Edited March 4, 2011 by sunnysmith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FSWerksVP Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 Those are nice BBS wheels! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rlschow Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 Subscribed! This will be fun to watch! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rlschow Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 Those are nice BBS wheels! I agree; great look! Pardon my ignorance, but how do you get them to fit the TC? The specs that I find for the BBS wheels say the bolt pattern is 5x112 and the Transit Connect is 5x108. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnysmith Posted March 11, 2011 Author Share Posted March 11, 2011 Hi All, Well, Bob started installing the Turbo yesterday: Turbo Pic 1 Turbo Pic 2 When he scoped the cylinders he noticed more carbon on the valves that one would expect at 2,000 miles. You guys might want to keep track of this and if you have this problem run an additive or something. -Sunny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnysmith Posted April 5, 2011 Author Share Posted April 5, 2011 Hi Guys, THE TURBO IS DONE! I've actually been driving it a couple of days and it is pretty neat. My overriding impression is that the turbo actually makes the van drivable. I can cruise down the highway at 75 with the cruise control and use between 2 and 5 pounds of boost. It doesn't down shift all the time like it used to. I can merge into highway traffic WITHOUT FEAR!!! Now, you cannot get on it in first or second gears. Its all over the place. The gearing is so low and even with the new tires, its just too much power/torque. Top gears are nice though, so 1/2 throttle through 1st and 2nd and then wot in 3rd and 4th. We added another transmission cooler so the van now has 2. With an outside airtemp of 85, the highest the transmission temperature reached was 125. After some 'normal' driving, the temp returned to 100 after a few minutes. I thing the transmission is going to survive. I don't flog it and I try to work with it so I am not abusing it. You can turn the overdrive off and just power out in third gear. Great fun! There van is speed limited to 90, but I am sure it could go must faster. We are going to switch to an electronic boost controller. Bob turned the manual controller (comes with kit) all the way down because we were seeing big spikes. With the new controller, we should be able to stay around 10psi (7-8 now) without spikes. This should make another 30hp available. I would recommend this to you guys. If you use the van as a work vehicle, it actually makes it much more usable. I only drove it for a few days before it went in for the turbo, but it was frustrating and even scary (merging) sometimes. The van is actually really cool now! Leprechaun 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leprechaun Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 Hi Guys, THE TURBO IS DONE! I've actually been driving it a couple of days and it is pretty neat... Great news, SS. Many thanks for sharing all the info, particularly the nitty-gritty. I'm drooling! Have you learned of any other trannys that might easily be fitted? (I am VERY leery of ours even with your additional cooler.) Again, kudos to you! -Sean- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rlschow Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 That's awesome! Well done! These are the first documented performance mods to the US Transit Connect that I've come across. Keep us posted as you spend more time with it and get it run-in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azdamay Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 These things are speed-limited to 90mph?? I guess that makes sense for a work vehicle (not to mention one shaped like a brick), but that means there have been a few times I almost bumped the limit?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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